[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 11]
[House]
[Pages 15148-15154]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 SEPTEMBER IS SUICIDE PREVENTION MONTH

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Gaetz). 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, September is Suicide Prevention Month, a 
time for our Nation to raise awareness about the recurring tragedy of 
suicide.

[[Page 15149]]

  This epidemic is too common for the men and women who wore our 
country's uniform and put their lives on the line to defend our 
freedom. An estimated 20 veterans lose their lives to suicide each and 
every day.
  A new VA report shows the risk for suicide is 22 percent higher among 
veterans than civilians, and 250 percent higher amongst female veterans 
than female civilians. This is unacceptable.
  Twenty veterans a day lost to suicide should be a call to action for 
our country and for this Congress. We must take action, and we must do 
it now.
  Typically, the time in this Chamber is split. Republicans have 1 hour 
and Democrats have 1 hour, but we believe this issue is too important 
to be overshadowed by partisan politics. That is why, tonight, 
Congressman Tim Murphy and I have brought together Members from both 
sides of the aisle to show our commitment to solving this problem 
together and finding real solutions for our veterans.
  This is the fifth year that we have assembled this team to raise 
awareness and send a clear message that the epidemic of veteran suicide 
must end. We have so much work left to do. So tonight we demonstrate 
our ongoing support for individuals, organizations, and agencies 
devoted to preventing the epidemic of veteran suicide. We challenge the 
VA, the Department of Defense, and our fellow lawmakers to do more. We 
are failing in our obligation to do right by those who have sacrificed 
so much for our freedom.
  Finally, we stand here tonight, unified, for the military families 
who have experienced this tragedy, and we say to you: Your family's 
loss is not forgotten. We work for the memory of your loved ones, and 
we will not rest until every veteran has access to the care he or she 
needs.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Johnson), who 
understands the importance of addressing this epidemic, a colleague and 
friend of mine.
  Thank you for being here this evening.
  Mr. JOHNSON of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for 
yielding and giving me an opportunity to speak on such a critically 
important topic.
  You know, I served for 26\1/2\ years, Mr. Speaker, in the United 
States Air Force. I pinned Purple Hearts on the chests of some of my 
troops that had gone into harm's way. I know the stress and strain on 
military families and on military members. I represent a district that 
arguably is one of the largest, if not the largest, veteran-populated 
districts in the State of Ohio, with nearly 50,000. And yet today, in 
2017, we see 20 veterans per day, 1 every 72 minutes, committing 
suicide.
  What does that say about us as a nation when we send our young people 
off in uniform to stand in harm's way, to protect our freedoms, to 
protect our liberties, to protect our values and way of life, and then 
when they come home we can't get them the help that they need when they 
are down?
  One of the saddest days since I began serving the people of eastern 
and southeastern Ohio was the day I got a call from a young wife of a 
military member. She said she had been dealing with the VA for quite 
some time to get her husband an appointment with a mental health 
counselor, all to no avail. He couldn't get in, couldn't get in, 
couldn't get in.
  I stopped by the VA center one day. I asked to speak to the director, 
gave the young man's name, and I said: I would like to see the status 
of his appointment.
  They looked him up in the system, and they said: Well, you will be 
happy to know, Congressman, that he has got an appointment next 
Wednesday.
  I said: Well, I am actually here to tell you that you can cancel that 
appointment because he committed suicide last week.
  He had been waiting for weeks and weeks and weeks to get in to see a 
mental health counselor, struggling with PTSD and the emotional and 
mental battle scars that came back with him from combat overseas. You 
know, it is one thing that we send our young people away to fight for 
us on foreign soil. Imagine for a second what their families go through 
when they are gone day in and day out, not knowing if they are going to 
get that call or that knock at the door to tell them that their loved 
one has been injured or, worse, killed in action. And then we bring 
their loved one home, and they are helpless in terms of getting them 
the care and the treatment that they need.
  I agree with my colleague: we need to do more. The agencies, the VA, 
the Department of Defense, mental health counselors all over the 
country, Congress, families, communities, we need to do more to help 
our veterans get back on their feet after they have participated in 
that inhumane, disastrous, catastrophic event known as war.
  Mr. Speaker, it almost leaves you speechless to think about the 
millions of families that are impacted by this, 20 per day--20 per day. 
One per day is unacceptable, but yet we are seeing 20 per day.
  I urge my colleagues and I urge our agencies in the Federal 
Government--the VA, the DOD--let's get behind an effort, and let's turn 
this trend in the opposite direction.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank you for the time to speak.
  Ms. SINEMA. Mr. Speaker, I would like to extend my thanks and 
gratitude to Congressman Johnson. Not only is he an amazing 
Representative for the people of Ohio, he is also a veteran who served 
our country ably and proudly, and his story of a veteran in his 
district lost to suicide should be a call to all of us around the 
country to take care of the veterans in each of our districts.
  We have made some progress since last year. I have often shared the 
story of a young veteran in my district, 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, and his 
work was deemed classified.
  Like many veterans, Daniel was haunted by the war when he returned. 
He suffered from flashbacks, nightmares, depression, and additional 
symptoms of post-traumatic stress, 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 Sergeant Somers could not attend for fear of disclosing 
classified information. 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 appropriate support and 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 in the system for over 2 years without 
resolution. Sergeant Somers didn't get the help he needed in time.
  On June 10 of 2013, Sergeant Somers wrote a letter to his family. In 
the letter he said: ``I am not getting better, I am not going to get 
better, and I will most certainly deteriorate further as time goes 
on.''

                              {time}  1900

  He went on to say:
  ``Thus, 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.''
  We lost Sergeant Somers that day.
  No one who returns home from serving our country should ever feel 
like he or she has nowhere to turn. I am committed to working on both 
sides of the aisle to ensure that no veteran ever feels trapped like 
Sergeant Somers did,

[[Page 15150]]

and that all of our veterans have access to appropriate mental 
healthcare.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentlewoman from Florida (Mrs. Murphy) a 
freshman representative and a great addition to our Congress.
  Mrs. MURPHY of Florida. Mr. Speaker, September is Suicide Prevention 
Month, and I rise to bring awareness to the pressing issue of veteran 
suicide.
  When our servicemembers go overseas, they bravely and selflessly risk 
their own lives for the greater good. But when they return home, our 
veterans face new adversities. Many are confronted by intense emotional 
distress, including depression and post-traumatic stress. Others 
struggle to readjust to civilian life or to reintegrate into their 
families and their social networks.
  Unfortunately, too many veterans succumb to their mental anguish. 
America loses 20 Americans every day to suicide. It is time we step up 
and be there for them and provide them the support they deserve.
  I encourage anyone who knows a veteran--whether a family member, a 
coworker, or a friend--to reach out. A simple gesture of kindness can 
make all the difference in the life of a veteran going through a 
difficult time.
  I will do my part in Congress, fighting for more and better resources 
to support our veterans. Veterans fought for us. Now it is time we 
fight for them.
  Ms. SINEMA. Mr. Speaker, Sergeant Somers' story is familiar to too 
many military families. Sergeant Somers' 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 Sergeant Somers' story brings to light America's deadliest 
war--the 20 veterans that we lose every day to suicide.
  Howard and Jean are working with Congress and the VA to share their 
experience with the VA healthcare system and to find ways to improve 
care for veterans and their families. We worked closely with Howard and 
Jean to develop the Sergeant Daniel Somers Classified Veterans Access 
to Care Act, and ensure veterans of classified experiences can access 
appropriate VA mental healthcare services.
  After more than 3 years of work, I am proud to say that the Sergeant 
Daniel Somers Classified Veterans Access to Care Act is now law. But 
this is just one small step forward, and our work with Howard and Jean 
doesn't stop here. We have so much work left to do.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. David Scott), 
who has served veterans bravely in Congress and home in his district 
for many years.
  Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I thank Ms. Sinema for that 
very nice introduction.
  Ladies and gentlemen of the Nation who are listening or watching us 
on C-SPAN, I want to impress that we have exactly, right now, 40,000 
soldiers--veterans--who are committing suicide each year.
  This is a national crisis, but it is more than that. It is a national 
tragedy, but it is more than that. It is an American national shame.
  These soldiers go where they are commanded to go. They go into a hail 
of bullets. They go and they fight and they die. They leave an arm, 
they leave a leg, they leave so much of themselves on the battlefield, 
and so many leave their minds there because of the devastation. And 
when we bring them back home, the level of treatment that many of them 
are getting, and even not getting, is, again, a national tragedy and a 
national shame.
  It is my home that the plea that America will hear this day from 
these Members of Congress will awaken us to what I believe is, and 
should be, the number one issue facing this Nation: take care of our 
veterans.
  Twenty a day, 40,000 every year, is terrible.
  Now, myself, what am I doing?
  Each year, I put on a jobs fair. But I don't put on that jobs fair by 
myself. Partnering with me is the VA, where we have, in Atlanta, 
Georgia, at that convention and trades center, a jobs fair each year 
with the VA, and we are averaging about 450 jobs each year.
  But we don't stop there. We have a health fair because it is the 
PTSD--post-traumatic stress syndrome--that is this archenemy that we 
are not examining. The reason for that is that there is a severe 
shortage of psychiatrists in the VA and there is a severe shortage of 
primary care physicians in the VA.
  So right here in this legislature, my good Republican friend, Larry 
Bucshon from Indiana, and I--and he is a doctor--have worked together. 
We put together legislation 2 years ago, in 2015, for the special 
appropriations for veterans that we would pay the tuition, pay the loan 
forgiveness, for those physicians who are psychiatrists and who will go 
and work in the VA.
  But we didn't stop there. Knowing how the vagarious income levels are 
structured and the pay scales are structured according to where you 
live in the United States--and we have VA hospitals, VA centers all 
over this country, and the salary levels vary--we made sure that an 
added incentive would be to those graduating psychiatrists who will go 
and help our veterans and go help us fulfill this shortage, that we 
would make sure that their incoming salary would be at least 2 percent 
higher than that average.
  My only heartbreak in all of this is that we were only able to get 
12. And I can tell you how much that broke my heart by this Congress. 
But it is a start.
  This bill will be replenished. And if you in the public can help us, 
if we want to do something right now about cutting down on the number 
of suicides that our veterans are having, help us get more 
psychiatrists into the VA system, help me and Larry Bucshon and many 
Democrats and Republicans who voted for the initial piece of 
legislation--we only got 12 the first time, but we should get 300, 400, 
500. We should be willing to make that appropriation.
  We can talk, we can sympathize, we can do all of that, but we need to 
get better treatment, psychiatric treatment, for our veterans. That 
will not happen, ladies and gentlemen, if we don't get more 
psychiatrists into the VA system.
  So give Larry Bucshon from Indiana, my Republican friend, a call. My 
office, give me a call. But better than that, call your Congressman and 
say: Let's get this bill expanded so we can get more psychiatrists.
  The Congress will move if the American people say move.
  Now, finally, I must say this. There is no one that embodies the 
final words of Jesus Christ before he was crucified. Those final words 
that he spoke to his disciples 24 hours before he was crucified were: 
``Love one another as I have loved you.''
  And there is no greater love than that one who will lay down his life 
for his friend. That, ladies and gentlemen, is our veteran.
  Ms. SINEMA. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Scott for being here and 
for his passion for veterans.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Murphy) 
to talk about this important issue we have been working on together.
  Mr. Murphy has been serving in Congress since 2002. He is our only 
practicing psychologist serving in Congress, and he is the co-chair of 
the Mental Health Caucus. In addition, Congressman Murphy is a 
commander in the Navy Reserve and provides services to veterans at the 
Walter Reed National Military Medical Center specializing in treating 
those individuals who are suffering from traumatic brain injuries and 
post-traumatic stress disorder. It is a privilege to serve with him in 
Congress and work on this important issue.
  Mr. MURPHY of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from 
Arizona for her dedication to helping veterans.
  It will be often cited that 20 veterans a day take their own lives. 
It is important that we take a deeper dive into why that is because, as 
a society, we want to know.
  There will be upwards of 40-some thousand suicides this year in our 
Nation. Even one is too many. And I know that organizations that deal 
with suicide prevention want to see that drop considerably. But there 
is some understanding that is important for us to

[[Page 15151]]

know what we can do and what stands in the way.
  I want to note that those who serve in the military are about 1 
percent of the population. Those who have served in World War II, 
Korea, and Vietnam are dying off fast from natural causes. But a great 
many of those veterans who do take an act of suicide are above age 50. 
Many of them have never served in combat.
  Characteristic groups, such as the Army National Guard and reservists 
are among those who do have some higher rates. It has been interpreted 
that perhaps one of the reasons for that is that they do not stay with 
their cohorts after combat. They go back home, come back on weekends, 
but don't have that same day-to-day support.
  We also know the military, very much so after Vietnam, when you were 
done with your time, when you got your points, you were gone.

                              {time}  1915

  You could be in the middle of a battle, and you would be picked up by 
helicopter and taken home with encrusted blood still on your uniform 
from your friends, but you were sent back to the States--no chance to 
recover, no chance to develop from that, no chance to even get a 
checkup from the neck up, and, as a matter of fact, that was not even 
done. So for those who did serve in Vietnam and Korea and World War II, 
you just went back to life.
  We have learned it is important to do more for people, and we do try 
and understand what is it, the characteristics among those who have 
taken their own lives, or tried to, that causes that to happen.
  First of all, it is worth noting that about 70 percent of those who 
have taken their own lives who were veterans have not been involved 
with the VA hospital system. That is extremely important to know. They 
are not involved.
  Now, that could be a number of reasons. It could be veterans who were 
not eligible for involvement at the VA. Many reservists and guards are 
not unless they served Active-Duty time, and even that is a limited 
timeframe. They also may have not been early identified when they came 
out of the military that would make them eligible for services. And, 
quite frankly, in many cases, it just is not near their home.
  A study that was done with people at Fort Carson, Colorado, of 70-
some folks who had attempted suicide, found that the number one reason 
that they gave, out of a list of 33 possibilities, was they wanted to 
end emotional distress. They simply wanted the pain to stop, and they 
ran out of ways to make it stop.
  I reflect on the life of my father, who is now gone for other 
reasons, but one day when I was at home from college--and he himself 
was a World War II veteran--I heard his soft voice calling from the 
bathroom, and to see him there with a lot of blood on him, because he 
had just attempted to cut his arms and kill himself. Luckily, he did 
not. We got him care. But I believe for him, he certainly would have 
been in this category. He just wanted the pain to stop.
  I don't think it was PTSD or his old signs of war. I think it was, 
perhaps, other distress as he dealt with his own alcoholism, or did not 
deal with it very well at that time, and the financial distresses of 
raising a family, and we just didn't have money, but it was enough to 
affect me--lifetime--in terms of trying to understand and dedicate my 
life to helping those in psychological need.
  I should mention, on September 11, I got my honorable discharge, so I 
am no longer in the Navy. I miss it every day, because I loved that 
time working with servicemembers who had traumatic brain injuries and 
post-traumatic stress and a wide range of other problems, but here are 
a few things that I learned from them that are very important.
  One is, if you want care in mental health, you just can't get it, not 
only because there may not be a VA near you, but even if there was, 
many persons who are dealing with panic and anxiety and depression 
don't want to leave the house; many with post-traumatic stress 
disorders do not want to go onto a bus or into traffic or into 
congested areas, because that can bring back some terrible memories for 
them. The very thing they need is to get treatment, but the very 
problems they have prevent them from getting treatment.
  Now, we have passed legislation here that deals with choice to allow 
veterans to get that care closer to home. But can they get it? Well, 
tragically--not just sadly but tragically--in the area of mental health 
services, half the counties in America have no psychiatrist, they have 
no psychologist, they have no clinical social worker, they have no 
psychiatric nurse practitioner, and they have no licensed drug 
treatment counselor. In other words, it is not available.
  If you just look at those, for example, with a substance abuse 
disorder, of the 22 million, about 75 to 80 percent of them also have a 
mental health problem and they are at higher risk for suicide. And 
certainly if we have a veteran who has substance abuse and depression, 
they are at higher risk.
  But look at this group. For every 1,000 people with a substance abuse 
disorder--for every 1,000 people--900 do not seek treatment. Out of the 
100 who do seek treatment, 37 have got nothing available to them. Of 
the 63 who have something available, only six get evidence-based care.
  So it is no wonder when we talk to veterans, and they say, ``I tried 
getting help, but this person didn't understand. I couldn't get help. 
It was a problem that was ongoing,'' at some point they reach that 
point where they want to just end their emotional distress.
  I remember visiting the house of a veteran. The mother had called me 
and said: ``Can you help him? He won't go to the VA. He won't get 
help.''
  I made a house call. The VA doesn't do that, but I made a house call. 
And without revealing too much, I will just say that it was pretty 
clear he had a lot of medication around his house. His apartment was 
pretty unkempt, food lying around, bottles, dozens and dozens of 
bottles of medication unopened, each one from the VA, because probably 
each time he went to the VA, they said: ``How are you doing?''
  ``I am not doing well.''
  ``Here. We will just increase your dosage,'' or, ``We will give you a 
different medication,'' but the system was not set up to say, ``How are 
you doing? What else can we do to care for you?'' It simply was not set 
up to go to his home and help him out when he missed his appointments, 
when he was no longer employed, when he had isolated himself from 
society, when, like so many people, covered the windows of their 
bedroom with camouflage or some other dark thing so the light doesn't 
get in, don't watch TV, just stay away from the world, this shrinking 
world that constricts you like a snake around the throat until they see 
no more reason to live.
  I remember going to the VA hospital and mentioning, ``You know, I 
know the Marines are famous for not leaving anyone in the field. What 
do you do about some of these other folks with mental health 
problems?''
  They said, ``We don't go out to their homes.''
  I said, ``Why not?''
  ``We just don't do that.''
  ``Why not?''
  ``We just don't.''
  I agonize over that as being a Navy healthcare provider to know this 
doesn't sound like the Marines. The Marines don't leave someone out 
there.
  Are we so constricted and tied up by rules that we can't even go and 
reach out to them? But that is part of the problem, that we need easier 
access to local care, we need care that reaches out to veterans, and 
not just say, ``Hey, listen, if you really want to get help, why don't 
you suck it up, pull up your bootstraps and go out and get help,'' 
because some of them are not able to do that yet.
  Many of them feel, as a veteran, ``I have faced tougher battles. I 
can't let people know I am weak or I am struggling.''
  Many of them have addiction disorders, and they don't want people to 
know that they are weak and they are struggling.
  To those veterans, I say this is not a sign of failure. It is like if 
you are in

[[Page 15152]]

the battle and bullets are coming at you and grenades are coming at you 
and incoming fire is coming at you, the last thing you want to do is 
deny it is happening. You have to acknowledge it is happening. What do 
you do? You get on the radio and you call for help. That is what we 
have to make sure veterans understand, that that is what this is about, 
depression and panic and anxiety as well.
  We need more providers. I have had legislation on a mental health 
bill to get more providers. We recently voted on some things in 
amendment to the Labor-H bill here to get a little bit more, but we 
need thousands of more providers, psychiatrists, psychologists, social 
workers, licensed drug treatment counselors. We don't have that.
  If Congress really wants to help, we have to do more of that, but 
part of the problem is this, too: they oftentimes, in the field, have 
such massive student loans. And relative to other areas of medicine and 
healthcare, they get paid so little, they may choose not to go into 
these areas of mental health care. So for those who are the most 
vulnerable, we make it the most difficult for them to get care.
  Add to that the idea of, who among those who are mental health 
providers actually have training and understanding of military 
healthcare, understanding military medicine, understanding military 
life?
  I was commissioned 8 years ago, and I know that when I went on to 
officer school, and I went to training, you have got to learn a lot. 
The Marines say, ``I learned to shoot a gun, and I can polish my shoes 
better than anybody,'' but there is more to it than that. It is 
understanding the words, the acronyms, the lifestyle, what a person 
goes through.
  We could certainly do much better, if not just saying let's hire 
people at the VA, but have a program for civilian mental health 
professionals, one, to recruit more; two, to pay for more reimbursed 
student loans to get them in the workforce; but also, quite frankly, to 
give them more regular orientation of what it is like to be a member of 
the military. Let them observe boot camp. Let them understand this.
  I will give you an example. Once a soldier who I was treating, he 
said he had given up getting care for a while. He said the third time 
he had to explain to his therapist what an MRAP was, he said, ``Give it 
up.'' The MRAP is a military vehicle, commonly known vehicle.
  Now, every branch of the military has their own acronyms, and I don't 
pretend to know them all, but if a person doesn't even know the basics, 
you lose that sort of connection with the patient, and they give up.
  The other issue here is that we need to be able to have a system that 
monitors the medication closely. It is very common that if someone is 
on medication, they are a polypharmacy event; that is, they are taking 
so many medications, and then they will take other medications that 
counteract the effects of those medications, and then they will take 
other medications to deal with the side effects of those medications.
  It was not uncommon for us at Walter Reed to have a patient on 8 or 
10 or 15 or more meds that they were on. We found that we reduced them 
down to one or two.
  But with medication comes weight gains, comes increase for diabetes, 
comes other problems, comes stresses in the family, comes situations 
where they are estranged from their spouse, difficulties with children, 
episodes with anger. These aren't bad people, but they see their life 
deteriorating, they see questions with regard to what is happening 
through their employer, they wonder about their future, they may have 
taken poor medication, but sometimes they just give up.
  There is a quote by author Steve Goodyear, who had quite an 
inspirational quote. I hope, Mr. Speaker, if there are veterans 
listening tonight, they take this to heed.
  Mr. Goodyear said: My scars remind me that I did indeed survive my 
deepest wounds. That in itself is an accomplishment. And they bring to 
mind something else too: they remind me that the damage life has 
inflicted on me has, in many places, left me stronger and more 
resilient. What hurt me in the past has actually made me better 
equipped to face the present.
  That is a message I want veterans to hear, that having moments of 
depression or anxiety or worry are as normal as feeling tired or 
hungry, but we know when you get in a downward spiral, it gets worse.
  I don't want veterans to give up. I don't want veterans or members of 
the military feeling that they have so much emotional distress, this is 
the only way to end it.
  I understand the feeling, but I also know that, as members of the 
community and members who are veterans, we wrap our arms of hope around 
those veterans to say there is help out there, and we as Congress 
Members have an obligation to make sure we are providing those 
services.
  It pains me when I think that sometimes we can come up with funding 
for all sorts of programs, but for this 1 percent who say, ``I am 
willing to take a bullet for you, I am willing to die to defend my 
country, its Constitution, and its flag,'' we as Congress ought to be 
able to say we are willing to put some money in to help you get more 
services.
  Also some advice for those veterans who may be listening: It is 
extremely important to follow a few guidelines in your own life, too, 
besides not giving up, but physical fitness that you were forced to do 
in the military and boot camp, and all those pushups and sit-ups and 
running and pullups we did, they had a reason; because when you stay 
physically fit, it affects your brain functioning and it improves it, 
and it is one of the things that is used to fight off depression and 
other problems.
  Two, you have to have an attitude that is focused on positive things. 
You can make it. Many times, part of that attitude, an essential part, 
is a strong faith in God, a strong belief there, which gives you that 
attitude to say, ``I can do it.'' Navy SEALs talk about the way you eat 
an elephant is one bite at a time; the way you temper steel is with 
fire; that pain is weakness leaving the body; that courage is something 
that is built through experience and focus. It is not something that 
just comes, but you build that attitude. So you have fitness, you have 
attitude.
  Another part is sleep. Many studies I have seen--I think it was Dr. 
Germain at the University of Pittsburgh who did studies that said 
perhaps sleep is a greater factor with post-traumatic stress, anxiety, 
and depression than anything else, and a big part of this is just 
getting enough sleep.
  Members of Congress, we deal with this a lot in terms of our own 
hectic lifestyle, and we know many constituents, because of their 
workload, their anxiety in the family, they don't get enough.
  It is essential. It doesn't necessarily mean you are crazy, you have 
problems, but that is an important part.
  Further, training, knowing what you can do, whether it is in the 
workplace or the military, we know it is essential.
  Making sure one eats right. It sounds obvious. I don't want to make 
this in any way sound small, but making sure one is actually eating a 
healthy diet is an important part of fighting off suicide, fighting off 
depression.
  Then making sure that people are paying attention to relax, to 
rehabilitate themselves, to do their own personal checkup from the neck 
up to make sure they are dealing with these things.
  None of those things I just mentioned require help from a doctor. All 
of those things are essential to healing and getting better.
  When one reaches the point where you say, ``You know what, I need a 
little help here; I need to call in support on the radio; I need a 
quick response team; I need to pop some smoke; get some help in here,'' 
that is okay. I want veterans to know not only is that okay, that is 
what we are supposed to do.

                              {time}  1930

  You call in help. We don't need dead heroes on the battlefield. We 
certainly don't need them in the streets or the

[[Page 15153]]

homes. We need people who are saying: Understand, that even though it 
may be tough to get help, there is help out there. There is help out 
there. People want to facilitate and help you get better.
  I don't want anybody to feel that this is the way to end emotional 
distress. It is a permanent solution to a temporary problem, and even 
if that problem seems to have been going on for years, I know people 
can and do get better. I have seen it time and time again. The soldier 
or veterans that thought: I can't go on; I have to give up. They can 
turn that life around and become a contributor.
  One has a few choices. One can be a victim and say: You know what? I 
am under this giant boulder. I will never get better. The weight is too 
great. I am too weak. I cannot move on. There's no hope.
  Or you can move on to another stage and say: I am going to be a 
survivor.
  On the first part, you say: I am helpless because of what is 
happening. When you are a survivor, you say: You know what? I am going 
to move on despite what is happening. I will pray more. I will engage 
more. I will do more. But every day I will wake up and commit more to 
get through that day to do something that is important and meaningful. 
I don't need to set up a goal of 10 years from now, but let me get 
through that day. Let me find some things I can do and focus. It is 
extremely important.
  But beyond that, beyond being a victim or a survivor, is a third 
stage, and that is being a thriver, someone who says: I am going to 
make sense out of what I have done, and it is going to make me a 
stronger person.
  What I said here in the quote from Steve Goodier where he says, 
``What hurt me in the past has actually made me better equipped to face 
the present,'' if I am in a tough situation, if I am in a situation 
where I, myself, look at it and I have despair and I lack hope for my 
own future and I turn towards someone, give me someone who has been 
there before. Give me a veteran. Give me a soldier who understands boot 
camp and what is it like to be yelled at and lack sleep. Give me a 
veteran who has been on the battlefield. Give me someone who has been 
out to sea and understands what it is like to be months without seeing 
your family. Give me someone who has been there and says: I made it; so 
can you.
  I want veterans to have that sort of hope. We have our obligations in 
Congress: get more providers, make sure the VA is responsible. But 
since most people aren't near a VA, we can do a lot to help them.
  I hope that this Veterans Suicide Recognition Month is something that 
sometime in the future we can put behind us and make it a thing of the 
past. We can do that if veterans themselves make those decisions to get 
help, and if we as the Congress make some decisions to get them that 
help, and society itself says: Stop having pity on them. Give them help 
out of affection and love and respect.
  And, by the way, that respect also includes a lot of people who play 
professional sports, who have no idea what it is like to have someone 
shoot at you and try to kill you. Stand up. Have a backbone instead of 
a wishbone. A lot of veterans don't really want to hear that life is 
tough for you when you make more money in 15 minutes than they will 
make in a lifetime. Show some respect for those folks.
  And then as we as a society recognize what they have given to the 
last full measure, we will be able to provide the kind of things they 
need and save some lives.
  Too many times I have gone to a ceremony. You fold a flag 13 times 
and hand it to a grieving widow or widower. How much worse it is when 
they take their own life, because the stigma among the family is there 
was nothing else you could do, and all of us feel helpless when that 
happens. Let us make sure we are not part of that problem and, instead, 
we are part of the solution to celebrate and help our veterans so these 
things don't continue to happen.
  Ms. SINEMA. Thank you so much, Congressman Murphy, and thank you for 
partnering with me on this important effort this evening.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to my colleague from New York, Thomas Suozzi, 
who serves on the Armed Services Committee and has been a great 
addition to our caucus this year.
  Thank you for joining us.
  Mr. SUOZZI. Mr. Speaker, I want to start by thanking Congresswoman 
Sinema and Congressman Murphy and all of my Democratic and Republican 
colleagues for trying to bring attention to this very important issue.
  I also want to thank Secretary Shulkin, who has announced his Get to 
Zero initiative to try and address this problem of 20 veterans every 
day committing suicide in our country.
  Just today, as on many days, I saw a veteran who had lost both of his 
legs. It is common here in Washington, D.C., but it is common 
throughout every city and every town throughout our country that we see 
more and more veterans who have injuries. After 16 years at war, there 
are more and more veterans in our country who have been disabled.
  With 20 veterans committing suicide every day, we know, however, that 
there are many injuries that we cannot see, injuries that veterans 
carry around by themselves at home, alone, in the dark of night, with 
nothing but their pain.
  As Congressman Murphy pointed out, 70 percent of the veterans of the 
20 per day that commit suicide in our Nation--70 percent, 14 of the 
20--do not have access to veterans benefits at the current time and do 
not utilize those services.
  In fact, in our Nation today, there are 21 million veterans, 
approximately, and of those 21 million veterans, only 7 million have 
access to veterans benefits.
  I have introduced a bipartisan bill, H.R. 2736, to suggest that what 
we need to do in our Nation is provide mental health benefits to every 
single veteran in our country, regardless of whether they were Active 
Duty, whether they were in the National Guard or in the Reserves, 
whether they were honorably discharged or less than honorably 
discharged. It is estimated that, since 2009, there have been 22,000 
veterans with mental illnesses that have received other than honorable 
discharges. Arguably, most of those discharges were because of the same 
mental illness that they now carry around with them today.
  Think of a veteran who is in crisis, a veteran who is contemplating 
suicide, a veteran who, as Congressman Murphy described, is at the end 
of their rope and feels that there is no help and the only way to 
escape their pain is to commit suicide. Think of that veteran who 
reaches out for help at the VA.
  Could you imagine going through the bureaucracy to figure out whether 
or not you were even eligible for services if you weren't currently 
enrolled? You are seeking help, you are in the middle of a crisis, and 
you have got to fill out a form. You have got to determine whether or 
not you meet the criteria.
  I am an attorney and a certified public accountant and a Member of 
the United States Congress. I read the requirements, and I couldn't 
figure them out. We need to make it much easier for anyone who has ever 
worn a uniform in any capacity whatsoever: in battles that we won, in 
battles that we lost, whether they were in combat or whether they 
worked on a truck, whether they were Active Duty, whether they were 
Reserve, whether they were in the National Guard. Every veteran should 
have access to mental health services during a crisis. We have to make 
it much simpler.
  We heard a story tonight from Congressman Johnson, who talked about a 
veteran who was trying to get an appointment to get mental health 
services in the midst of a crisis, and the time was put off and put off 
and put off, and he finally got the appointment. And the Congressman 
was informed when he called the VA: Oh, we have good news; the 
appointment has been scheduled. The Congressman advised the VA that the 
veteran had already committed suicide.
  So we have got a couple obligations, I believe. Number one is for 
those veterans who are currently utilizing VA

[[Page 15154]]

services. We have to, as has been suggested by some of my colleagues, 
make sure we have the resources in place so that those veterans receive 
the services that they need on a timely basis, especially when they are 
in crisis, to make it as easy as possible for them to navigate the 
bureaucracy and get the help that they need.
  Additionally, we need to make sure that those veterans who are not 
currently enrolled for veterans services and veterans benefits are made 
eligible for mental health services, certainly in crisis conditions, so 
that when someone reaches out to them, they are embraced with the 
loving arms of their country, as manifest in the VA, and they are 
brought in and cared for and helped to navigate through that crisis in 
their life.
  There will be talk about how much it is going to cost. There will be 
a challenge as to whether or not we can afford to take care of these 
men and women who have served our country and are now facing this 
crisis in their life.
  But I would guarantee you that any American in this country would say 
that we have to expend any cost for every veteran because there is no 
higher obligation in this Nation than taking care of the men and women 
who have worn our uniform, no greater obligation in this country. We 
can never forget the vet.
  I want to thank Congresswoman Sinema for inviting me here tonight to 
talk about my bipartisan bill, H.R. 2736, and for helping to bring 
attention to this very serious crisis in our country.
  Ms. SINEMA. Thank you so much, Congressman Suozzi, for your 
commitment to taking care of veterans in our community.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to my colleague from California, Congresswoman 
Julia Brownley.
  Congressman Julia Brownley has served on the Veterans Committee for 5 
years now and is the ranking member on the Health Subcommittee for 
Veterans. She has been doing a yeoman's amount of work to help ensure 
that our veterans get the care they need when they return home.
  Congresswoman, thank you for joining us again.
  Ms. BROWNLEY of California. I thank the gentlewoman from Arizona for 
yielding to me and for organizing this Special Order hour and bringing 
attention to this very, very important topic.
  Mr. Speaker, we are here today, both Republicans and Democrats, 
because addressing this epidemic of veteran suicide is the highest 
priority for Members of both parties.
  Congressman Suozzi talked about the fact that Dr. Shulkin, the VA 
Secretary, has made this his top clinical priority; and by shining a 
clear light on this topic, I hope we can finally reduce the stigma 
around mental health issues and be clear about the significant work 
that still needs to be done to address this devastating epidemic.
  We need to do more because 20 veterans commit suicide each day, 
veterans like Sara Leatherman and Linda Raney and Katie Lynn Cesena. As 
Congressman Murphy already pointed out, it is also estimated that only 
6 of those 20 veterans were receiving VA services.
  The VA provides some of the most comprehensive mental healthcare and 
resources in the Nation, and we need to encourage more veterans to seek 
care that is available, and we must be ready for them.
  We do need more providers, and I support Congressman Murphy and 
Congressman Scott and others who are advocating for more providers 
within the VA.
  But, unfortunately, whether it is a lack of providers, long wait 
times, or not enough resources devoted to outreach, we face a serious 
issue with getting veterans set up with the care that they need. The VA 
took an important step forward earlier this year by expanding access to 
its mental healthcare for veterans with other than honorable 
discharges. That was the right thing to do and the right step, but much 
more must be done.
  One important component of reducing veteran suicide is to better 
understand which programs have been most successful. The Clay Hunt Act 
and my bill, the Female Veteran Suicide Prevention Act, required an 
independent analysis of the VA's suicide prevention and mental health 
programs to find out what works.
  It is critical to break this data up based on gender because, 
tragically, recent VA data indicates that women veterans are 2\1/2\ 
times more likely to take their own lives than civilian women. 
Actually, that is a better statistic than last year, because last year 
it was 6 times more than civilian women. But the reason why that has 
been reduced, tragically, is because the number of suicides amongst 
civilian women has increased.
  As the population of female veterans continues to grow, the VA needs 
to recognize their unique experiences and provide the quality 
healthcare that will address this suicide epidemic. It is clear that 
women on the battlefield experience the same kind of trauma that men 
experience on the battlefield, and that may be a very similar 
experience, but we know that women's experience in the military serving 
our country can be very, very different, and we need to understand how 
best to treat both women and men.

                              {time}  1945

  In closing, please let me remind veterans and those who love them 
that the VA operates a confidential call line that is open 24 hours a 
day, 7 days a week. Please call. If veterans are listening tonight, 
please call and have the courage to, if you need that support, make 
that call your first step. And any veteran and any family member can 
call.
  That phone number is 1-800-273-8255, and then you press number 1. You 
can also send a text message at 838255. Please, please, if you are in 
need, please reach out and make this call.
  Please know that we are here for you. We are fighting for you. Give 
us a chance to help you.
  Ms. SINEMA. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congresswoman Brownley for her 
dedication not just to this event every year, but to taking care of 
veterans at home and here in Washington.
  I thank all of the colleagues from both parties who joined us this 
evening. Our thoughts are with all the families who have lost a loved 
one to suicide. But our efforts to end veterans' suicide do not end 
today or even this month. We are committed to continuing this fight to 
ensure that our veterans always know that they have a place to turn.
  We can do more. We need a VA that provides real and meaningful help 
to veterans in need; a VA that puts veterans first and works 
aggressively with community providers to improve the quality and 
accessibility of care. We need a VA that is transparent and open to 
restore the trust and credibility it has lost. The VA can and must do 
better. No one deserves our gratitude and respect more than those who 
put their lives on the line for our freedom. And when the VA fails, our 
heroes suffer.
  We, who enjoy freedom every day, thanks to the sacrifices of our 
military servicemen and -women, must all step up to end the epidemic of 
veteran suicide.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

                          ____________________