Coffman's Bills Clear Veterans' Affairs Committee

Press Release

Today, U.S. Representative Mike Coffman (R-CO), a member of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs (HVAC) and Marine Corps combat veteran, announced that two of his bills passed out of HVAC with strong bipartisan support. Coffman crafted the bills to fill current gaps he identified in how our nation supports veterans. One aids veterans who unfortunately have become entangled in the criminal justice system and the other supports our rapidly growing female veteran population.

"Veterans need to always know that their country "has their back' during their time of need. From helping justice-involved veterans navigate the system, to strengthening peer-to-peer counseling programs, it is critical that we provide our veterans a helping hand." said Coffman.

The two bills passed by the Veterans' Affairs Committee are:

H.R. 2147: The Veterans Treatment Court Improvement Act

The Veterans Access to Treatment Court Improvement Act, introduced by Rep. Coffman, directs the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to hire additional Veterans Justice Outreach (VJO) specialists. VJO specialists work with the courts to ensure veterans enmeshed in the legal system have greater access to effective and tailored treatments. The presiding judge of a veteran's treatment court works alongside the veteran and the VJO specialist to establish a structured rehabilitation program tailored to the specific needs of that veteran. The success rate for such programs is quite high.

H.R. 4635: The Peer-2-Peer Counseling Act

The bipartisan "Peer-2-Peer Act' introduced by U.S. Reps. Mike Coffman (R-CO) and Elizabeth Esty (D-CT) calls for the existing VA peer-to-peer counseling program to increase the number of female peer counselors so that female veterans who are separating or newly separated from military service can receive support from other female veterans. According to the VA's 2016 suicide data report "risk of suicide was 2.4 times higher among female veterans when compared with civilian adult females… rates of suicide increased more among women than that among men during the study period."

"As we strive to provide high-quality care to our nation's heroes, we must also consider the specific needs of female veterans. I'm grateful to Rep. Coffman for his leadership on this bill to expand access to peer counseling at the Department of Veterans Affairs and provide our female veterans with the care and support system they deserve." said Committee Chairman, Phil Roe (R-TN).

The bills will now be sent to the House Floor for consideration.

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