Letter to the Hon. Donald J. Trump, President of the United States - Buchanan to POTUS: Prioritize Vets Suicide Prevention

Letter

Dear Mr. President,

As you work to submit your Fiscal Year 2020 budget request to Congress in the upcoming weeks, I hope you will dedicate more resources for suicide prevention efforts within the Depts. of Defense and Veterans Affairs (VA).

There has been an alarming increase in suicide among our nation's veterans and members of the armed forces across the nation. Tragically, this heartbreaking trend has affected every corner of our military, with the Marine Corps and Navy experiencing decades-high suicide rates, and suicides among our Special Operations units tripling in the past year alone. Overall, the U.S. military experienced the highest number of suicides among active-duty personnel in at least six years.

As you are undoubtedly aware, an astonishing 20 veterans and active-duty service members commit suicide every day. These account for 18 percent of all suicides nationwide. Among veterans younger than 35, the number of suicides has increased dramatically in recent years.

According to a recent survey among Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America members, an overwhelming majority said that that the country as a whole has not made much progress in solving one of the top challenges affecting veterans -- suicide. Even worse, 84 percent of these veterans said they don't believe most veterans are receiving the mental health care they need, while 75 percent said they are actively seeking that care.

These statistics are not only heartbreaking; they are downright inexcusable. And while I commend you for taking action to improve mental health resources for veterans transitioning from active-duty to civilian life, these numbers clearly indicate that much more needs to be done.

Last December, I was extremely disturbed to learn that the VA failed to spend millions of dollars allocated for suicide prevention efforts. In fact, according to a government watchdog group, the agency somehow only managed to spend less than 1 percent of the total funding allocated for this purpose.

Of the 20 veterans who commit suicide on a daily basis, it is estimated that 14 of those individuals have had little or no contact with the VA in the months preceding their death. This demonstrates that the VA must dramatically improve its outreach to veterans who are in need of the department's mental health services.

At a time when a veteran commits suicide every 72 minutes in the United States and suicide rates among active-duty service members continue to skyrocket, we need to do everything in our power to combat this tragic epidemic. Dedicating more resources for suicide prevention efforts is a common sense way to help fight back against this scourge.

And while the VA's national Suicide Prevention Program was allocated $41 million in FY18, I am calling for a significant increase in this year's budget as well as more funding at the Dept. of Defense.

Thank you for your commitment and service to our veterans and service members. I look forward to your prompt response on this important matter.

Sincerely,

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