On January 25, President Obama delivered his State of the Union address in which he pledged to assist with containing domestic discretionary spending and said he would veto any spending bill which included "earmarks." DGR has highlighted aspects of the speech pertinent to the APA: 

"I am proposing that starting this year, we freeze annual domestic spending for the next five years. Now, this would reduce the deficit by more than $400 billion over the next decade and will bring discretionary spending to the lowest share of our economy since Dwight Eisenhower was president. ... I recognize that some in this chamber have already proposed deeper cuts, and I'm willing to eliminate whatever we can honestly afford to do without. But let's make sure that we're not doing it on the backs of our most vulnerable citizens... The bipartisan fiscal commission I created last year made this crystal clear. I don't agree with all their proposals, but they made important progress. And their conclusion is that the only way to tackle our deficit is to cut excessive spending wherever we find it, in domestic spending, defense spending, health care spending, and spending through tax breaks and loopholes. This means further reducing health care costs, including programs like Medicare and Medicaid, which are the single biggest contributor to our long-term deficit. The health insurance law we passed last year will slow these rising costs, which is part of the reason that nonpartisan economists have said that repealing the health care law would add a quarter of a trillion dollars to our deficit."

The President also said that he would look at medical malpractice reform "to reign in frivolous lawsuits".

Representative John Sullivan (R-OK) and Representative Tim Ryan (D-OH) announced they will serve as Co-Chairmen of the bipartisan Congressional Addiction, Treatment and Recovery Caucus in the 112th Congress.  Additionally, Representatives Mary Bono Mack (R-CA) and Paul Tonko (D-NY )  have signed on to  serve as vice co chairs of the caucus.  The Addiction Treatment and Recovery Caucus is the leading Congressional Caucus of Members who are dedicated to educating and raising awareness among lawmakers about addiction issues in hopes of increasing legislative support for expanding access to treatment.

Reps. Grace Napolitano (D-CA) and Tim Murphy (R-PA) hosted the first meeting of the House of Representatives Mental Health Caucus last week, focusing on advice for Capitol Hill staff that went over mental health warning signs and office safety preparedness. Representative Napolitano stressed the importance of combating stigma and highlighted the fact that people with mental illness are not more likely to be violent than the general population. Panelists included representatives from the Office for At Risk Individuals, Behavioral Health, and Human Services Coordination at HHS; the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration; and the Capitol Police.