Washington, DC — Congresswoman Johnson applauded the unanimous House passage of bipartisan legislation to address the epidemic of suicide among our nation’s veterans.
“One veteran lost to suicide is one veteran too many,” said Congresswoman Johnson. “This bipartisan legislation provides our heroes with the care and support they’ve earned in order to overcome any mental health challenges, traumatic brain injuries, and post-traumatic stress disorders they might suffer from. It was my honor to support this legislation, to ensure our nation is dedicated to standing behind our brave veterans with compassion every day.”
Twenty-two veterans commit suicide every day – this amounts to more than 8,000 every year. Of the more than 2 million Americans who have served in combat in Afghanistan and Iraq, it is estimated that one-third, roughly 600,000 women and men, have traumatic brain injury, PTSD or depression. Named in honor of an Iraq and Afghanistan War veteran and noted suicide prevention advocate who took his own life on March 31, 2011, The Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act (H.R. 5059) is another step toward ensuring our nation’s veterans have the support they need by expanding access to and improving the effectiveness of mental health care for our veterans.
The Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act will establish a peer support and community outreach pilot program to assist transitioning service members with accessing VA mental health care services. To ease access to services, the bill will require the VA to create a one-stop, interactive website to serve as a centralized source of information regarding all mental health services for veterans. A student loan repayment pilot program aimed at recruiting and retaining psychiatrists included in the legislation will help address the shortage of mental health care professionals. To improve care, the legislation will require an annual, third-party evaluation of all mental health care and suicide prevention practices and programs at the VA to find out what is working and what is not.
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U.S. Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson is the ranking member of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology and the highest-ranking Texan on the House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure. She represents the 30th Congressional District of Texas, which includes Downtown Dallas, Fair Park, Kessler Park, Old East Dallas, Pleasant Grove, South Dallas & South Oak Cliff; all of Cedar Hill, DeSoto, Duncanville, Hutchins, Lancaster & Wilmer and parts of Ferris, Glenn Heights, South Grand Prairie, Oak Lawn, Ovilla, Uptown/Victory Park and West Dallas.
