Support for Suicide Prevention Coordinators Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, as a long-time advocate for veterans' well-being and resources, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 2333, the ``Suicide Prevention Coordinators Act.''

I support H.R. 2333 because this legislation will provide much needed assistance to the VA to reduce the incidence of suicide among our veterans. The ``SPCA'' provides DVA suicide prevention coordinators with the resources needed to effectively do their job of providing veterans with critical mental health resources to veterans in need.

Madam Speaker, veteran suicide is a pervasive and critical issue, threatening, and in to many heartbreaking cases, taking the lives of many of our heroes.

Although, the Department of Veterans Administration has screening protocols designed to aid veterans and to stage suicide interventions, about 6,000 veterans fall through the cracks of this system annually, finding themselves without the necessary aid and resources that were promised to them.

Many suicide prevention coordinators and offices specializing in veterans affairs report being overworked and unable to keep up with the demand for their services.

On average, about 20 veterans die every day by suicide and since 2017, 25 veterans have taken their lives on the grounds of Veterans Affairs hospitals, including seven this year and at least four last month. These veterans were actively seeking help from an unprepared and under resourced agency before they took their lives.

It is long past time for Congress to provide the help needed to address the troubling increase in veteran suicides and help improve suicide prevention and mental health resources at the at DVA.

It is imperative that the DVA has the tools it needs to serve every veteran that walks through the door.

The ``Suicide Prevention Coordinators Act'' would require the Comptroller General to assess the responsibilities, workload, and vacancy rates of the Department of Veterans Affairs Suicide Prevention Coordinators and report it to Congress within one year, on the ability of the DVA to detect and protect veterans from self-harm.

It is critically important that we provide suicide prevention coordinators with the resources needed to successfully combat the troubling trend of veteran suicide, and I believe this bill is a necessary step in the right direction.

Madam Speaker, it is unconscionable that a veteran will commit suicide every hour.

The fact that veterans make up just 20 percent of the male population, yet veterans make up close to 32 percent of all male suicides is shocking and must spur our action.

It does not have to be this way, Madam Speaker, and we can do something about it, starting with the passage of H.R. 2333, the ``Suicide Prevention Coordinators Act.''

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