The legislation, dubbed 'The Excellence in Mental Health Act,' is to be co-sponsored by U.S. Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif.
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U.S. Rep. Leonard Lance at a town hall meeting Feb. 19 in Lopatcong Township.
"Although many gun control proposals remain contentious, members of Congress from both sides of the aisle agree that improving mental health care must be a part of any broader effort to reduce gun violence," said Lance, a Republican whose 7th Congressional District covers Hunterdon and southern Warren counties.
The legislation, dubbed "The Excellence in Mental Health Act," will be introduced alongside U.S. Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif. Lance said there is also companion legislation being drafted in the U.S. Senate.
The measure would seek to improve standards at community mental health centers and provide them greater access to federal funding while also expanding services.
Richard Hall Community Health Center, the Bridgewater Township facility where Lance spoke this morning, is one of roughly 2,000 community health centers across the country that he claims will benefit from the legislation but one of only two in New Jersey. The other is in Middlesex County.
Lance estimates that the measure would help community health centers treat an additional 1.5 million patients a year and in turn, "perhaps avert the next tragedy confronting the American people."
Placing the ongoing gun control debate into context, Lance repeatedly made a direct correlation between issues of mental health and gun violence.
"Mental health is a significant component of the larger gun issue," said Lance.
Alicia Stevenson, of the of National Alliance on Mental Illness Hunterdon Inc. in Flemington, cautioned that blindly making that characterization is unfair.
Stevenson noted she couldn't fault lawmakers if recent tragedies like the December elementary school shooting in Newtown, Conn., help spark debate and get legislation moving. But solely tying mental health legislation to the larger issue of gun violence is shifting the focus away from what's really at stake: the betterment of patients.
"This is a health issue," said Stevenson, "not a violence issue."
Stevenson, while not accusing lawmakers of intentionally doing so, claimed Lance's bill as it stands to be introduced unjustly connects mental health patients to the potential for violence.
"Who wants to be labeled as someone who is potentially capable of violence?" she asked.
Calls for action on both sides of the gun control debate have followed Lance in recent weeks.
On Feb. 20, a day after Lance told constituents at a town hall meeting in Lopatcong Township that a related bill was in progress, more than 30 protesters took to his Westfield, N.J., office to argue both ends of the spectrum.
Today's announcement comes a day shy of a congressional forum before the House Energy and Commerce Committee where mental health researchers and experts are expected to give testimony on the subject matter.
Lance, a member of the committee, said he would like to see the legislation move through Congress swiftly.
"I hope we are able to pass it and pass it in a timely fashion," Lance said.