[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 155 (Wednesday, September 27, 2017)]
[House]
[Pages H7567-H7573]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SEPTEMBER IS SUICIDE PREVENTION MONTH
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Gaetz). Under the Speaker's announced
policy of January 3, 2017, the gentlewoman from Arizona (Ms. Sinema) is
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.
Ms. SINEMA. Mr. Speaker, September is Suicide Prevention Month, a
[[Page H7568]]
time for our Nation to raise awareness about the recurring tragedy of
suicide.
This epidemic is too common for the men and women who wore our
country's uniform and put their lives on the line to defend our
freedom. An estimated 20 veterans lose their lives to suicide each and
every day.
A new VA report shows the risk for suicide is 22 percent higher among
veterans than civilians, and 250 percent higher amongst female veterans
than female civilians. This is unacceptable.
Twenty veterans a day lost to suicide should be a call to action for
our country and for this Congress. We must take action, and we must do
it now.
Typically, the time in this Chamber is split. Republicans have 1 hour
and Democrats have 1 hour, but we believe this issue is too important
to be overshadowed by partisan politics. That is why, tonight,
Congressman Tim Murphy and I have brought together Members from both
sides of the aisle to show our commitment to solving this problem
together and finding real solutions for our veterans.
This is the fifth year that we have assembled this team to raise
awareness and send a clear message that the epidemic of veteran suicide
must end. We have so much work left to do. So tonight we demonstrate
our ongoing support for individuals, organizations, and agencies
devoted to preventing the epidemic of veteran suicide. We challenge the
VA, the Department of Defense, and our fellow lawmakers to do more. We
are failing in our obligation to do right by those who have sacrificed
so much for our freedom.
Finally, we stand here tonight, unified, for the military families
who have experienced this tragedy, and we say to you: Your family's
loss is not forgotten. We work for the memory of your loved ones, and
we will not rest until every veteran has access to the care he or she
needs.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Johnson), who
understands the importance of addressing this epidemic, a colleague and
friend of mine.
Thank you for being here this evening.
Mr. JOHNSON of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for
yielding and giving me an opportunity to speak on such a critically
important topic.
You know, I served for 26\1/2\ years, Mr. Speaker, in the United
States Air Force. I pinned Purple Hearts on the chests of some of my
troops that had gone into harm's way. I know the stress and strain on
military families and on military members. I represent a district that
arguably is one of the largest, if not the largest, veteran-populated
districts in the State of Ohio, with nearly 50,000. And yet today, in
2017, we see 20 veterans per day, 1 every 72 minutes, committing
suicide.
What does that say about us as a nation when we send our young people
off in uniform to stand in harm's way, to protect our freedoms, to
protect our liberties, to protect our values and way of life, and then
when they come home we can't get them the help that they need when they
are down?
One of the saddest days since I began serving the people of eastern
and southeastern Ohio was the day I got a call from a young wife of a
military member. She said she had been dealing with the VA for quite
some time to get her husband an appointment with a mental health
counselor, all to no avail. He couldn't get in, couldn't get in,
couldn't get in.
I stopped by the VA center one day. I asked to speak to the director,
gave the young man's name, and I said: I would like to see the status
of his appointment.
They looked him up in the system, and they said: Well, you will be
happy to know, Congressman, that he has got an appointment next
Wednesday.
I said: Well, I am actually here to tell you that you can cancel that
appointment because he committed suicide last week.
He had been waiting for weeks and weeks and weeks to get in to see a
mental health counselor, struggling with PTSD and the emotional and
mental battle scars that came back with him from combat overseas. You
know, it is one thing that we send our young people away to fight for
us on foreign soil. Imagine for a second what their families go through
when they are gone day in and day out, not knowing if they are going to
get that call or that knock at the door to tell them that their loved
one has been injured or, worse, killed in action. And then we bring
their loved one home, and they are helpless in terms of getting them
the care and the treatment that they need.
I agree with my colleague: we need to do more. The agencies, the VA,
the Department of Defense, mental health counselors all over the
country, Congress, families, communities, we need to do more to help
our veterans get back on their feet after they have participated in
that inhumane, disastrous, catastrophic event known as war.
Mr. Speaker, it almost leaves you speechless to think about the
millions of families that are impacted by this, 20 per day--20 per day.
One per day is unacceptable, but yet we are seeing 20 per day.
I urge my colleagues and I urge our agencies in the Federal
Government--the VA, the DOD--let's get behind an effort, and let's turn
this trend in the opposite direction.
Mr. Speaker, I thank you for the time to speak.
Ms. SINEMA. Mr. Speaker, I would like to extend my thanks and
gratitude to Congressman Johnson. Not only is he an amazing
Representative for the people of Ohio, he is also a veteran who served
our country ably and proudly, and his story of a veteran in his
district lost to suicide should be a call to all of us around the
country to take care of the veterans in each of our districts.
We have made some progress since last year. I have often shared the
story of a young veteran in my district, Sergeant Daniel Somers.
Sergeant Somers was an Army veteran of two tours in Iraq. He served on
Task Force Lightning, an intelligence unit. He ran over 400 combat
missions as a machine gunner in the turret of a Humvee. Part of his
role required him to interrogate dozens of terror suspects, and his
work was deemed classified.
Like many veterans, Daniel was haunted by the war when he returned.
He suffered from flashbacks, nightmares, depression, and additional
symptoms of post-traumatic stress, made worse by a traumatic brain
injury.
Daniel needed help. He and his family asked for help, but,
unfortunately, the VA enrolled Sergeant Somers in group therapy
sessions, which Sergeant Somers could not attend for fear of disclosing
classified information. Despite requests for individualized counseling
or some other reasonable accommodation to allow Sergeant Somers to
receive appropriate care for his PTSD, the VA delayed providing
Sergeant Somers with appropriate support and care.
Like many, Sergeant Somers' isolation got worse when he transitioned
to civilian life. He tried to provide for his family, but he was unable
to work due to his disability.
Sergeant Somers struggled with the VA bureaucracy. His disability
appeal had been pending in the system for over 2 years without
resolution. Sergeant Somers didn't get the help he needed in time.
On June 10 of 2013, Sergeant Somers wrote a letter to his family. In
the letter he said: ``I am not getting better, I am not going to get
better, and I will most certainly deteriorate further as time goes
on.''
{time} 1900
He went on to say:
``Thus, I am left with basically nothing. Too trapped in a war to be
at peace, too damaged to be at war. Abandoned by those who would take
the easy route, and a liability to those who stick it out--and, thus,
deserve better. So you see, not only am I better off dead, but the
world is better without me in it.
``This is what brought me to my actual final mission.''
We lost Sergeant Somers that day.
No one who returns home from serving our country should ever feel
like he or she has nowhere to turn. I am committed to working on both
sides of the aisle to ensure that no veteran ever feels trapped like
Sergeant Somers did, and that all of our veterans have access to
appropriate mental healthcare.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Florida (Mrs. Murphy) a
freshman representative and a great addition to our Congress.
Mrs. MURPHY of Florida. Mr. Speaker, September is Suicide Prevention
[[Page H7569]]
Month, and I rise to bring awareness to the pressing issue of veteran
suicide.
When our servicemembers go overseas, they bravely and selflessly risk
their own lives for the greater good. But when they return home, our
veterans face new adversities. Many are confronted by intense emotional
distress, including depression and post-traumatic stress. Others
struggle to readjust to civilian life or to reintegrate into their
families and their social networks.
Unfortunately, too many veterans succumb to their mental anguish.
America loses 20 Americans every day to suicide. It is time we step up
and be there for them and provide them the support they deserve.
I encourage anyone who knows a veteran--whether a family member, a
coworker, or a friend--to reach out. A simple gesture of kindness can
make all the difference in the life of a veteran going through a
difficult time.
I will do my part in Congress, fighting for more and better resources
to support our veterans. Veterans fought for us. Now it is time we
fight for them.
Ms. SINEMA. Mr. Speaker, Sergeant Somers' story is familiar to too
many military families. Sergeant Somers' parents, Howard and Jean, were
devastated by the loss of their son, but they bravely shared Sergeant
Somers' story and created a mission of their own. Their mission is to
ensure that Sergeant Somers' story brings to light America's deadliest
war--the 20 veterans that we lose every day to suicide.
Howard and Jean are working with Congress and the VA to share their
experience with the VA healthcare system and to find ways to improve
care for veterans and their families. We worked closely with Howard and
Jean to develop the Sergeant Daniel Somers Classified Veterans Access
to Care Act, and ensure veterans of classified experiences can access
appropriate VA mental healthcare services.
After more than 3 years of work, I am proud to say that the Sergeant
Daniel Somers Classified Veterans Access to Care Act is now law. But
this is just one small step forward, and our work with Howard and Jean
doesn't stop here. We have so much work left to do.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. David Scott),
who has served veterans bravely in Congress and home in his district
for many years.
Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I thank Ms. Sinema for that
very nice introduction.
Ladies and gentlemen of the Nation who are listening or watching us
on C-SPAN, I want to impress that we have exactly, right now, 40,000
soldiers--veterans--who are committing suicide each year.
This is a national crisis, but it is more than that. It is a national
tragedy, but it is more than that. It is an American national shame.
These soldiers go where they are commanded to go. They go into a hail
of bullets. They go and they fight and they die. They leave an arm,
they leave a leg, they leave so much of themselves on the battlefield,
and so many leave their minds there because of the devastation. And
when we bring them back home, the level of treatment that many of them
are getting, and even not getting, is, again, a national tragedy and a
national shame.
It is my home that the plea that America will hear this day from
these Members of Congress will awaken us to what I believe is, and
should be, the number one issue facing this Nation: take care of our
veterans.
Twenty a day, 40,000 every year, is terrible.
Now, myself, what am I doing?
Each year, I put on a jobs fair. But I don't put on that jobs fair by
myself. Partnering with me is the VA, where we have, in Atlanta,
Georgia, at that convention and trades center, a jobs fair each year
with the VA, and we are averaging about 450 jobs each year.
But we don't stop there. We have a health fair because it is the
PTSD--post-traumatic stress syndrome--that is this archenemy that we
are not examining. The reason for that is that there is a severe
shortage of psychiatrists in the VA and there is a severe shortage of
primary care physicians in the VA.
So right here in this legislature, my good Republican friend, Larry
Bucshon from Indiana, and I--and he is a doctor--have worked together.
We put together legislation 2 years ago, in 2015, for the special
appropriations for veterans that we would pay the tuition, pay the loan
forgiveness, for those physicians who are psychiatrists and who will go
and work in the VA.
But we didn't stop there. Knowing how the vagarious income levels are
structured and the pay scales are structured according to where you
live in the United States--and we have VA hospitals, VA centers all
over this country, and the salary levels vary--we made sure that an
added incentive would be to those graduating psychiatrists who will go
and help our veterans and go help us fulfill this shortage, that we
would make sure that their incoming salary would be at least 2 percent
higher than that average.
My only heartbreak in all of this is that we were only able to get
12. And I can tell you how much that broke my heart by this Congress.
But it is a start.
This bill will be replenished. And if you in the public can help us,
if we want to do something right now about cutting down on the number
of suicides that our veterans are having, help us get more
psychiatrists into the VA system, help me and Larry Bucshon and many
Democrats and Republicans who voted for the initial piece of
legislation--we only got 12 the first time, but we should get 300, 400,
500. We should be willing to make that appropriation.
We can talk, we can sympathize, we can do all of that, but we need to
get better treatment, psychiatric treatment, for our veterans. That
will not happen, ladies and gentlemen, if we don't get more
psychiatrists into the VA system.
So give Larry Bucshon from Indiana, my Republican friend, a call. My
office, give me a call. But better than that, call your Congressman and
say: Let's get this bill expanded so we can get more psychiatrists.
The Congress will move if the American people say move.
Now, finally, I must say this. There is no one that embodies the
final words of Jesus Christ before he was crucified. Those final words
that he spoke to his disciples 24 hours before he was crucified were:
``Love one another as I have loved you.''
And there is no greater love than that one who will lay down his life
for his friend. That, ladies and gentlemen, is our veteran.
Ms. SINEMA. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Scott for being here and
for his passion for veterans.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Murphy)
to talk about this important issue we have been working on together.
Mr. Murphy has been serving in Congress since 2002. He is our only
practicing psychologist serving in Congress, and he is the co-chair of
the Mental Health Caucus. In addition, Congressman Murphy is a
commander in the Navy Reserve and provides services to veterans at the
Walter Reed National Military Medical Center specializing in treating
those individuals who are suffering from traumatic brain injuries and
post-traumatic stress disorder. It is a privilege to serve with him in
Congress and work on this important issue.
Mr. MURPHY of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from
Arizona for her dedication to helping veterans.
It will be often cited that 20 veterans a day take their own lives.
It is important that we take a deeper dive into why that is because, as
a society, we want to know.
There will be upwards of 40-some thousand suicides this year in our
Nation. Even one is too many. And I know that organizations that deal
with suicide prevention want to see that drop considerably. But there
is some understanding that is important for us to know what we can do
and what stands in the way.
I want to note that those who serve in the military are about 1
percent of the population. Those who have served in World War II,
Korea, and Vietnam are dying off fast from natural causes. But a great
many of those veterans who do take an act of suicide are above age 50.
Many of them have never served in combat.
Characteristic groups, such as the Army National Guard and reservists
are among those who do have some
[[Page H7570]]
higher rates. It has been interpreted that perhaps one of the reasons
for that is that they do not stay with their cohorts after combat. They
go back home, come back on weekends, but don't have that same day-to-
day support.
We also know the military, very much so after Vietnam, when you were
done with your time, when you got your points, you were gone.
{time} 1915
You could be in the middle of a battle, and you would be picked up by
helicopter and taken home with encrusted blood still on your uniform
from your friends, but you were sent back to the States--no chance to
recover, no chance to develop from that, no chance to even get a
checkup from the neck up, and, as a matter of fact, that was not even
done. So for those who did serve in Vietnam and Korea and World War II,
you just went back to life.
We have learned it is important to do more for people, and we do try
and understand what is it, the characteristics among those who have
taken their own lives, or tried to, that causes that to happen.
First of all, it is worth noting that about 70 percent of those who
have taken their own lives who were veterans have not been involved
with the VA hospital system. That is extremely important to know. They
are not involved.
Now, that could be a number of reasons. It could be veterans who were
not eligible for involvement at the VA. Many reservists and guards are
not unless they served Active-Duty time, and even that is a limited
timeframe. They also may have not been early identified when they came
out of the military that would make them eligible for services. And,
quite frankly, in many cases, it just is not near their home.
A study that was done with people at Fort Carson, Colorado, of 70-
some folks who had attempted suicide, found that the number one reason
that they gave, out of a list of 33 possibilities, was they wanted to
end emotional distress. They simply wanted the pain to stop, and they
ran out of ways to make it stop.
I reflect on the life of my father, who is now gone for other
reasons, but one day when I was at home from college--and he himself
was a World War II veteran--I heard his soft voice calling from the
bathroom, and to see him there with a lot of blood on him, because he
had just attempted to cut his arms and kill himself. Luckily, he did
not. We got him care. But I believe for him, he certainly would have
been in this category. He just wanted the pain to stop.
I don't think it was PTSD or his old signs of war. I think it was,
perhaps, other distress as he dealt with his own alcoholism, or did not
deal with it very well at that time, and the financial distresses of
raising a family, and we just didn't have money, but it was enough to
affect me--lifetime--in terms of trying to understand and dedicate my
life to helping those in psychological need.
I should mention, on September 11, I got my honorable discharge, so I
am no longer in the Navy. I miss it every day, because I loved that
time working with servicemembers who had traumatic brain injuries and
post-traumatic stress and a wide range of other problems, but here are
a few things that I learned from them that are very important.
One is, if you want care in mental health, you just can't get it, not
only because there may not be a VA near you, but even if there was,
many persons who are dealing with panic and anxiety and depression
don't want to leave the house; many with post-traumatic stress
disorders do not want to go onto a bus or into traffic or into
congested areas, because that can bring back some terrible memories for
them. The very thing they need is to get treatment, but the very
problems they have prevent them from getting treatment.
Now, we have passed legislation here that deals with choice to allow
veterans to get that care closer to home. But can they get it? Well,
tragically--not just sadly but tragically--in the area of mental health
services, half the counties in America have no psychiatrist, they have
no psychologist, they have no clinical social worker, they have no
psychiatric nurse practitioner, and they have no licensed drug
treatment counselor. In other words, it is not available.
If you just look at those, for example, with a substance abuse
disorder, of the 22 million, about 75 to 80 percent of them also have a
mental health problem and they are at higher risk for suicide. And
certainly if we have a veteran who has substance abuse and depression,
they are at higher risk.
But look at this group. For every 1,000 people with a substance abuse
disorder--for every 1,000 people--900 do not seek treatment. Out of the
100 who do seek treatment, 37 have got nothing available to them. Of
the 63 who have something available, only six get evidence-based care.
So it is no wonder when we talk to veterans, and they say, ``I tried
getting help, but this person didn't understand. I couldn't get help.
It was a problem that was ongoing,'' at some point they reach that
point where they want to just end their emotional distress.
I remember visiting the house of a veteran. The mother had called me
and said: ``Can you help him? He won't go to the VA. He won't get
help.''
I made a house call. The VA doesn't do that, but I made a house call.
And without revealing too much, I will just say that it was pretty
clear he had a lot of medication around his house. His apartment was
pretty unkempt, food lying around, bottles, dozens and dozens of
bottles of medication unopened, each one from the VA, because probably
each time he went to the VA, they said: ``How are you doing?''
``I am not doing well.''
``Here. We will just increase your dosage,'' or, ``We will give you a
different medication,'' but the system was not set up to say, ``How are
you doing? What else can we do to care for you?'' It simply was not set
up to go to his home and help him out when he missed his appointments,
when he was no longer employed, when he had isolated himself from
society, when, like so many people, covered the windows of their
bedroom with camouflage or some other dark thing so the light doesn't
get in, don't watch TV, just stay away from the world, this shrinking
world that constricts you like a snake around the throat until they see
no more reason to live.
I remember going to the VA hospital and mentioning, ``You know, I
know the Marines are famous for not leaving anyone in the field. What
do you do about some of these other folks with mental health
problems?''
They said, ``We don't go out to their homes.''
I said, ``Why not?''
``We just don't do that.''
``Why not?''
``We just don't.''
I agonize over that as being a Navy healthcare provider to know this
doesn't sound like the Marines. The Marines don't leave someone out
there.
Are we so constricted and tied up by rules that we can't even go and
reach out to them? But that is part of the problem, that we need easier
access to local care, we need care that reaches out to veterans, and
not just say, ``Hey, listen, if you really want to get help, why don't
you suck it up, pull up your bootstraps and go out and get help,''
because some of them are not able to do that yet.
Many of them feel, as a veteran, ``I have faced tougher battles. I
can't let people know I am weak or I am struggling.''
Many of them have addiction disorders, and they don't want people to
know that they are weak and they are struggling.
To those veterans, I say this is not a sign of failure. It is like if
you are in the battle and bullets are coming at you and grenades are
coming at you and incoming fire is coming at you, the last thing you
want to do is deny it is happening. You have to acknowledge it is
happening. What do you do? You get on the radio and you call for help.
That is what we have to make sure veterans understand, that that is
what this is about, depression and panic and anxiety as well.
We need more providers. I have had legislation on a mental health
bill to get more providers. We recently voted on some things in
amendment to the Labor-H bill here to get a little bit more, but we
need thousands of more providers, psychiatrists, psychologists, social
workers, licensed drug treatment counselors. We don't have that.
If Congress really wants to help, we have to do more of that, but
part of the
[[Page H7571]]
problem is this, too: they oftentimes, in the field, have such massive
student loans. And relative to other areas of medicine and healthcare,
they get paid so little, they may choose not to go into these areas of
mental health care. So for those who are the most vulnerable, we make
it the most difficult for them to get care.
Add to that the idea of, who among those who are mental health
providers actually have training and understanding of military
healthcare, understanding military medicine, understanding military
life?
I was commissioned 8 years ago, and I know that when I went on to
officer school, and I went to training, you have got to learn a lot.
The Marines say, ``I learned to shoot a gun, and I can polish my shoes
better than anybody,'' but there is more to it than that. It is
understanding the words, the acronyms, the lifestyle, what a person
goes through.
We could certainly do much better, if not just saying let's hire
people at the VA, but have a program for civilian mental health
professionals, one, to recruit more; two, to pay for more reimbursed
student loans to get them in the workforce; but also, quite frankly, to
give them more regular orientation of what it is like to be a member of
the military. Let them observe boot camp. Let them understand this.
I will give you an example. Once a soldier who I was treating, he
said he had given up getting care for a while. He said the third time
he had to explain to his therapist what an MRAP was, he said, ``Give it
up.'' The MRAP is a military vehicle, commonly known vehicle.
Now, every branch of the military has their own acronyms, and I don't
pretend to know them all, but if a person doesn't even know the basics,
you lose that sort of connection with the patient, and they give up.
The other issue here is that we need to be able to have a system that
monitors the medication closely. It is very common that if someone is
on medication, they are a polypharmacy event; that is, they are taking
so many medications, and then they will take other medications that
counteract the effects of those medications, and then they will take
other medications to deal with the side effects of those medications.
It was not uncommon for us at Walter Reed to have a patient on 8 or
10 or 15 or more meds that they were on. We found that we reduced them
down to one or two.
But with medication comes weight gains, comes increase for diabetes,
comes other problems, comes stresses in the family, comes situations
where they are estranged from their spouse, difficulties with children,
episodes with anger. These aren't bad people, but they see their life
deteriorating, they see questions with regard to what is happening
through their employer, they wonder about their future, they may have
taken poor medication, but sometimes they just give up.
There is a quote by author Steve Goodyear, who had quite an
inspirational quote. I hope, Mr. Speaker, if there are veterans
listening tonight, they take this to heed.
Mr. Goodyear said: My scars remind me that I did indeed survive my
deepest wounds. That in itself is an accomplishment. And they bring to
mind something else too: they remind me that the damage life has
inflicted on me has, in many places, left me stronger and more
resilient. What hurt me in the past has actually made me better
equipped to face the present.
That is a message I want veterans to hear, that having moments of
depression or anxiety or worry are as normal as feeling tired or
hungry, but we know when you get in a downward spiral, it gets worse.
I don't want veterans to give up. I don't want veterans or members of
the military feeling that they have so much emotional distress, this is
the only way to end it.
I understand the feeling, but I also know that, as members of the
community and members who are veterans, we wrap our arms of hope around
those veterans to say there is help out there, and we as Congress
Members have an obligation to make sure we are providing those
services.
It pains me when I think that sometimes we can come up with funding
for all sorts of programs, but for this 1 percent who say, ``I am
willing to take a bullet for you, I am willing to die to defend my
country, its Constitution, and its flag,'' we as Congress ought to be
able to say we are willing to put some money in to help you get more
services.
Also some advice for those veterans who may be listening: It is
extremely important to follow a few guidelines in your own life, too,
besides not giving up, but physical fitness that you were forced to do
in the military and boot camp, and all those pushups and sit-ups and
running and pullups we did, they had a reason; because when you stay
physically fit, it affects your brain functioning and it improves it,
and it is one of the things that is used to fight off depression and
other problems.
Two, you have to have an attitude that is focused on positive things.
You can make it. Many times, part of that attitude, an essential part,
is a strong faith in God, a strong belief there, which gives you that
attitude to say, ``I can do it.'' Navy SEALs talk about the way you eat
an elephant is one bite at a time; the way you temper steel is with
fire; that pain is weakness leaving the body; that courage is something
that is built through experience and focus. It is not something that
just comes, but you build that attitude. So you have fitness, you have
attitude.
Another part is sleep. Many studies I have seen--I think it was Dr.
Germain at the University of Pittsburgh who did studies that said
perhaps sleep is a greater factor with post-traumatic stress, anxiety,
and depression than anything else, and a big part of this is just
getting enough sleep.
Members of Congress, we deal with this a lot in terms of our own
hectic lifestyle, and we know many constituents, because of their
workload, their anxiety in the family, they don't get enough.
It is essential. It doesn't necessarily mean you are crazy, you have
problems, but that is an important part.
Further, training, knowing what you can do, whether it is in the
workplace or the military, we know it is essential.
Making sure one eats right. It sounds obvious. I don't want to make
this in any way sound small, but making sure one is actually eating a
healthy diet is an important part of fighting off suicide, fighting off
depression.
Then making sure that people are paying attention to relax, to
rehabilitate themselves, to do their own personal checkup from the neck
up to make sure they are dealing with these things.
None of those things I just mentioned require help from a doctor. All
of those things are essential to healing and getting better.
When one reaches the point where you say, ``You know what, I need a
little help here; I need to call in support on the radio; I need a
quick response team; I need to pop some smoke; get some help in here,''
that is okay. I want veterans to know not only is that okay, that is
what we are supposed to do.
{time} 1930
You call in help. We don't need dead heroes on the battlefield. We
certainly don't need them in the streets or the homes. We need people
who are saying: Understand, that even though it may be tough to get
help, there is help out there. There is help out there. People want to
facilitate and help you get better.
I don't want anybody to feel that this is the way to end emotional
distress. It is a permanent solution to a temporary problem, and even
if that problem seems to have been going on for years, I know people
can and do get better. I have seen it time and time again. The soldier
or veterans that thought: I can't go on; I have to give up. They can
turn that life around and become a contributor.
One has a few choices. One can be a victim and say: You know what? I
am under this giant boulder. I will never get better. The weight is too
great. I am too weak. I cannot move on. There's no hope.
Or you can move on to another stage and say: I am going to be a
survivor.
On the first part, you say: I am helpless because of what is
happening. When you are a survivor, you say: You know what? I am going
to move on despite what is happening. I will pray more. I will engage
more. I will do
[[Page H7572]]
more. But every day I will wake up and commit more to get through that
day to do something that is important and meaningful. I don't need to
set up a goal of 10 years from now, but let me get through that day.
Let me find some things I can do and focus. It is extremely important.
But beyond that, beyond being a victim or a survivor, is a third
stage, and that is being a thriver, someone who says: I am going to
make sense out of what I have done, and it is going to make me a
stronger person.
What I said here in the quote from Steve Goodier where he says,
``What hurt me in the past has actually made me better equipped to face
the present,'' if I am in a tough situation, if I am in a situation
where I, myself, look at it and I have despair and I lack hope for my
own future and I turn towards someone, give me someone who has been
there before. Give me a veteran. Give me a soldier who understands boot
camp and what is it like to be yelled at and lack sleep. Give me a
veteran who has been on the battlefield. Give me someone who has been
out to sea and understands what it is like to be months without seeing
your family. Give me someone who has been there and says: I made it; so
can you.
I want veterans to have that sort of hope. We have our obligations in
Congress: get more providers, make sure the VA is responsible. But
since most people aren't near a VA, we can do a lot to help them.
I hope that this Veterans Suicide Recognition Month is something that
sometime in the future we can put behind us and make it a thing of the
past. We can do that if veterans themselves make those decisions to get
help, and if we as the Congress make some decisions to get them that
help, and society itself says: Stop having pity on them. Give them help
out of affection and love and respect.
And, by the way, that respect also includes a lot of people who play
professional sports, who have no idea what it is like to have someone
shoot at you and try to kill you. Stand up. Have a backbone instead of
a wishbone. A lot of veterans don't really want to hear that life is
tough for you when you make more money in 15 minutes than they will
make in a lifetime. Show some respect for those folks.
And then as we as a society recognize what they have given to the
last full measure, we will be able to provide the kind of things they
need and save some lives.
Too many times I have gone to a ceremony. You fold a flag 13 times
and hand it to a grieving widow or widower. How much worse it is when
they take their own life, because the stigma among the family is there
was nothing else you could do, and all of us feel helpless when that
happens. Let us make sure we are not part of that problem and, instead,
we are part of the solution to celebrate and help our veterans so these
things don't continue to happen.
Ms. SINEMA. Thank you so much, Congressman Murphy, and thank you for
partnering with me on this important effort this evening.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to my colleague from New York, Thomas Suozzi,
who serves on the Armed Services Committee and has been a great
addition to our caucus this year.
Thank you for joining us.
Mr. SUOZZI. Mr. Speaker, I want to start by thanking Congresswoman
Sinema and Congressman Murphy and all of my Democratic and Republican
colleagues for trying to bring attention to this very important issue.
I also want to thank Secretary Shulkin, who has announced his Get to
Zero initiative to try and address this problem of 20 veterans every
day committing suicide in our country.
Just today, as on many days, I saw a veteran who had lost both of his
legs. It is common here in Washington, D.C., but it is common
throughout every city and every town throughout our country that we see
more and more veterans who have injuries. After 16 years at war, there
are more and more veterans in our country who have been disabled.
With 20 veterans committing suicide every day, we know, however, that
there are many injuries that we cannot see, injuries that veterans
carry around by themselves at home, alone, in the dark of night, with
nothing but their pain.
As Congressman Murphy pointed out, 70 percent of the veterans of the
20 per day that commit suicide in our Nation--70 percent, 14 of the
20--do not have access to veterans benefits at the current time and do
not utilize those services.
In fact, in our Nation today, there are 21 million veterans,
approximately, and of those 21 million veterans, only 7 million have
access to veterans benefits.
I have introduced a bipartisan bill, H.R. 2736, to suggest that what
we need to do in our Nation is provide mental health benefits to every
single veteran in our country, regardless of whether they were Active
Duty, whether they were in the National Guard or in the Reserves,
whether they were honorably discharged or less than honorably
discharged. It is estimated that, since 2009, there have been 22,000
veterans with mental illnesses that have received other than honorable
discharges. Arguably, most of those discharges were because of the same
mental illness that they now carry around with them today.
Think of a veteran who is in crisis, a veteran who is contemplating
suicide, a veteran who, as Congressman Murphy described, is at the end
of their rope and feels that there is no help and the only way to
escape their pain is to commit suicide. Think of that veteran who
reaches out for help at the VA.
Could you imagine going through the bureaucracy to figure out whether
or not you were even eligible for services if you weren't currently
enrolled? You are seeking help, you are in the middle of a crisis, and
you have got to fill out a form. You have got to determine whether or
not you meet the criteria.
I am an attorney and a certified public accountant and a Member of
the United States Congress. I read the requirements, and I couldn't
figure them out. We need to make it much easier for anyone who has ever
worn a uniform in any capacity whatsoever: in battles that we won, in
battles that we lost, whether they were in combat or whether they
worked on a truck, whether they were Active Duty, whether they were
Reserve, whether they were in the National Guard. Every veteran should
have access to mental health services during a crisis. We have to make
it much simpler.
We heard a story tonight from Congressman Johnson, who talked about a
veteran who was trying to get an appointment to get mental health
services in the midst of a crisis, and the time was put off and put off
and put off, and he finally got the appointment. And the Congressman
was informed when he called the VA: Oh, we have good news; the
appointment has been scheduled. The Congressman advised the VA that the
veteran had already committed suicide.
So we have got a couple obligations, I believe. Number one is for
those veterans who are currently utilizing VA services. We have to, as
has been suggested by some of my colleagues, make sure we have the
resources in place so that those veterans receive the services that
they need on a timely basis, especially when they are in crisis, to
make it as easy as possible for them to navigate the bureaucracy and
get the help that they need.
Additionally, we need to make sure that those veterans who are not
currently enrolled for veterans services and veterans benefits are made
eligible for mental health services, certainly in crisis conditions, so
that when someone reaches out to them, they are embraced with the
loving arms of their country, as manifest in the VA, and they are
brought in and cared for and helped to navigate through that crisis in
their life.
There will be talk about how much it is going to cost. There will be
a challenge as to whether or not we can afford to take care of these
men and women who have served our country and are now facing this
crisis in their life.
But I would guarantee you that any American in this country would say
that we have to expend any cost for every veteran because there is no
higher obligation in this Nation than taking care of the men and women
who have worn our uniform, no greater obligation in this country. We
can never forget the vet.
I want to thank Congresswoman Sinema for inviting me here tonight to
talk about my bipartisan bill, H.R. 2736, and for helping to bring
attention
[[Page H7573]]
to this very serious crisis in our country.
Ms. SINEMA. Thank you so much, Congressman Suozzi, for your
commitment to taking care of veterans in our community.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to my colleague from California, Congresswoman
Julia Brownley.
Congressman Julia Brownley has served on the Veterans Committee for 5
years now and is the ranking member on the Health Subcommittee for
Veterans. She has been doing a yeoman's amount of work to help ensure
that our veterans get the care they need when they return home.
Congresswoman, thank you for joining us again.
Ms. BROWNLEY of California. I thank the gentlewoman from Arizona for
yielding to me and for organizing this Special Order hour and bringing
attention to this very, very important topic.
Mr. Speaker, we are here today, both Republicans and Democrats,
because addressing this epidemic of veteran suicide is the highest
priority for Members of both parties.
Congressman Suozzi talked about the fact that Dr. Shulkin, the VA
Secretary, has made this his top clinical priority; and by shining a
clear light on this topic, I hope we can finally reduce the stigma
around mental health issues and be clear about the significant
work that still needs to be done to address this devastating epidemic.
We need to do more because 20 veterans commit suicide each day,
veterans like Sara Leatherman and Linda Raney and Katie Lynn Cesena. As
Congressman Murphy already pointed out, it is also estimated that only
6 of those 20 veterans were receiving VA services.
The VA provides some of the most comprehensive mental healthcare and
resources in the Nation, and we need to encourage more veterans to seek
care that is available, and we must be ready for them.
We do need more providers, and I support Congressman Murphy and
Congressman Scott and others who are advocating for more providers
within the VA.
But, unfortunately, whether it is a lack of providers, long wait
times, or not enough resources devoted to outreach, we face a serious
issue with getting veterans set up with the care that they need. The VA
took an important step forward earlier this year by expanding access to
its mental healthcare for veterans with other than honorable
discharges. That was the right thing to do and the right step, but much
more must be done.
One important component of reducing veteran suicide is to better
understand which programs have been most successful. The Clay Hunt Act
and my bill, the Female Veteran Suicide Prevention Act, required an
independent analysis of the VA's suicide prevention and mental health
programs to find out what works.
It is critical to break this data up based on gender because,
tragically, recent VA data indicates that women veterans are 2\1/2\
times more likely to take their own lives than civilian women.
Actually, that is a better statistic than last year, because last year
it was 6 times more than civilian women. But the reason why that has
been reduced, tragically, is because the number of suicides amongst
civilian women has increased.
As the population of female veterans continues to grow, the VA needs
to recognize their unique experiences and provide the quality
healthcare that will address this suicide epidemic. It is clear that
women on the battlefield experience the same kind of trauma that men
experience on the battlefield, and that may be a very similar
experience, but we know that women's experience in the military serving
our country can be very, very different, and we need to understand how
best to treat both women and men.
{time} 1945
In closing, please let me remind veterans and those who love them
that the VA operates a confidential call line that is open 24 hours a
day, 7 days a week. Please call. If veterans are listening tonight,
please call and have the courage to, if you need that support, make
that call your first step. And any veteran and any family member can
call.
That phone number is 1-800-273-8255, and then you press number 1. You
can also send a text message at 838255. Please, please, if you are in
need, please reach out and make this call.
Please know that we are here for you. We are fighting for you. Give
us a chance to help you.
Ms. SINEMA. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congresswoman Brownley for her
dedication not just to this event every year, but to taking care of
veterans at home and here in Washington.
I thank all of the colleagues from both parties who joined us this
evening. Our thoughts are with all the families who have lost a loved
one to suicide. But our efforts to end veterans' suicide do not end
today or even this month. We are committed to continuing this fight to
ensure that our veterans always know that they have a place to turn.
We can do more. We need a VA that provides real and meaningful help
to veterans in need; a VA that puts veterans first and works
aggressively with community providers to improve the quality and
accessibility of care. We need a VA that is transparent and open to
restore the trust and credibility it has lost. The VA can and must do
better. No one deserves our gratitude and respect more than those who
put their lives on the line for our freedom. And when the VA fails, our
heroes suffer.
We, who enjoy freedom every day, thanks to the sacrifices of our
military servicemen and -women, must all step up to end the epidemic of
veteran suicide.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
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