Suicide Prevention Month

Floor Speech

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Mr. OWENS. Thank you, Congresswoman Sinema. I appreciate the work you've done in bringing a bipartisan group together to address this issue.

Mr. Speaker, I think it's important that we understand a number of things. In my district, particularly upstate New York, there are 48 attempts at suicide every year. The hotline which was addressed before receives 137,000 calls, on average, annually, and that is statistics gathered from 2007-2012.

That number, and I'll repeat this again for any veteran out their listening today, is (800) 273-8255.

How many of us have known someone who has committed suicide and have thought to ourselves: I didn't see it coming. How could I have helped?

We hear that constantly when we talk to the families of those who have committed suicide.

The New York Times reports that being a veteran increases your risk of suicide double, so you have two times a greater risk of committing suicide if you have served your country.

I urge all of us to stay alert, to make sure that we are focused on watching those amongst us who may show signs of suicide, and it is incumbent upon Congress to provide the funding to defeat this terrible disease.

In my district, a young man committed suicide, who came from Glens Falls, who was assigned to the 10th Mountain Division in Watertown, New York. He was a skilled Blackhawk mechanic. And the theme that I mentioned before was repeated by his friends and coworkers: I didn't see it coming. How could I have helped?

We say thank you to our veterans by oftentimes saying thank you for your service, but do we provide the service to them that they deserve? We do not nearly enough, and we should.

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