[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 6]
[Senate]
[Page 8485]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION AND FEMALE VETERAN SUICIDE PREVENTION 
                                 BILLS

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, it was encouraging to see the Senate 
vote to advance the National Defense Authorization Act this morning. It 
reflects a recognition by this body of the importance of the bill and 
the moment. The defense authorization act will promote defense 
innovation and research, it will modernize retirement benefits for our 
men and women in uniform, and authorize the pay raises they deserve. It 
will help prepare our country for the threats of today and the 
challenges of tomorrow, and it will better enable the next Commander in 
Chief, regardless of party, to deal with them as well. That is critical 
given that the next President is about to inherit an array of threats 
and troubling instability in the Middle East.
  Yesterday Senators laid out many ways in which President Obama's 
foreign policy has fallen short. One was lack of strategic vision. Take 
for instance his unnecessary threat to veto this very bill. He doesn't 
like bipartisan prohibitions on transferring hardcore terrorists from 
Guantanamo's secure facilities to American communities or unstable 
countries. We include similar bipartisan provisions year after year 
after year. He makes similar threats year after year after year, but he 
signs the bill year after year, so it is time to quit that.
  This bill just advanced in the Senate by a bipartisan vote of 68 to 
23. The funding levels this bill authorizes is exactly the same as what 
President Obama requested in his budget, and unless the President is 
actually more concerned about a campaign slogan from back in 2008 than 
he is about grave threats we face in 2016, he will sign it.
  I thank colleagues on both sides for their hard work on this 
legislation, particularly Chairman McCain. He is always on guard for 
our men and women in uniform, and he is always standing up for our 
national security. This bill is a reflection of his commitment. It is 
an important step for the American people, but it is not the only one 
we took this past week.
  It has been reported that we lose over 20 veterans each day to 
suicide, and one study has revealed that suicide rates among female 
veterans grew by 40 percent between 2000 and 2010. This is 
heartbreaking, and it underlines the importance of the Female Veterans 
Suicide Prevention Act that the Senate passed earlier this week. This 
legislation will require the VA to take a closer look at this issue and 
assess which mental health care and veteran suicide prevention programs 
are most successful for our female veterans. It builds upon the 
progress of the Clay Hunt Act, an important law we passed last year 
that provides more of the suicide prevention and mental health support 
our veterans deserve.
  As Senator Ernst recently reminded us, our servicemembers have 
selflessly sacrificed in defense of our freedoms, and we should help 
ensure that they are prepared to transition back to civilian life, 
which includes access to quality and timely mental health care they 
deserve. Senator Ernst knows what it means to serve. I thank her for 
her continued leadership for Iowa and for her work on this bill with 
Senators Boxer, Blumenthal, and Brown.
  This veterans mental health legislation is another example of what we 
can accomplish when we work together to find solutions for the American 
people, and it is another example of a Senate that is back to work.

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