[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 2]
[Senate]
[Pages 1522-1523]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           CLAY HUNT SAV ACT

  Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. President, last night tens of millions of Americans 
watched the Super Bowl, a game that has become a national tradition, 
something of an American holiday--and for good reason. Competition, 
grit, and hard work can bring out the best in all of us. But not all 
Americans were watching.
  Last night, just like every other night of the year, there were young 
American men and women, humbly and without complaint, shouldering the 
burden of protecting their follow citizens from harm. Some were doing 
this overseas, in places both familiar and unfamiliar to us. Others 
were here in America doing the hard training that is necessary to hone 
their warrior skills to protect us.
  I had the privilege of being with thousands of these fine young 
Americans last night at the Army's National Training Center, the NTC, 
at Fort Irwin, CA. Just as in the Super Bowl, they were on the field 
engaged in fierce competition, force-on-force operations, as part of 
some of the best, most challenging military training anywhere in the 
world.
  But unlike the Super Bowl, there were no winners or losers last 
night--just winners. Among the participants at NTC are 3,000 soldiers 
from a battle-hardened Army Stryker brigade based in Fairbanks, AK, 
along with hundreds of paratroopers from other military bases across 
Alaska. I felt immense pride in watching them train last night.
  These young men and women, volunteers all, selflessly stand ready to 
fight and give their lives for our great country. With all due respect 
to my distinguished colleagues from New England who are deservedly 
celebrating today, it is very important to keep in mind that America's 
true patriots were on the field last night in places such as Fort 
Irwin, Baghdad, and Kabul.
  We have an important opportunity to honor their service tomorrow as 
we prepare to vote on a bipartisan bill to make sure the patriots in 
our military have the resources and care that can help them fight the 
despair of suicide. Tomorrow we vote on the Clay Hunt Suicide 
Prevention for American Veterans Act, which I was proud to cosponsor 
and help pass out of the Veteran's Affairs Committee.
  This bill is named for a true American hero, a decorated Marine who 
fought in Afghanistan and Iraq and who struggled with despair and 
ultimately took his own life. This bill will

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start to bring greater awareness and services to the devastation that 
too many of our finest fall sway to. I encourage all of my 
distinguished colleagues to vote for this bill tomorrow so we can get 
it on the President's desk for his signature as soon as possible.
  A vote tomorrow will be a vote for Clay Hunt, for his courageous 
family, and for all the families and their loved ones who have lost 
someone to the national tragedy of suicide.
  This will be a vote for my State, Alaska, which proudly boasts the 
highest number of veterans per capita in the United States but, sadly, 
has the highest rates of suicide in our country. This is also a 
personal vote for me. It is a story I do not share often or lightly. As 
an officer in the Marine Corps, both on Active Duty and in the Reserve, 
I have personally witnessed the struggles, at times tragic, that some 
of our service men and women undergo.
  The suicide of a young Alaskan marine under my command still haunts 
me. You always wonder: Could I have done more? With the proper 
awareness and resources this marine might be alive today. That is why 
we need legislation such as the Clay Hunt bill. When I cast my vote 
tomorrow, it will be a vote for all of our veterans but particularly 
for the families who have suffered the unspeakable pain of suicide.
  This is a good bill. It is a good start. As my distinguished 
colleague from Connecticut calls it, this bill is a downpayment on our 
debt to our veterans. It will not solve all the problems they face, 
including rates of suicide among veterans that are far too high in this 
country. But it is an important beginning. I ask my colleagues to vote 
for this bill tomorrow.
  I yield the floor.

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