Ranking Member Tim Walz Investigates Concerns At The Veterans Crisis Line

Statement

Today, House Committee on Veterans' Affairs Ranking Member Tim Walz (D-MN) issued the follow statement after the Committee conducted an oversight hearing investigating concerns that Veterans Crisis Line (VCL) staff routinely failed to respond to veterans seeking help in a timely manner. Such concerns were revealed through a VA Office of the Investigators General report entitled "Healthcare Inspection -- Evaluation of the Veterans Health Administration Veterans Crisis Line, which found that nearly a third of veterans were being sent to answering machines or being put on hold for extended periods of time.

"The Veterans Crisis Line is one of our greatest assets in our fight to end the tragedy of veteran suicide, that is why it is so critical that VCL is successful at what it was designed to do: ensure veterans in destress receive the immediate assistance they need from a trained professional," Rep Walz said.

"I don't care if you call it being put on hold or being placed in a queue, to a veteran in crisis it makes that veteran feel like no one is there to help. It makes that veteran feel like he is just another inconvenience to the VA. It tells that veteran contemplating suicide to take a number. That is why every veteran seeking help must have immediate access to the care they need. They deserve nothing less and upholding our responsibility to them means ensuring that not a single veterans is ever put on hold when every second counts."

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