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**Written by Doug Powers

Relax, Nancy. We’re not talking about the House… at least not yet.

It’s been over 36 months since the Senate passed a budget and America continues to sink into a financial abyss, which means it’s well past time to… uh… strike the word “lunatic” from federal law:

Sens. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) and Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) on Wednesday introduced legislation that would remove all references to the word “lunatic” from federal law, a step they said is needed to reflect the country’s modern understanding of mental-health conditions.

Conrad said that by eliminating “lunatic” from federal law, the 21st Century Language Act, S. 2367, would help reduce the stigmatization of such conditions.

“Recently, a North Dakota constituent contacted my office to express support for legislative efforts to remove this outdated and inappropriate language from federal law,” Conrad said Wednesday. “Sen. Crapo and I agree that federal law should reflect the 21st-century understanding of mental illness and disease, and that the continued use of this pejorative term has no place in the U.S. Code.”

If this legislation goes through it won’t be the first time we’ve seen the headline “Harry Reid’s Senate Passes Lunatic Bill.”

**Written by Doug Powers

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