Senator Blunt, Colleagues Introduce Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention For American Veterans Act

Press Release

U.S. Senators Roy Blunt (Mo.), John McCain (Ariz.), Richard Blumenthal (Conn.), Richard Burr (N.C.), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), and Joe Manchin (W.V.) today introduced the bipartisan "Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act," legislation that offers several critical measures that would improve mental health care and suicide prevention resources for American service members. To read the text of the bill, click here.

"An estimated 22 veterans commit suicide every day, a shocking and unacceptable reality," said Blunt, McCain, Blumenthal, Burr, Murkowski, and Manchin. "We are proud to introduce this bipartisan legislation to improve and modernize the suicide prevention programs and resources available to our fighting men and women. When enacted, this bill will provide additional resources for veterans who suffer from mental health disorders that place them at higher risk of suicide. It will ensure that existing suicide prevention programs are reviewed to determine which ones work and get rid of those that don't, improve collaboration between the Department of Veterans Affairs and Veterans Service Organizations, and provide incentives to attract more psychiatrists to treat veterans through the VA. Our nation has a long way to go to decrease the rate of suicide among our veterans and we must do much better in fulfilling our responsibilities to care for those who have risked everything on behalf of their fellow Americans."

The bill would require a third-party evaluation of existing suicide prevention programs at the Department of Defense (DoD) and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to gauge their effectiveness and make recommendations for consolidation, elimination, or improvement. It would also provide for a new website that offers veterans information regarding available mental healthcare services; create a pilot loan repayment program for VA psychiatrists; and improve the exchange of training, best practices, and other resources among the VA, Veteran Service Organizations (VSO), and non-profit mental health organizations to enhance collaboration of suicide prevention efforts.

Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) also praised the introduction of The Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act.

"IAVA thanks the Senate leaders for taking initiative on this vital issue for the veteran community," said Paul Rieckhoff, founder and CEO of IAVA. "Combating veteran suicide has been a top priority for IAVA this year. When passed, this bill will ensure our veterans receive the top quality mental healthcare they deserve, most specifically by implementing evaluation programs to assess the success of mental health and suicide prevention programs at DoD and the VA. Reversing the suicide trend among veterans requires more than one helping hand. This bill empowers the VA to collaborate with VSOs and nonprofit mental health organizations to combat veteran suicide. We urge Congress to move quickly on this legislation and put their partisanship aside. Lives are on the line. IAVA expects to see the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act receive expedited consideration and unanimous support in the full Senate very soon."

The bill was named for Clay Hunt, a Marine veteran who committed suicide in March 2011 at the age of 28. Clay enlisted in the Marine Corps in May 2005 and deployed to Anbar Province, near Fallujah, in January 2007. He was shot in the wrist by a sniper's bullet that barely missed his head, earning him a Purple Heart. Clay recuperated at Twenty Nine Palms, Calif. and then graduated from Marine Corps Scout Sniper School in March 2008. He redeployed to southern Afghanistan a few weeks later. His unit returned in late October of 2008 and he was honorably discharged from the Marines in April 2009. After returning home, Clay suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) for many years and struggled with inadequate care at his local VA hospital before taking his own life.