[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 119 (Tuesday, July 19, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S3353]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                       Remembering David Belcher

  Mr. TESTER. Madam President, I come to the floor today to speak of a 
person who took his own life. It was either on Thursday or Friday of 
last week. It happens far too often.
  This guy was an Army veteran. His name was Dave Belcher, and I had 
known Dave for 30 years. Dave worked at White Refrigeration as a 
salesman. I bought TVs from him in the early nineties. I bought the 
first front-loading washer from him and a refrigerator. He was just a 
great guy--just a great guy--but he had a challenge. His challenge was 
that he served his country, and because of that service to this 
country, he ended up with something that we talk about on this floor a 
lot. It is called post-traumatic stress disorder, PTSD. And because of 
that PTSD, Dave, not to my knowledge at the time when I first met him, 
but he was fighting demons, and he fought demons throughout his life. 
There were issues of depression and guilt that he just couldn't 
overcome and in the end, probably some paranoia involved, but he ended 
up taking his own life.

  I think to myself, back when I first met Dave 30 years ago, how this 
guy was as normal as anybody you would ever meet. He is not somebody 
you would look at and say: You know, he has got a bunch of problems. He 
is not somebody who you could predict, 30 years after the fact, that he 
would have taken his own life, but that is what happened.
  It happens far too often. In fact, it happens 22 times a day to our 
veterans in this country. This time, it happened to somebody whom I 
considered a friend--not somebody I saw a lot, but he is somebody who I 
knew had his struggles in the end. He went through veterans court. He 
was one of the first graduates of the veterans court and was somebody 
who did his best to try to get his life turned around, but it didn't 
happen. The demons got him.
  I just wanted to come to the floor today to say: Dave, you and all 
your friends who have served this country have people in the Senate, 
people in Congress who fight for you every day.
  For those folks who are watching this, who can relate to what I am 
saying, if you have an issue, please get ahold of somebody who can help 
you, like a mental healthcare professional out there, because mental 
health can be fixed. All you need to do is get the tools to be able to 
deal with it.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Utah.