[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 18 (Tuesday, February 3, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S716-S720]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CLAY HUNT SUICIDE PREVENTION FOR AMERICAN VETERANS ACT
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will
proceed to the consideration of H.R. 203, which the clerk will report.
The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:
A bill (H.R. 203) to direct the Secretary of Veterans
Affairs to provide for the conduct of annual evaluations of
mental health care and suicide prevention programs of the
Department of Veterans Affairs, to require a pilot program on
loan repayment for psychiatrists who agree to serve in the
Veterans Health Administration of the Department of Veterans
Affairs, and for other purposes.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the time until 12
noon will be equally divided in the usual form.
The Senator from Alabama.
Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in
morning business for up to 10 minutes.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Department of Homeland Security Funding
Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I thank Senator Grassley for his
remarks. As chairman of the Judiciary Committee and a longtime vigorous
leader in the U.S. Senate, I know he was here and saw the problems of
the 1986 amnesty. It had bad ramifications in a lot of ways. I believe
if we listened to the experience of Senator Grassley and his
understanding of what is at stake, we would all be in a lot better
shape than we are today.
The American people want a lawful system of immigration. They want
one that is fair to applicants who want to come to America. They are
not for eliminating immigration to America. They want a system that
allows people to apply, wait their turn, and if they are qualified, be
admitted; if they don't qualify, not be admitted. They want that
enforced. They don't believe we should have open borders and open visa
programs that allow people by the millions to come unlawfully into this
country. The President obviously has a different view. As a result, we
are in a situation in which the Constitution is at stake in a lot of
ways.
We will vote after lunch on moving forward to the Department of
Homeland Security bill. The Department of Homeland Security bill,
passed by the House of Representatives, fully funds the Department of
Homeland Security. The basic funding mechanisms and agreements and
allocations of money in that legislation were approved on a bipartisan
basis. The House of Representatives simply said: Mr. President, the
money in the Department of Homeland Security funding mechanism will be
spent for lawful purposes. That money will be spent to secure the
homeland in an effective way. That money, however, will not be spent by
anyone to take actions outside the lawful limitations and lawful powers
of the Department of Homeland Security. But that is what the President
wanted to do, and that is what he wants to do through his Executive
action.
They are now leasing a new building across the river in Crystal City.
They are hiring 1,000 new Federal employees. Those Federal employees
will be processing the applications for up to 5 million people and they
will be providing those people with photo IDs. These are people in the
country unlawfully. They are not lawfully allowed to work in America.
Businesses aren't allowed to hire people who are here unlawfully.
It is plain and simple. They are not eligible to qualify for Social
Security or Medicare. So the President has declared he is going to set
up this office. They will process these individuals, and they will
provide up to 5 million photo IDs, 5 million Social Security numbers,
and the right to work in America. They will be allowed to participate
in Social Security and Medicare.
He says: I am entitled to do that. Well, he is not entitled to do
that. As scholar after scholar and as common sense tells us, the
President doesn't have that power. That is what this is about.
The House barred any spending on this unlawful activity--an activity
the President asked Congress to allow him to do and which Congress
rejected. This proposal was presented to Congress, and Congress refused
to pass it. But he is doing it anyway. It is an arrogant overreach, a
direct challenge to the historic role of Congress in our American
system.
Our Democratic colleagues say they don't want controversial
immigration riders on this bill--controversial immigration riders. In
other words, they don't want the Congress to do what it is required to
do--fund the programs it believes need to be funded and not fund
programs it doesn't believe should be funded.
As a matter of policy, Congress has not adopted and does not support
what the President wants to do. In fact, it has prohibited it. It has
no duty whatsoever to allow the President to spend moneys of the United
States of America to advocate a program they don't approve of, or
certainly one that is unlawful. That is what this is all about. Our
colleagues are voting to block the bill that would fund Homeland
Security at the level the President has asked for. So there is no
policy change here. Every lawful activity of Homeland Security is
funded.
There was a headline in the New York Times today. I am going to push
back a little on my colleagues because they have been spinning this
idea that somehow the Republican House, in sending this legislation
over that funded Homeland Security, is disrupting the fair flow and
causing controversies within our funding mechanisms of Congress. The
headline from an experienced reporter's article in today's New York
Times is: ``Democrats Look to Protect Obama's Immigration Directives.''
That is exactly what this is about, colleagues. At least seven of our
Democratic colleagues have explicitly said they don't agree with the
policy of the President with regard to Executive amnesty and providing
work permits and Social Security to people unlawfully here. But they
are now united. We are told all of them are going to stand together to
protect President Obama's immigration directives.
When they were running for office during the campaign last fall,
people were saying they didn't agree with him. Now, when the issue hits
the floor and we have an opportunity to do the normal and rational
thing and not fund an unlawful policy, they are all sticking together
like a palace guard around the White House to protect Obama's
immigration directives. This is a sad thing and a disappointing thing
to me. The article goes on to say:
Democrats are hoping they can force the new Republican
majority to drop the immigration provisions and send the $40
billion spending bill to the President.
Congress is spending $40 billion on homeland security. All of that
money is directed to legitimate lawful policies of Homeland Security
and not allowing any of it to be spent on unlawful, unapproved policies
in Homeland Security--an absolute power that Congress has, a duty that
it has. Congress is violating its fundamental duty if it allows the
President to carry out power he is not authorized. It is absolutely
violating its duty if it supports and funds actions by the President to
violate the law. It has a duty to say no to the President who
overreaches.
The article goes on to say:
But Democrats have decided to shut down debate on the
measure altogether, fearful that it could lead to the bill's
approval and could prompt negotiations with the House that
would put them at a disadvantage.
Fearful that the process could lead to the bill's approval during
negotiations
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with the House--isn't that what legislation is all about? Isn't that
what it is all about? Shouldn't our colleagues have the right, if they
don't like the language that constricts the President's power to carry
on this unlawful act, to offer an amendment to strip it out? They have
the ability to strike that language. Why don't they do that? No, they
are blocking even moving to the bill in its entirety. Then they are
attempting one of the most through-the-looking-glass, down-the-rabbit-
hole arguments you have ever heard. They are saying Republicans are
shutting down Homeland Security when they are not passing the bill that
is on the floor today and we will be voting on. They are rejecting it.
All it does is fund the Department of Homeland Security at a level
agreed upon on a bipartisan basis, $40 billion.
What kind of world are we in when we do that? I would like to ask who
is being protected here. The answer is clear. The New York Times said:
They are protecting President Obama's political immigration directives.
I would ask this. Isn't it our duty to protect the Constitution?
Isn't it our duty to protect the laws of the United States of America?
Isn't it our duty to protect American workers from the decline in wages
and their job prospects as a result of now legalizing 5 million people
to be able to take any job whatsoever in the entire American economy,
including working for the county commission, the power company, the
trucking companies?
Isn't that what our duty is? Who should we be protecting here?
Shouldn't we be protecting a lawful system of immigration?
But the President wants to take money. He wants Congress to
appropriate money to give him at Homeland Security so he can spend it
to undermine the law of the United States of America. What an
unthinkable thing that is. But that is fundamentally what is happening.
He wants and is demanding that this Congress not follow its promises to
the American people--not follow its lawful and constitutional duty--but
to give him the money so he can carry out a policy in contradiction to
the laws of the United States of America and to the good policy of
America. This is the way we do business in this country.
I think the reason our Democratic colleagues don't want to move to
the bill is because they don't want to debate the substance of it. That
is not a good reason. They don't want to debate the substance of it
because their position is untenable. The American people understand
that Congress is not shutting down the government and is not shutting
down Homeland Security. Our Democratic colleagues are the ones that are
refusing to pass the legislation that would fund Homeland Security. The
President is backing them up and encouraging them, and apparently he
has had success. He twisted arms or something because at least seven of
the Members said they didn't agree with this, and more probably would
have, had they been asked. But no, not now. Now they are all standing
together with Senator Reid, the minority leader of the Senate, to
advocate this policy.
I don't appreciate it being said time and again by so many of our
Democratic colleagues and the President that somehow Congress is acting
improperly and that Congress is not funding Homeland Security. This is
through the looking glass. This is beyond acceptance. I think the New
York Times pretty well said it correct. I don't believe the media is
buying this argument. I don't think the American people are buying this
argument, and Congress shouldn't buy the argument. The right thing to
do, colleagues, is to get on the bill.
Let me say this to my Democratic colleagues. I know many of you are
uneasy about this. Let's get on the legislation. There will be
amendments. There will be a number of amendments. Perhaps things could
develop in a way that you can support them. We will protect the lawful
constitutional powers of Congress and fund Homeland Security. We will
do it in a way that strengthens the rule of law in America and
strengthens our ability to have integrity in the immigration system. It
creates a system the American people rightfully have demanded, pleaded
for, and prayed for, and that Congress and the politicians have failed
to produce for now over 40 years. That is the problem. The American
people are angry, and they are not angry at immigrants. All of us have
friends and relatives and neighbors who have immigrated to America. We
are not against immigrants. I think there is a growing unease out there
about the willful refusal of Congress to do what it takes to fix this
system.
I would just say one more thing. American wages are down. Wages fell
in December 5 cents an hour--not a good event after we have been told
everything is getting so much better. There is a limit, colleagues, to
how many people we can bring to America to take jobs when we have a
limited number of jobs and falling wages.
We have the lowest percentage of Americans in the workforce working
today since the 1970s. Things aren't going good. We can't accept
everybody in the whole world to take jobs here.
We just had a report produced yesterday that said we have now
discovered there are another 5 million people who have been--it looks
to me--admitted to work in the country unlawfully. Through the Freedom
of Information Act, it was discovered that not only do we have a
million people a year come to America with green cards and permanent
residency, we have 700,000 guest workers that come every year. Add to
that the asylees, plus the refugees and other people. What they found
out was we have now--in the last 5 years under this administration--
given work authorization to 5 million more people than anybody knew. Do
we think this doesn't impact people's wages, impact women to have a
better job, their children to have a better job?
Somebody needs to be thinking about this. There is a limit here, and
it is obvious the limits need to be discussed. We need to create a
lawful system which protects American workers. We need to be less
concerned about protecting President Obama's unlawful directives and
more concerned with protecting the interests of the American working
person.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Arizona.
Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in
morning business for such time as I may consume.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, today I rise to speak on the Clay Hunt
Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act, a most important piece of
legislation. I would like to thank Senator Isakson in particular for
expediting this legislation through the Veterans' Affairs Committee. I
admire his leadership. I admire his commitment to the veterans of
America. It has been a pleasure to know him and to serve in the Senate
with an advocate for our American veterans.
I would also like to thank Senator Blumenthal, whose partnership I
have been with for a long period of time. Without his leadership and
support, this legislation would not be coming to the floor.
Every day approximately 22 American veterans commit suicide, totaling
over 8,000 veteran suicides each year. I repeat: 8,000 veteran suicides
each year. It is evident by these staggering numbers that our military
and veterans affairs programs are not effectively treating post-
traumatic stress disorder, known as PTSD, and other mental health
illnesses that can lead to suicide. There are too many disconnected and
ineffective treatment programs, and as a result our service men and
women are suffering from the bureaucracy.
Against this backdrop, I wish to highlight the story of Clay Hunt,
for whom this proposed legislation is named. Clay enlisted in the
Marine Corps in May of 2005, deployed to Al Anbar Province near
Fallujah in January 2007.
During that deployment Clay Hunt was shot in the wrist by a sniper's
bullet that barely missed his head, a wound for which he received a
Purple Heart. Despite having been wounded, Clay Hunt volunteered and
graduated from Marine Corps Scout Sniper School in March 2008.
After another deployment to Afghanistan, Clay was honorably
discharged from the marines in April 2009. After returning home, Clay
suffered from the effects of PTSD for many years and struggled with
inadequate care at his
[[Page S718]]
local VA hospital. Subsequently, Clay took his own life in March 2011
at the age of 28. Clay is only one example of veterans who are trying
to make their way in our country today, but who suffer, more so than
they have to, because of Department of Defense and Department of
Veterans Affairs mismanagement of resources for suicide prevention and
mental health treatment.
This bipartisan bill will lay the foundation for improved mental
health care and better suicide prevention resources for our American
servicemembers. Specifically, this bill would require an independent
evaluation of existing suicide prevention programs at the DOD and VA,
gauge their effectiveness, and make recommendations for consolidation,
elimination, or improvement.
Additionally, this legislation would establish a new single Web site
that provides information for veterans regarding available mental
health care services, create a pilot loan repayment program to recruit
more psychiatrists to treat veterans at the VA, improve the exchange of
training best practices and other resources among the VA and nonprofit
mental health organizations, create a community outreach pilot program
to assist with and mitigate the stressors of servicemembers
transitioning to civilian life, and provide a 1-year extension for
certain combat veterans to enroll in the VA.
Our Nation has a moral obligation to identify, resource, and make
available to our veterans effective forms of treatment to help
eliminate suicide resulting from severe combat-related psychological
trauma. This bill is an important step to improve the care we provide
to the men and women who have sacrificed for all of us and to whom we
are forever indebted. We owe it to these brave men and women to act
now.
Obviously I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this legislation.
The President's Budget
Mr. President, I would like to briefly discuss the President's budget
request for fiscal year 2016 as it relates to the Veterans'
Administration. In this year's budget request, the President has stated
he will submit legislation to reallocate part of the funding for the
Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act of 2014, legislation he
signed into law just last August, to other programs within the VA.
In other words, he wants to take money from the Veterans Access,
Choice and Accountability Act and put it into other programs within the
VA--a bill we just passed last August. It clearly suggests that the
President of the United States is disconnected from the needs of our
veterans and he may be more solicitous about supporting a bloated,
demonstrably dysfunctional bureaucracy than ensuring that quality care
is available to our veterans.
Our veterans have suffered long enough with wait times and scheduling
delays at the VA, and deserve to have the right to choose where and
when they get their health care. Taking funding away from this
legislation, especially the choice card, shows a complete disregard for
our veterans' well-being and the service they provide to our country.
If or when this legislative proposal comes to the Hill, I would urge
my colleagues to vote against it--in fact, not even consider it.
I want to thank my colleagues. I am sure we will have an overwhelming
vote today. I think it is an important step forward.
I would like to thank all of the veterans organizations and veterans
advocates who have made the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention Act for
American Veterans a reality. But I would also like to urge my
colleagues to understand that this problem, this serious problem, of
8,000 veteran suicides each year is not going away anytime soon. So do
not believe the passage of this legislation will somehow be a cure-all.
That can only come through long and persistent efforts and care and
concern for our veterans who have given so much to their country. So I
am very honored to be a part of this legislation.
Again, I want to thank the chairman of the Veterans' Affairs
Committee and the ranking member, Senator Sanders. I would like to
thank Senator Burr, who was ranking member previously.
My friends, we have a long way to go. We have a lot of young men who
have not been able to come all the way home. It is our job and our
obligation to do everything we possibly can not only to honor them but
to see that they have a safe and secure future, and one in which the
thought of suicide would never be any consideration.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I rise today to express my strong
support for the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans--
SAV--Act, of which I am a cosponsor.
This bill addresses a true public health crisis facing our Nation's
military members and veterans: suicide. You see, an estimated 22
veterans commit suicide every day. According to data from the
Department of Veterans Affairs, VA, young veterans are particularly at
risk, dying by suicide more often than both Active-Duty troops and
civilians. In fact, the Department of Defense, DOD, reports that in
2012 and 2013 more veterans died by committing suicide than died in the
Iraq and Afghanistan wars. This is a serious problem that must be
addressed.
The legislation being considered today is named for a marine who
served in Iraq and Afghanistan and who committed suicide in 2011. He
was 28. After being honorably discharged from the Marine Corps, Clay
Hunt sought VA medical care for post-traumatic stress disorder. He
constantly voiced concerns about the care he was receiving, both in
terms of scheduling and the treatment received, which consisted solely
of medication.
Clay decided to move closer to his family but had to wait months to
see a psychiatrist at the VA medical center. After the appointment,
Clay called his mother on his way home and told her that the VA is way
too stressful of a place and that he can't go back. Two weeks later,
Clay took his own life. Despite Clay Hunt's proactive and open approach
to seeking care to address his injuries, the VA system did not
adequately address his needs.
Unfortunately, this story is far too common. In 2014, Jeremy Sears, a
Camp Pendleton, CA, marine who survived several tours in Iraq and
Afghanistan, also took his own life after struggling to receive
adequate care from the San Diego VA Medical Center. It took the VA 16
months to respond to Jeremy's disability claim. After the long wait,
Jeremy received a letter that he had been denied all disability
payments, despite reporting symptoms of traumatic brain injury and
hearing loss from his military service. The 35-year-old former Camp
Pendleton marine tragically took his own life almost 2 years after
being discharged from service.
These tragedies are unacceptable, and it is our moral duty to ensure
that the men and women who bravely serve our country have access to the
mental health care needed to address serious mental health conditions
like depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.
What does this bill do? The SAV Act is an important bill that will
improve the delivery of mental health care to veterans and will address
obstacles in the VA and DOD health care systems.
Under this bill, special care and attention will be given to service
personnel transitioning from Active-Duty to veteran status through
community outreach and peer support groups. The legislation also calls
for a one-stop Web site with suicide prevention resources for veterans.
In addition, to make recruitment of mental health professionals easier,
the bill creates new incentives for psychiatrists who agree to serve at
the VA. Both Department of Defense and VA suicide-prevention programs
will also be required to be evaluated each year to increase
accountability and improve care. Lastly, this bill empowers the VA to
collaborate with Veteran Service Organizations and nonprofit mental
health organizations to combat veteran suicide.
Suicide is a deadly epidemic for veterans that the Federal Government
must address. This bill will be a starting point, by requiring the VA
to prioritize suicide prevention. However, Congress must continue to
work to address this critical public health issue,
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and I hope this will be one of many steps we will take to prevent
veteran and military suicides.
I urge all of my colleagues to support the passage of the Clay Hunt
Suicide Prevention for American Veterans, SAV, Act.
Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, I remain strongly committed to our
veterans and their families. When America sends our men and women to
war, we vow to care for them when they return. However, throughout the
Nation, we have seen reports of our veterans enduring long wait times,
substandard quality of care, and a lack of transparency at the
Department of Veterans Affairs.
In my great State of Oklahoma, we have a large population of veterans
at roughly 340,000. From 2005-2012, there was an increase of 34 percent
in the annual veteran suicide rate in Oklahoma, totaling 1,018 veteran
suicide deaths. An average of 127 deaths per year is not acceptable. We
must help our veterans get access to the best mental health and suicide
prevention programs.
I believe the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for Americans bill will
provide opportunities for the VA to work collaboratively with local
community organizations and require an evaluation of the various mental
health care programs to identify the efficiencies or lack thereof. It
will also allow the VA to compete in recruiting the necessary staff for
the mental health care and suicide prevention programs. We cannot allow
VA psychiatry positions to remain open for long periods of time, and
the education loan repayment pilot program will assist the VA in
attracting the much needed psychiatrists to support those currently
employed with the abundant workload. With this bill, Congress will
exercise its constitutional right to oversight of the VA while
requiring the Department to use the resources it already has.
Freedom is not free. Many of our veterans and their families have
paid and continue to pay the price for us and our great Nation. It is
our duty to honor the promises made to them in return for their
sacrifices.
Mr. SANDERS. Mr. President, I have spoken repeatedly on this floor
about the cost of war. In doing so, I have tried to remind the American
people and my colleagues that the cost of war does not end when the
last shots are fired and the last missiles launched. The cost of war is
very, very expensive not just in dollars and cents but in terms of
human life and human suffering.
The cost of war in Iraq and Afghanistan is almost 7,000 dead. Nearly
52,000 servicemembers have returned with physical wounds; however, more
than 200,000 service men and women are seeking treatment for post-
traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injury.
The cost of war is nearly 1,600 servicemembers who face amputations,
to include a number of with multiple amputations.
The cost of war is veterans returning home unable to find jobs and
get their feet back on the ground financially.
The cost of war is high divorce rates and the impact that family
stress has on children.
The cost of war is mothers losing their children to suicide.
Late last session the Veterans' Affairs Committee heard from two
mothers--Valerie Pallotta from Vermont and Susan Selke from Texas--
whose lives have been forever changed because of the wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan.
The experience these two mothers shared with the committee goes well
beyond anything I can put into words. They shared powerful stories
about their own cost of war--the tragic suicides of their sons
following their return from combat. They talked about their sons'
struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder and efforts to seek help
from the Department of Veterans Affairs. It is with the stories shared
by these mothers in mind that I come to the floor today.
As chairman of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, I worked hard to
listen to and address concerns brought to my attention by veterans,
their family members and advocates within the military and veterans'
community.
The ideas in the bill under consideration--which will be voted on
shortly--are the result of the work of the families and friends of
those who have committed suicide, advocates, and countless others who
continue to search and fight for solutions to address the staggering
rate of suicide among veterans.
This bill is a good start. Everyone needs to be thanked for their
efforts, especially the mothers who came before our committee and
shared their thoughts on mental health and suicide.
But, we can never do too much in the area of veterans' mental health
and suicide. That is why I intend to pursue additional enhancements at
another time. I do not want to slow down the bill we will be voting on
today--but I want my colleagues to recognize that much, much more needs
to be done to assist veterans and families struggling with either their
own mental health conditions or a loved ones' mental health condition.
We can never do enough.
Briefly, let me tell you what additional provisions I will be pursing
at a later time.
Currently, returning veterans have 5 years from their date of
discharge to enroll in the VA health care system and receive free
health care for their medical conditions resulting from their service.
The bill we are voting on today would provide an additional 1-year
window during which VA can provide health care for veterans whose
eligibility for the initial 5-year period has lapsed.
Now, is that exactly what I wanted? No. I think the period of
eligibility for health care at VA following separation from service
should be 10 years.
We hear time and time again that for many veterans, problems do not
necessarily manifest until years after they have returned from war.
Then it might take some time before they actually seek assistance at
VA. However, recognizing the importance of getting this legislation to
the President's desk as soon as possible, I intend to pursue that
provision at another time.
During her testimony before this committee last session, Valerie
Pallotta, the mother of a veteran who succumbed to suicide, talked
about her desire to see complementary and alternative medicine
opportunities expanded at VA.
While VA has made significant strides in providing complementary and
alternative medicine at VA medical centers, access to such services is
not standardized across VA. I commend VA's current efforts, but more
must be done.
I will pursue expanding access to complementary and alternative
medicine at another time, so that we can increase the likelihood that
veterans will get the care that not only meets their needs, but their
personal preferences, as well.
We have also heard that families, who are caring for loved ones with
mental health conditions, are highly stressed and looking for resources
to help their loved ones. At the moment, VA has only limited capacity
to offer support and education to family members and caregivers of
veterans with mental health conditions. This is an issue I will pursue
in the near-future.
We could never do too much to help veterans and their family members
after these veterans return from war. As I said earlier, this bill is a
good start--but we have much more to do.
Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, I know we are close to a vote on the Clay
Hunt suicide prevention bill. As chairman of the Veterans' Affairs
Committee, who has just left the Veterans' Administration this morning
after a 3-hour meeting with employees, I want to tell all of the
Members of the Senate how much I appreciate their commitment to this
bill, how much I would appreciate their vote in favor of this bill.
Every day in America, 22 veterans commit suicide. Every year in
America, 8,000 veterans commit suicide. Eight thousand is more than all
who have lost their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan over the last 13
years. Suicide is a critical problem in the VA. The Clay Hunt bill
focuses and targets on what we need: more psychiatric care, more
accountability in the VA, and an investment in the future of our
soldiers who have come home after defending our country for ourselves.
As chairman of the committee, I want to thank Senator McCain, Senator
Blumenthal, Senator Boozman, and Senator Burr for their tremendous
effort and work to bring this about. I want to thank the members of the
committee who unanimously passed
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this out, including the Presiding Officer, in the very first meeting of
the Veterans' Affairs Committee.
I encourage every Member of the Senate to vote for the Clay Hunt
suicide prevention bill and make an investment in the future of the
lives we will save of our veterans who return with mental health
problems.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Connecticut.
Mr. BLUMENTHAL. Mr. President, I want to begin by thanking Chairman
Isakson for giving the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American
Veterans Act the priority it needs and deserves. I know the Presiding
Officer, as a veteran, understands and supports the vital mission of
this legislation.
I also want to thank the veterans service organizations, particularly
the IAVA, for the critical role they have played in heightening
awareness and educating the American public about the scourge that
veteran suicide reflects in our society, the unacceptable 22 veterans
who commit suicide every day in the greatest, strongest Nation in the
history of the world.
Our veterans all too often succumb to the invisible wounds and inner
demons that come home with them. They lack the mental health care they
need and deserve because the VA lacks the resources to provide that
health care.
I know the VA is committed to do better. Senator Isakson and I have
just returned from 3 hours at the VA, where we heard the Secretary, as
well as his top-ranking staff, commit to using this act as a means of
enhancing and increasing the quality and quantity of mental health care
our veterans deserve. Far too many of our veterans have succumbed to
suicide, including a friend of mine, Justin Eldridge, whose widow
Joanna was my guest at the State of the Union.
She has struggled in the wake of his death with their children to
survive this tragedy. Her courage and strength mirror those same
qualities of bravery and fortitude demonstrated by Susan Selke who
testified before our committee about her son Clay Hunt, for whom this
bill is named. My hope is we can continue this bipartisan work
together.
I thank Senator McCain, the cosponsor of this bill, and hope we keep
faith with all of our veterans and make the VA the pioneer and champion
of mental health care so we end the scourge of veteran suicide in this
great Nation.
I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this measure.
I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. ISAKSON. I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum
call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, I ask for a vote to be called, and I ask
that it be a rollcall vote on the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for
American Veterans Act.
I ask for the yeas and nays.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
There appears to be a sufficient second.
The bill was ordered to a third reading and was read the third time.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The bill having been read the third time, the
question is, Shall the bill pass?
The clerk will call the roll.
The bill clerk called the roll.
Mr. CORNYN. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator
from Illinois (Mr. Kirk).
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Cruz). Are there any other Senators in the
Chamber desiring to vote?
The result was announced--yeas 99, nays 0, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 50 Leg.]
YEAS--99
Alexander
Ayotte
Baldwin
Barrasso
Bennet
Blumenthal
Blunt
Booker
Boozman
Boxer
Brown
Burr
Cantwell
Capito
Cardin
Carper
Casey
Cassidy
Coats
Cochran
Collins
Coons
Corker
Cornyn
Cotton
Crapo
Cruz
Daines
Donnelly
Durbin
Enzi
Ernst
Feinstein
Fischer
Flake
Franken
Gardner
Gillibrand
Graham
Grassley
Hatch
Heinrich
Heitkamp
Heller
Hirono
Hoeven
Inhofe
Isakson
Johnson
Kaine
King
Klobuchar
Lankford
Leahy
Lee
Manchin
Markey
McCain
McCaskill
McConnell
Menendez
Merkley
Mikulski
Moran
Murkowski
Murphy
Murray
Nelson
Paul
Perdue
Peters
Portman
Reed
Reid
Risch
Roberts
Rounds
Rubio
Sanders
Sasse
Schatz
Schumer
Scott
Sessions
Shaheen
Shelby
Stabenow
Sullivan
Tester
Thune
Tillis
Toomey
Udall
Vitter
Warner
Warren
Whitehouse
Wicker
Wyden
NOT VOTING--1
Kirk
The bill (H.R. 203) was passed.
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