Glaring problems, such as an unacceptably high mortality rate stemming from drug overdoses, growing evidence of increased suicide ideation among some U.S. population subgroups, along with increases in gun violence and eating disorders have stimulated a bipartisan effort on Capitol Hill to have mental health legislation passed that addresses such problems effectively. For example, the rate of overdose deaths among U.S. teenagers nearly doubled in 2020, the first year of the COVID pandemic, and rose another 20% in the first half of 2021 compared with the 10 years before the pandemic, even as drug use remained generally stable during the same period. It is the first time in recorded history that the teen drug death rate has seen an exponential rise, according to new UCLA research that was published in April 2022 in the Journal of American Medical Association, even though rates of illicit drug use among teens are at all-time lows. The month of May 2022 featured the introduction of H.R. 7666, the Restoring Hope for Mental Health and Well-Being Act of 2022. The bill went from the Subcommittee on Health of the Committee on Energy and Commerce to the full committee on a vote of 32-0 and was passed as amended on a vote of 55-0 on May 18, 2022. This comprehensive legislative approach includes provisions to: • Have the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) establish an office to coordinate work relating to behavioral health crisis care across the operating divisions and agencies of the Department, including the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and the Health Resources and Services Administration • Establish a behavioral health crisis coordinating office within the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) • Reauthorize the Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act Suicide Prevention Program; the Maternal Mental Health Screening and Treatment Grant Program; grants to support American Indian and Alaska Native communities with mental health and substance use disorder prevention, treatment, and recovery services; and the Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training Program • Require self-funded, non-federal governmental plans to comply with mental health parity laws In the Senate, a bipartisan effort also is underway to reauthorize a bill focusing on mental health care. Initially, the Mental Health Reform Act of 2015 was incorporated into the 21st Century Cures Act, which passed Congress in 2016. That 2016 law, P.L. 114-255, needs to be updated. An aim is to report out a comprehensive reauthorization bill in this session of Congress that establishes an Office of the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health; improves children’s access to mental health care by providing grants to integrate behavioral health care into primary care offices; promotes coordination of mental health benefits, increases recruitment of a diverse mental health workforce by expanding SAMHSA’s Minority Fellowship Program; and promotes access to mental health services by authorizing $25 million to support states' ability to enforce existing mental health parity laws.