Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., leads the a Senate Veterans’ Affairs committee hearing Tuesday. At the first meeting of the new Congress, the committee unanimously passed to the Senate floor a bill targeting veterans’ suicide prevention and mental health. (Paige Leskin/MNS)
WASHINGTON — Legislation aimed at preventing suicide among military veterans is advancing quickly through Congress, in line to be one of the first bills signed into law under the new leadership.
Political leaders, as well as suicide prevention and veteran advocacy groups, have incessantly called on Congress to propel the bill to the president’s desk in order to address the suicide rate among veterans — 22 a day, according to a 2012 report from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
In its first meeting of the new congress on Tuesday, the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs voted to send the legislation to the Senate floor, following the House’s unanimous approval of the bill on Jan. 12.
The committee’s chairman, Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Geor., called the committee the “most bipartisan” across issues.
“We have a unique opportunity, we have a tremendous obligation,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal., D-Conn.,, who serves as the committee’s ranking member. “We’re emerging from a crisis that has enveloped the veteran’s administration, we are emerging from a crisis of trust and creditability.”
Titled the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act, the legislation calls for an outside party evaluation of the VA’s mental health and suicide prevention services by 2018, as well as programming to encourage more psychiatrists to assist veterans. The bill also asks for improved VA outreach to veterans and the community.
The bill introduced by Rep. Timothy Walz, D-Minn., looks the same as one that failed in last year’s Senate. The legislation, filed by Blumenthal and Sens. John McCain, r-Ariz., was halted in late 2014 when concerns were raised about how the proposed programming would be paid for. Former Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okl., blocked the vote and said the budget did not allot adequate funding and that similar programming already existed under the VA.
However, Isakson said Wednesday committee that Congress has set aside appropriate funds for the Clay Hunt SAV Act this time around.
Isakson, along with other members, stressed the appeal of the legislation to be the first bill of this Congress’s term to appear at the desk of Pres. Barack Obama for passage.
“When you have 8000 vets dying a year, more in Iraq and Afghanistan…this is emergency legislation,” Isakson said.
The bill and its proposed service have the potential to be effective if implemented, said Dr. Dan Reidenberg, executive director of Suicide Awareness Voices of Education. With more knowledge about suicide prevention, people know where to turn to for help, where to find resources and what is available to them, he said.
“Any time you increase accessibility, you decrease suicide,” Reidenberg said. “Access to care is critically important to helping people.”
In order to adequately serve veterans and reduce the risk of suicides, they need to be supplied with more long-term healthcare, he said. This will help to better monitor for mental health issues that may not appear immediately after deployment, like Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.
The legislation moving to the Senate is named for Marine veteran Clay Hunt, who died by suicide in March 2011 after facing bureaucratic barriers from the VA and receiving limited medical care for his PTSD
Blumenthal drew parallels between Hunt’s story and that of a Connecticut resident, Justin Eldridge, whose widow, Joanna he invited as his guest to the State of the Union address on Tuesday. Before Obama’s speech, Blumenthal released a statement asking the president to take action on the “crisis” of veteran suicides.
“We owe Justin, Joanna, Clay Hunt, Clay’s mom Susan Selke, and so many more our utmost gratitude for their service and their commitment,” Blumenthal said.
In Obama’s hour-long address, he mentioned the administration’s effort to provide veterans with quality health care and employment.
“And as a new generation of veterans comes home, we owe them every opportunity to live the American Dream they helped defend,” Obama said. “We’re slashing the backlog that had too many veterans waiting years to get the benefits they need, and we’re making it easier for vets to translate their training and experience into civilian jobs.”
Some advocacy groups were not satisfied with Obama’s allusion to military veterans. Nonprofit organization Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America criticized the president for not calling for the passage of the Clay Hunt SAV and asserting his administration’s support.
Veterans who have served the country “don’t deserve to be ignored,” IAVA CEO and founder Paul Rieckhoff said.
“Actions speak louder than words,” Rieckhoff said in a statement. “After the VA scandal and marking more than 13 years of combat, veterans were hoping for a proactive policy agenda from our President … But in the address tonight, the President rarely mentioned veterans.”
