[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 113 (Monday, July 8, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4688-S4689]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                   Veteran Suicide Prevention Efforts

  Mr. BOOZMAN. Madam President, recently I met with members of the 
American Legion of Arkansas during their annual convention. This year 
they celebrated 100 years of helping veterans. I was honored to join 
them on this occasion and share how proud we are of their efforts to 
serve their fellow veterans.
  Since its founding, Legionnaires have been leading advocates for 
veterans and their families. They are committed to strengthening the 
policies, programs, and institutions to support those who have worn our 
Nation's uniform.
  One of the ways they have been instrumental in achieving this is 
bringing Legionnaires from across the country to Washington to share 
the Legion's priorities with me and my colleagues. Members from 
Arkansas expressed that one of the top issues for the Legion this 
Congress, as has been the case for the past several years, is suicide 
prevention.
  The American Legion and other VSOs like the VFW, AMVETS, IAVA, 
Wounded Warrior Project--and the list simply goes on and on--are 
pressing for action to improve access and treatment for veterans who 
are at risk of suicide. We all know there is room for improvement on 
this front.
  Congress has provided significant funding increases to the Department 
of Veterans Affairs to decrease veteran suicide rates. In fiscal year 
2010, the VA requested $62 million for suicide prevention outreach. 
That number nearly quadrupled to $222 million within 10 years. Despite 
the sharp increase in resources, sadly, 20 veterans commit suicide each 
day. That number has, unfortunately, remained roughly unchanged 
throughout the years. Tellingly and sadly, only 6 of those 20 veterans 
are receiving healthcare services at the VA.
  Veterans are particularly vulnerable to mental health struggles 
which, when untreated, can lead to increased risk of suicide. They 
suffer a disproportionately higher rate of suicide compared to the 
general population.
  In Arkansas, veterans represent about 8 percent of the population, 
but, sadly, they account for one-fifth of the suicides in my State. So 
you have 8 percent of the population yet 20 percent of the suicides.
  I have heard the anguish of family members and friends who miss the 
signs of mental health struggles in their loved ones. We have read and 
heard in the news about veterans who have taken their own lives on VA 
properties. They were so close to help yet felt that their situations 
were beyond repair. We need to close the loop to ensure that 
individuals at risk make contact with professionals trained to respond 
to address the needs of these vulnerable veterans.
  Congress is actively engaged in fighting this public health crisis. 
In 2015, we passed and the President signed into law the Clay Hunt 
Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act. This was an important 
step to providing the VA with the tools and flexibility to get help for 
veterans living with mental illness. We knew this was just the start.
  My colleagues and I on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee are 
continuing to build on that foundation. I am hopeful that we can 
advance the three particular pieces of legislation I am about to 
highlight so that we can give help to veterans at risk of suicide.
  Senator Warner and I recently introduced the IMPROVE Wellbeing for 
Veterans Act. This bill will enable the VA to harness the potential of 
what is already occurring in communities by allowing it to provide 
grant funding to nonprofits and local organizations for expanded 
outreach to veterans.
  Our bill enhances coordination and planning of veteran mental health 
and suicide prevention services and will better measure the 
effectiveness of these programs in order to reduce the alarming number 
of veteran suicides.
  We can work with veteran-serving nonprofits to create and use a 
standard measurement tool that helps us in this area.
  Some nonprofit groups have implemented their own tools to track 
progress and monitor the results of their programs.
  The VA should examine how it can work with partners to develop or 
adopt a measurement tool that will be used uniformly across all groups. 
This will allow the VA and its partners to identify which suicide 
prevention efforts are having the most impact so that resources can be 
concentrated appropriately.
  VA Secretary Robert Wilkie called the IMPROVE Wellbeing for Veterans 
Act ``key'' to unlocking the veterans suicide crisis.
  I am pleased with the support we have received from the Secretary, 
members of the committee, and other colleagues, and I encourage other 
Senators to cosponsor this important legislation that will make a 
positive impact on our effort to reduce veteran suicides.
  It is also important to make it easier for veterans in crisis to get 
the help they need. That is why I teamed up with Senator Manchin to 
introduce the SPEED Act. This legislation would establish a three-digit 
number that is easy for veterans to remember in order to reach the 
Veterans Crisis Line. In a crisis, time is of the essence. Providing a 
more direct line of communication will save lives.
  Created in 2007, the Veterans Crisis Line has answered over 3.5 
million calls. This has been an essential tool to prevent veteran 
suicides. By taking an additional step to simplify the number, we can 
make further strides and expedite assistance to veterans in crisis.
  The VA has indicated that suicide prevention is its highest clinical 
priority. To help improve its operation, oversight, and evaluations of 
its suicide prevention media outreach campaigns, we have partnered with 
Senator Richard Blumenthal to introduce the Reach Every Veteran in 
Crisis Act. This bill supports recommendations by the Government 
Accountability Office study that found gaps in the VA's suicide 
prevention media outreach activities.
  By delivering an action plan for the VA to follow, we can isolate 
meaningful suicide prevention programs and ensure resources are focused 
on efforts that save lives.
  An important provision of the legislation requires establishing 
targets to evaluate the effectiveness of the outreach campaign. It is 
vital that we have metrics to measure the success of the VA's mental 
health and suicide prevention programs.
  As the chairman of the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs 
Appropriations Subcommittee, I have been pushing the VA to incorporate 
measurement tools so that we can better evaluate the effectiveness of 
VA programs. That is why, in the subcommittee's fiscal year 2019 bill, 
we incorporated language requiring the VA to report to Congress the 
metrics it uses to evaluate the efficacy of all of its mental health 
and suicide prevention programs.
  My colleagues and I are committed to upend the trend of veteran 
suicide. We are blessed to have many organizations devoted to this 
common goal.
  Together, we can make a positive difference in the lives of veterans 
and their families and give them hope for a brighter tomorrow.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.

[[Page S4689]]

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Boozman). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.