Female Veteran Suicide Prevention Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the Female Veteran Suicide Prevention Act (H.R. 2915).

The VA estimates that 22 veterans take their own lives each day, or over 8,000 per year--more than have been killed in action since 9/11. The incidence of suicide among our veteran population is stunning, tragic beyond words, and simply unacceptable.

Too many veterans have returned from fighting our enemies overseas to fighting for their lives at home. As the son of a WW2 combat veteran, I have witnessed the residual wounds of war, the struggle to cope with the post-traumatic stress that can continue for decades and the pain that a lack of access to services can cause for veterans and their families.

Recognizing this great, unmet need, Congress recently enacted the bipartisan ``Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans (SAV) Act,'' legislation targeting the gaps in the VA's mental health and suicide prevention efforts. Among other provisions, the law requires annual, independent third party evaluations of the effectiveness of the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) programs and establishes best practices for caring for at-risk veterans.

While the Clay Hunt Act is a comprehensive and well-designed law--I cosponsored and voted for it twice--there is one area where improvements could be made to maximize its impact and better assist one group of veterans: female veterans.

As the House Veterans' Affairs Committee report states: In 2014, the VA released an update to the survey and found increases in the suicide rate in female users of the VA health care system. Female veterans commit suicide at nearly six times the rate of other women and that women veterans are five times more likely to commit suicide than male veterans. Yet the VA's research focuses primarily on men and little is known about the complex causes and factors that are driving the suicide rate among females who have served.

The bill we are voting on today offers a modest but important step to enhance our understanding of, and hopefully help remedy, these staggering numbers. Specifically, H.R. 2915 directs the VA to identify mental health care and suicide prevention programs that are most effective and have the highest satisfaction rates among women veterans.

We as a nation have a duty and obligation to repay the debt we owe to those who have fought in defense of our nation and our ideals. This bill helps ensure we better address the physical and emotional wounds of all veterans and I urge all members to support it.

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