MSNBC "The Rachel Maddow Show" - Transcript: Suicide Prevention in the Military

Interview

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Senator Walsh, thank you very much for being with us. It`s nice to have you here.

SEN. JOHN WALSH, MONTANA: Thank you, Rachel. Thanks for having me.

MADDOW: So why this issue? You obviously haven`t been in the United States Senate very long. It has to be a major priority for you to move so quickly on this issue?

WALSH: Well, Rachel, this is very personal to me. Like you mentioned I commanded an infantry battalion in Iraq in 2004 and 2005. And when our unit returned home, I had a young soldier that died by suicide. Sgt, Christopher Dana who, you know, was over in Iraq with me through the entire deployment.

And so, this is a personal issue. And, you know, you also mentioned that we have 22 veterans that are dying of suicide each day, you know. So we have an epidemic in this country that needs to be solved and I want to solve that problem.

MADDOW: It is hard to think of suicide as having a public policy solution.
I think a lot of issues like this, it`s hard to get your head around what can be done from a public policy perspective to solve a problem that seems so personal. That`s it. This bill is fairly comprehensive, it takes seven different approaches to try to tackle it.

What do you think is the most important thing in the bill, what do you think works or could most be done to prevent suicide among veterans.

WALSH: Well right now, we have a shortage of mental health care providers. You know, we opened a brand new facility in Montana, we built it right next to our VA hospital in Montana. And we couldn`t open that facility for over a year, because we didn`t have the health care providers available. So we need additional health care providers in this country to help us deal with this problem.

MADDOW: I know you have not been in the Senate all that long, even those of us who haven`t been there, aren`t very optimistic about the Senate`s capacity to actually create new policy, when you talk to other senators about these ideas, now that these have been imploded and you`re going to introduce this bill tomorrow. Are you getting push back on any of the components of the bill? Do you see this as a matter that`s controversial or hard fought?

WALSH: Well, I think that my colleagues will realize that we do have a problem and will join me in wanting to solve the problem, because we have veterans all over this country. You know, this is not a partisan problem. This is a problem that we have and we have to deal with it.

MADDOW: Senator Walsh, we think of veterans as having enormous political capital. We think of veterans as being a nonpartisan and noncontroversial issue where all Americans believe that we ought to do right by our veterans. At least, we all believe we ought to say that.

As a veteran yourself and seeing groups like IAVA lobbying in Washington this week, do you think that veterans in Washington get more than lip service? Do they actually get listened to? I sort of feel like the more I talk to veterans, the more I feel like they`re happy to have the thank yous and to have to sort of plot it, but it doesn`t always translate to policy.

WALSH: Well, you have to take a look at what our men and women have sacrificed. Not only the men and women, but their families. They sacrificed a great deal for this country. They were willing to put their lives on the line. And so, I think that this country owes them a great deal of gratitude. And we need to show that by making sure the benefits that they earned are there for them and their families when they need them.

MADDOW: Iraq war veteran United States senator John Walsh of Montana sponsoring new legislation in lowering the rate of veteran suicides.

Senator Walsh, here on the program for the first time, I hope you`ll come back, and thank you for your time tonight, sir.

WALSH: Thank you, Rachel, I definitely will.

MADDOW: Thank you. All right.

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