(KERO) — A Republican senator is pledging to get new mental health legislation through Congress.
Senator Bill Cassidy, who is also a licensed physician, says he has seen the need for better access to mental health services. For him, it's personal.
"I had a nephew commit suicide," explained Cassidy. "I'm still emotional after all these years, but everybody has such an emotional story. Now, we can either say we have this emotion, there is nothing to do about it or we can say we're going to attempt to do something about it. And I like to think that what we're doing, what I'm doing with Senator Murphy and Congress is participating in, creating the resources for locals and states to do something positive means that those stories will be different."
He added that if his mental health bill does not pass before the end of this year, he will continue to work on it in the next session. He also urged his constituents and all Americans who may be struggling to call the new lifeline at 9-8-8.
