Suicide Prevention Month
Floor Speech
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Mrs. TORRES. Mr. Speaker, our Armed Forces sacrifice everything for us: their bodies, their minds and sometimes, their lives.
To those who return, they far too often suffer in silence from the mental and physical wounds they endure in battle. Many times, that isolation leads to tragic outcomes.
As we commemorate Suicide Prevention Month, it is important that we focus on solving the challenges that lead many of our veterans to make the choice to take their own lives.
The numbers are staggering: 7400 veterans took their own lives in 2014, roughly 20 individuals a day.
The suicide rate among veterans has surged 35 percent since the beginning of the War on Terror, and 85 percent among our women veterans.
A veteran is 21 percent more likely to commit suicide than a civilian.
Mr. Speaker, we know the effects of PTSD on our servicemen and women; how almost one-fifth of veterans suffer from PTSD and how the illness is linked to increased suicidal behavior.
What is most troubling is that almost half of the veterans with PTSD do not seek treatment from the VA.
It is no surprise that 70 percent of veterans who commit suicide are not regular users of VA services. It is our obligation to ensure that we engage our veterans and let them know there is help available.
It is also incumbent on us to ensure this care is responsive to their individual needs.
Last year, we passed the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention Act in honor of Marine Clay Hunt, a sufferer of PTSD who had trouble seeing a VA psychiatrist and tragically, took his own life.
This law is designed to save the lives of those like Clay by improving access to quality mental health care and coordinating VA suicide prevention efforts with private mental health organizations.
In the spirit of that law, I was happy to learn of the efforts of the VA Medical Center in Loma Linda, California, which serves thousands of veterans from my congressional district.
They are rolling out a pilot program that will integrate with community mental health providers in an attempt to reach the more than 170,000 veterans not registered with the Loma Linda VA.
Their example is encouraging, but funding is needed to make certain that no veteran is left behind.
In that same vein, Congress must fulfill our obligation to VA services such as the Veterans Crisis Line.
The Crisis Line has serviced some 2.3 million people and is credited with saving more than 50,000 lives. However, it has struggled to keep pace with increasing demand.
It was disheartening to hear that there are individuals who have called the Crisis Line only to be placed on hold, or have their calls transferred to voicemail, or simply unanswered.
We must provide the VA with the tools to adequately staff the call center and train their employees. Too much is at stake for Congress to shortchange this commitment.
Mr. Speaker, everyone in this chamber honors and respects the sacrifices of the world's greatest fighting force. Our servicemen and women defend our freedoms and protect our homeland at great personal cost.
When they return home, they deserve a nation that will look after them the way they look after us. I ask that my colleagues hold steadfast in reaffirming our commitment to our veterans.
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