[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 153 (Thursday, September 13, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H8251-H8254]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SUICIDE PREVENTION MONTH
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Mast). 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, I rise today on behalf of our country's
veterans, who make great sacrifices to keep America safe.
When they return home from service, it is our responsibility to
ensure they receive the care and support of a grateful Nation. For far
too many veterans, that responsibility is not fulfilled. The
government's failure has tragic consequences for those struggling with
mental health illnesses.
September is Suicide Prevention Month. Americans across the country
take time to raise awareness about the tragedy of suicide. We lose an
estimated 20 veterans to suicide each day, and that is unacceptable.
Every year since I have been in Congress, we have brought together
Republicans and Democrats to draw attention to veteran suicide and send
a clear message that this epidemic must end.
Honoring our commitment to veterans is not a partisan issue. We know
the only way to achieve real, lasting change for our Nation's bravest
men and women is to bring both parties together to solve this problem.
Today, Members from both sides of the aisle have joined me to bring
awareness to veteran suicide and we are working together to find
solutions. I know we can make bipartisan progress, because we have done
it before. We have shown it is possible for both parties to work
together to improve veterans' mental healthcare.
After hearing the tragic story of a young Arizona veteran who lost
his life to suicide in 2013, my team worked across the aisle to pass a
bill that improved lifesaving VA mental health services for veterans
with classified experience. It took 3 years of hard work, but our bill
is now law, and it helps veterans successfully transition to civilian
life.
It is important progress, but there is still so much work left to do.
We must serve our bravest men and women, just as they have served us.
We challenge the VA, the Department of Defense, and our fellow
lawmakers to join us in confronting the tragedy of veteran suicide. We
must do more to honor our commitment to American's veterans.
Today and every day, we stand with military families who have lost a
loved one to the tragedy of suicide, and we say to you, your family's
sacrifice will not be forgotten. We will not stop until every veteran
receives the care that he or she needs.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr.
Fitzpatrick), my friend and colleague, and I am grateful to be joined
this afternoon in this Special Order for his comments.
Mr. FITZPATRICK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak of a solemn
topic, one of utmost importance for sure, and I want to thank my
colleague and my friend, Kyrsten Sinema from Arizona, and for all the
work that she is doing for the veterans' community and for hosting this
Special Order.
Mr. Speaker, our Nation's veterans are our finest citizens, to whom
we owe the most. Their sacrifice in defense of freedom allows us to
stand here today in this chamber, a testament to our values and a
symbol of hope.
All too often, we see our Nation's veterans struggle upon their
return home. Issues with depression, substance abuse, and post-
traumatic stress disorder serve as constant reminders of the price they
paid to protect our way of life.
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Tragically, we have seen a rising percentage of these heroes
resorting to taking their own lives. This is beyond unacceptable and
statistics paint a grim picture of this epidemic.
Between 2005 and 2015, Mr. Speaker, suicide rates for all veterans
increased by 25 percent--25 percent between 2005 and 2015.
Additionally, veterans account for nearly 15 percent of suicides in
U.S. adults.
Mr. Speaker, we can do better, and we must do better. I am proud to
stand here today with my colleagues in solidarity against veteran
suicide. I am thankful for the establishment of the third Veterans
Crisis Line call center to provide guidance, support, and critical
resources to those in need. While steps are being taken to prevent
veteran suicide, we still have a long way to go because one hero's
death is one too many.
As Congresswoman Kyrsten Sinema had pointed out, Mr. Speaker,
September is National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, but this
issue will continue to transcend any time frame. For those who
sacrificed for us, we owe them and will continue to fight to eradicate
this public health crisis of veteran suicide.
Mr. Speaker, I want to, once again, thank Congresswoman Sinema for
hosting this Special Order.
Ms. SINEMA. Mr. Speaker, for many veterans, the return to civilian
life can feel overwhelming. Ensuring enough community support and
mental health resources are available is essential.
We recently heard from Andrew, who lives in Chandler, Arizona. He
joined the Marine Corps at 17 years old when he said he was ``full of
motivation and excitement'' to serve. ``I wanted to do my part to
protect America,'' Andrew said.
As an antitank assaultman, Andrew fought beside incredible marines in
Iraq, and when he finally returned
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home, he said he returned with memories of death. Andrew leaned on
loved ones and his faith to pull him out of his darkness.
Ever since, he has continued his healing journey by serving his
fellow veterans. He presses forward with the values instilled on him by
the Marine Corps: honor, courage, and commitment.
Responsibility to care for our veterans belongs to all of us. That is
why we are working with those who interact with veterans each and every
day: letter carriers, librarians, grocery store clerks, and academic
advisers. We are giving community members the tools they need to
support veterans every day right where they live and work. We are also
working to increase the number of peer supports available to veterans.
There are veterans like Andrew who used their experiences, struggles,
and accomplishments to help fellow veterans successfully navigate the
transition to civilian live.
Mr. Speaker, I am grateful to have a colleague and friend of mine
joining us in this Special Order this evening.
Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from New Hampshire (Ms.
Kuster), my friend.
Ms. KUSTER of New Hampshire. Mr. Speaker, I thank the Congresswoman
for yielding and for hosting this Special Order on this important
issue.
Every single day, we ask the men and women who serve our Nation in
uniform to make incredible sacrifices on behalf of our Nation, and they
never fail to deliver for us.
These brave Americans and their families know the true meaning of
service, but that service often comes at a price. Our men and women in
uniform, our veterans, cannot be cast aside once they have returned
home. The prevalence of suicide among servicemembers and veterans is a
stain on our collective conscience.
Servicemembers throughout the history of our country have had
harrowing experiences in their service to defend this country and
protect our way of life.
But it has only been recently that the scope of the trauma of war has
been truly understood. Since the time of Abraham Lincoln, we, as a
country, have made a solemn vow to care for those who have borne the
battle, a vow that has made caring for veterans one of the few
bipartisan issues in this era of divisiveness in Washington.
Today, we must ensure that our solemn promise to veterans extends to
effective mental healthcare. No veteran should ever have to wait for
this type of care, which can be just as crucial for recovery as
physical health services.
My father, Malcolm McLane, flew fighter planes during World War II.
He was shot down in the Battle of the Bulge, and spent 6 months in a
German POW camp. When I was a child, he rarely spoke about his
experiences during the war, but now, in hindsight, I believe that he
was experiencing what we now know to be PTSD.
We understand so much more today about the brain and the impact of
trauma that so many of our servicemembers endure, and it is critical
that the VA and our society use that knowledge to improve care for
veterans when they return home.
We must ensure that the unseen wounds of war receive the attention
they deserve. Many of us today voted to fund veterans' mental health
and suicide prevention programs. And while it is commendable that
Congress is taking important steps to address this issue, much more
needs to be done to ensure that no veteran is left behind.
As a member of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, I fight for the men
and women who fight for us. During National Suicide Awareness
Prevention Month, we should all pledge to work together to ensure that
no veteran ever has trouble accessing the mental health services that
he or she needs and deserves.
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentlewoman from Arizona, Kyrsten
Sinema, for her commitment to this issue. She was very effective in the
testimony that she brought to the Veterans' Affairs Committee, and I
appreciate her perseverance.
Ms. SINEMA. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Florida (Mr.
Mast), my friend and colleague. I thank the Congressman so much for the
work that he has done to join us today. I appreciate it.
Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, I guess I found in my time that suicide is an
epidemic of purpose, and worth, and value.
I come to this line of thought because I have had countless veterans
call me; reach out to my office; find me on Facebook; find me on some
other form of social media; had a member of their family call my office
or reach out, a mother, or a spouse, and talk about the fact that their
veteran wants to take their life.
And in seeing that play out time and time again, I realize each and
every time that somebody is out there searching for their value in
their life. They are searching for where is their value? Where is their
worth to the rest of the world? And for me, that helps me to recognize
that this can be prevented.
I think veterans face this challenge in a unique way and in an
elevated way, not because the challenge of war or recovering from
injury is something that cannot be overcome. I think most of us end up
finding in our lives that when we have overcome something incredibly
difficult, those are the most memorable and purposeful moments of our
life.
No person, veteran included, should have to believe that their
greatest contribution to the world, or to their Nation, or to their
family, or their community is something that is behind them.
That is something that is especially difficult for a veteran to
overcome because their worth, and their value, and their work every
single day was tied directly to serving all of those things at the
highest possible level, serving their brothers and their sisters to
their left and right, knowing that on any given day, they might have
the opportunity to save a life, to save the life of one of their
closest friends that they could ever have in life, a friend that would
be willing to do absolutely everything for them, to include sacrificing
their own life for that friend of them.
It is hard to replicate, maybe impossible to replicate, that purpose,
and that worth, and that value. And I believe that it is in that that
we find such a challenge to overcome suicide with our veterans because
of everything that they have already given this country, and the drive,
and the determination, and the will, and the intestinal fortitude
inside of our veterans to want to go out there and find the next
greatest thing in life, the next greatest way to serve.
That is the difficult challenge that we find ourselves trying to
overcome. In having so many veterans reach out to me, I have learned
this about veteran suicide. Each of them who were prevented from taking
their life have said that there was nothing I could do, if somebody
else didn't reach out to them. Because I could have not known anybody
else that they could have told, that they didn't tell, they wouldn't
have known.
It is in that that I believe it is important that we as veterans make
a commitment to one another about being there for one another; about
the fact that we had an oath that we never leave a fallen comrade. We
always used to say, we always place the mission first, and that mission
doesn't end when we take off that uniform. That mission, that
commitment to one another, has to continue.
As veterans, we make it a point to put the most important things that
we care about in word, in verse, things that we memorize. Whether it is
the Soldier's Creed, or the Ranger Creed, or the Special Forces Creed,
or some other ethos that we recognize as part of our service. We put it
in words and we speak about it, and we say it time, and time, and time
again.
And that is why I believe that it is important that we as veterans
make known in word our commitment to one another; that we are never
going to let one of our brothers or sisters be left behind; that our
commitment to one another never ends; that we are never going to allow
one of them to bring harm to themselves; that our love for each other
never ends.
That willingness of what we would go out there and do for one another
on the battlefield has no time limit on it, has no fuse. It will never
be a wick that burns down. That has to be our commitment to one
another, to demonstrate that kind of love and caring for each other as
veterans. It is the only solution that I have been able to
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find in my life toward helping with this one veteran, one person at a
time, one commitment at a time, a commitment that never ends, and a
commitment that has no limits to it.
I believe all of our veterans want that and are capable of that, and
I am proud of every one of them for that commitment that I know they
have inside of them.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Arizona (Ms. Sinema) for
holding this Special Order.
Ms. SINEMA. Mr. Speaker, I want to take a moment to thank my
colleague and friend, Congressman Mast. While he spoke very eloquently
about his fellow veterans, and commitment to service, and leaving no
man behind, he is very humble, and didn't share all of his own
experiences.
Congressman Mast served as a staff sergeant in the United States Army
and has earned a Bronze Star, Purple Heart, and many other awards for
his bravery during battle. And when Congressman Mast joined Congress, I
will never forget the first time we had a few moments to spend
together, and I asked him about his own experiences in the military and
since then, and the change that happened in his life after he was
injured in battle defending our country.
I will never forget Congressman Mast's response, which is one of such
strength and character, and, I believe, provides such inspiration to
other men and women in our country, both those in uniform and those who
have returned to civilian life as veterans.
I want to thank him for his service and for his incredible dedication
to helping his fellow men and women who have returned home from battle
as well.
Earlier in our Special Order, I mentioned the story of a young
veteran in my district. His name was 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. His work was
deemed classified.
Like many veterans, Daniel was haunted by the war when he returned
home. He suffered from flashbacks, nightmares, depression, and
additional symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, 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 he could not attend
for fear of disclosing classified information.
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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 support and appropriate 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 for more than 2 years in the system without
resolution. Sergeant Somers did not get the help he needed in time.
On June 10, 2013, Sergeant Somers wrote a letter to his family. I
share a part of his letter every year here on the floor, in memory of
Daniel's pain and in love for his family. In this letter, Daniel said:
``I am not getting better, I am not going to get better, and I will
most certainly deteriorate further as time goes on.''
He goes on to say: ``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.''
No one who returns home from serving our country should ever feel
like he or she has nowhere to turn, which is why I am committed to
continuing to work 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.
But Sergeant Somers' story is too familiar to many military families.
His 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 their son's memory brought to light
America's deadliest war: the 20 veterans that we lose every day to
suicide.
Many of my colleagues here in Washington have met with Howard and
Jean. They are working with Congress and the VA to share their
experiences with the VA healthcare system and find ways to improve care
for veterans and their families.
We worked very closely with Howard and Jean to develop and sign into
law the Sergeant Daniel Somers Classified Veterans Access to Care Act.
This is a law that ensures that veterans like Daniel, who have had
classified or sensitive experiences, can access appropriate mental
health services at the VA.
Our law directs the Secretary of the VA to establish standards and
procedures to ensure that any veteran who participated in classified
missions or served in a sensitive setting may access mental healthcare
that fully accommodates his or her obligation to not improperly
disclose classified information.
The law also directs the Secretary to disseminate guidance to
employees of the Veterans Health Administration, including mental
health professionals, on standards and procedures about how to best
engage veterans during the course of mental health treatment with
respect to classified information.
Finally, our law directs the Secretary to allow veterans with
classified experiences to self-identify, so they can quickly receive
care in an appropriate setting.
But that victory is just one small step forward. We still have so
much work left to do.
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleagues for joining us this evening to
talk about the scourge of veteran suicide. This is our sixth year of
hosting this Special Order in a bipartisan way together. I look forward
to the year when we do not need this Special Order because we have
ended the crisis of veteran suicide in our country.
Until such time, I pledge to continue working with my colleagues to
not just tell the stories of veterans who are struggling, veterans who
have made it, or veterans we have lost, but to celebrate our victory of
overcoming this crisis and ending this scourge.
Mr. Speaker, I yield the balance of my time to the gentleman from
Arkansas (Mr. Hill), my friend, who is going to share some of his
thoughts and close out our Special Order hour. I thank Congressman Hill
for joining us this evening.
Mr. HILL. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Arizona (Ms.
Sinema), my good friend, for yielding. She and I have the pleasure of
serving on the House Financial Services Committee together and
cooperating on many legislative measures and regulatory measures that
benefit our economy, so I thank her for that work. I greatly appreciate
her stepping up and reaching out across the aisle on the subject of
suicide, particularly during Suicide Prevention Month, and letting all
of us have an opportunity to share our perspective on this national
tragedy.
Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States.
There is an average of 123 suicides per day. What could be more tragic
than that?
Yet, I don't see nearly the people on the floor tonight that there
should be, because this affects all our districts so tragically. One in
five are suffering with some form of mental illness in our country, a
problem that has disrupted so many families, caused too much violence
and pain, and caused far too many lives. Representative Sinema and I
talk about this every time the subject comes up.
When I was a high school senior, I can't remember a friend that was a
victim of suicide. But, Mr. Speaker, my kids just turned 19 and 21, and
within 4 or 5 years of their ages, I can think of six families who have
lost a child to suicide--different reasons, same tragedy. So our
families are hurting from the scourge of suicide.
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In Congress, this is an area where we work together, the 21st Century
Cures Act, where we attacked the first comprehensive approach to mental
illness treatment in decades, where we say we want people with mental
illness and who need treatment to get it. We worked together most
recently on the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention Act for American veterans,
and the National Suicide Hotline Improvement Act--small steps, but
concrete steps that call attention to suicide, particularly in our
veterans community.
The VA is helping on this issue and marked Suicide Prevention Month
with its Be There campaign. This campaign highlights the risk factors
and warning signs for suicide, provides information about VA mental
health and suicide prevention resources, and helps individuals and
organizations start the conversation around veteran mental health in
their communities.
Our VA employees must have the necessary resources to offer guidance
to veterans while providing essential suicide prevention services.
This is a together thing. This is an ``all of us in this together''
thing.
Mr. Speaker, I have a chair in my front office in my district office
in Little Rock that was hand-painted to raise money for suicide
awareness and suicide prevention. On that chair, it says: ``We Are The
22.'' This is a nonprofit organization in my community started by
veterans helping veterans, because it is not an ``us and they'' thing.
It is an ``us'' thing. It is a ``we'' thing.
We are all in this together. We are the 22, the number that we have
as the estimate of veterans who are taking their own lives.
So I want to echo the Speaker pro tempore this afternoon, a
distinguished American and distinguished veteran and brave, heroic
representative of our Armed Forces, our patriots, the people who defend
our liberties, when he said we don't leave people behind. We don't
leave a sailor, a marine, or a soldier on the battlefield. We bring
them home.
Just last week, we honored John McCain on the floor of this House.
And Sam Johnson, leaving the House this year--Representative Schweikert
was there--he was in the Hanoi Hilton with John McCain. We don't leave
a man or woman behind on the battlefield. But when they come home, we
equally should not leave them behind.
I really commend the Speaker's comments that the mission is not over.
All of us have that partnership and sense of duty to carry that mission
forward on the home front when we are out of harm's way and out of
theater.
To me, it is that buddy system that we all learn, whether it is in
boot camp or swim team, you team up; you check in on each other; you
don't leave people alone. That is the secret, I think, to preventing
suicide.
I lost a good friend of mine, a fraternity brother, a partner in a
law firm in Houston, Texas. He never once intimated to his wife, to his
children, or to his law partners that anything was wrong, and they got
the call that he had been found.
Check in: How are you doing?
So we are the 22. We are on the buddy system. We don't leave our
warriors behind. The mission continues here. All those things are true.
I carry in my wallet, Mr. Speaker, the veterans crisis hotline as a
reminder to me that we want our veterans to reach out if there is a
moment of crisis.
If somebody is watching this or hearing the words of brave Brian
Mast, or the emotional content and leadership of Representative Kyrsten
Sinema from Arizona, and you are having that moment now as a veteran, I
urge you to call 1-800-273-8255 for yourself, for a friend, for a
neighbor.
We, in Congress, are fighting to make sure that that veterans hotline
is a value, that it is answered, and that we are part of that thin
thread of connectivity between all of us that keeps us right on the
moment.
Mr. Speaker, I see my friend from Arizona is here. It was a pleasure
to have both of my friends from Arizona talk about their senior Senator
last week, John McCain, and what he meant to each of us and what he has
meant to our country.
Mr. Speaker, it is an honor to yield to the gentleman from Arizona
(Mr. Schweikert), my friend, now on the House Ways and Means Committee,
formerly of the best committee in the House, the House Financial
Services Committee.
Mr. SCHWEIKERT. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Hill for yielding. And to
the gentlewoman from Arizona, I thank her for doing this every year.
This is one of those moments where you are walking toward the
microphone because we just got out of votes in Ways and Means, and you
are sort of discussing in your head whether you ultimately tell the
personal story. I have two I want to share.
My reason for doing this is, if someone is watching, we have someone
in our life, and you are having self-destructive thoughts, please,
please reach out, get the help, and understand the devastation that
happens and the pain that happens when someone takes their life.
My two stories. When I very first got elected in the Phoenix-
Scottsdale area, one of the very first constituent meetings I had was
with a mom. Her son had been part of the Phoenix VA. She always felt
that the prescriptions he was given put him into an emotional spiral.
They kept trying to get him mental health services. They felt all
that he was receiving was more prescriptions and a future date for
mental health services. And he took his life.
That mother, the pain, the tears, the crushing blow, what the loss of
her son's life meant to that family.
I believe now, a few years later, the Phoenix VA is better. They have
learned a lot, they understand how to be almost a quick reaction force
in helping an individual. But we need to make sure these things never
happen again.
Now for the personal one that I have never told in public.
{time} 1700
I was born in an unwed mothers' home in L.A. I was adopted. It turns
out the gentleman who adopted me had multiple sclerosis. But he was a
veteran, and he was receiving his medical treatments from VA.
This is a long, long time ago, but this is about the pain that comes
when a veteran takes his or her life.
Because of the pharmaceuticals he was given, the lack of emotional
counseling, and the failure to properly diagnose his disease, he put
himself in a car in a garage, turned on the motor, and took his life.
That was my dad.
Some time later, my mother remarried Mr. Schweikert. I got readopted,
and I was blessed to grow up in a wonderful household that had brought
me to Arizona.
Many years later when I was a young adult, my mom sat me down and
told me the story. You could tell there was still that burning hole in
her heart of finding her husband, my dad, dead in that car, having
taken his own life, believing it was the failure of the very services
he was receiving from the VA.
Now it is decades later, and I believe we have learned a lot. This
body has tried as hard as it can to get their heads around: Are we
allowing too many pharmaceuticals to be prescribed? Are we not
providing emotional services? Do we need to put resources into having
that communal get-together, the quick reaction force?
I believe it is getting better.
But understand the pain that Mom shared with me when I was first
elected about the loss of her son. Even these many, many years later,
it is still part of our family's legacy of that pain. If this body can
do anything, if we can find ways to make that pain come to an end, then
we will have done something very honorable and very powerful.
Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Hill for yielding to me.
Mr. HILL. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Arizona for
participating, and I thank his colleague, Representative Sinema, for
her heartfelt tribute that she has carried on since she has been in the
House to bring attention to suicide prevention.
I also commend the House for the efforts that it has taken on mental
health and on suicide prevention, particularly for our veterans.
Ms. SINEMA. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
____________________