Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2015

Floor Speech

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Mr. MURPHY of Pennsylvania. I thank the gentleman and I also thank the chairman and the ranking member of the committee.

I should say that, in addition to being a Member Congress, I am also a member of the Navy Reserve as a psychologist, but I want to make it clear I am not here representing the Navy or Navy psychology, but talking about those things which I see in our military.

We have the best military in the world. We are strong, we are filled with strong servicemen and servicewomen, but our country has a crisis on its hands.

On average, 22 military servicemembers and veterans die each day by their own hands. Nearly 1 in 5 suicides nationally is a veteran, even though veterans only make up 10 percent of the population, or about a million or so overall, 2 million overall.

The suicide rate for veterans increased an average of 2.6 percent a year from 2005 to 2011, more than double the rate of increase for civilian suicide.

Let me tell you what I hear from servicemembers: that those who are in high-tempo work, such as those in SOCOM, those who are Active Duty, those who have come back from Guard and Reserve, they have a very difficult time accessing mental health care.

Whether it is family problems, financial crisis, or adapting from the stress of combat or post-traumatic stress, and preventing it from becoming post-traumatic stress disorder, we know that treatment early and identification early can be effective.

But, quite frankly, there are just too few providers. Psychologists, psychiatrists, and clinical social workers and therapists are burdened with paperwork and screening duties, and oftentimes have too little time to counsel.

We hear, time and time again, where someone has sought help off base, only to find there people who may not themselves understand all the needs of someone in the military.

Plus, many times, those in the military dealing with classified missions, particularly those in SOCOM, need to have folks that they can talk to and deal with these problems so they do not become worse. Or if they transfer to Guard and Reserve, many times they have no one they can go to. The purpose of this amendment is to help make sure we are providing more of those services.

A survey by the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America showed that 30 percent of servicemembers have considered taking their own life; 45 percent say they know an Iraq or Afghanistan veteran who has attempted suicide.

While DOD has done many things, and should be complimented for the work that they have done, we still have a serious, serious problem on our hands. The reason we are offering this amendment today is to do all we can to help provide more providers.

Granted, I do not believe this will be anywhere near enough, but it does give us a surge of providers at a time when it is needed, at a time when the suicide rate has climbed, at a time when many servicemembers continue to need help. So I am offering this, and I hope it will be accepted.

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Mr. MURPHY of Pennsylvania. Mr. Chairman, let me just close with this. In this, I know for example those who come back from SOCOM, from being the tip of the spear, a very important part of their return are such things as Third Location Decompression. They come back, they meet with psychologists, with detailed review.

What we also have to make sure is, for so many others who come back, whether they have been on a combat mission or even a training mission that can have its own stress associated with that, we want to prevent these from accelerating to the level where later on they will need VA services, where we have so many families deteriorate.

I thank the chairman, I thank the ranking member, et cetera, and I ask my colleagues to support this amendment so we can get help to our military in need.

Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

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