Commander John Scott Hannon Veterans Mental Health Improvement Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. MORAN. Madam President, I am pleased to share with my colleagues in the Senate that we have reached an agreement with the House to pass S. 785, the Commander John Scott Hannon Veterans Mental Health Improvement Act, and we expect the bill to pass the House of Representatives tomorrow.

This is a bill that passed--our most significant piece of legislation--from the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs dealing with mental health and suicide prevention. The bill came out of the committee unanimously and was approved by the Senate unanimously, and we have been negotiating with Chairman Takano and Ranking Member Roe of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs for its passage by the House and with consideration by the Senate of other bills that the House has and will send us.

I want to thank my colleague Senator Tester, the ranking member of our committee, Chairman Takano, and Dr. Roe, the ranking member of the House committee, for working expeditiously with me to reach an agreement to pass this comprehensive mental health and suicide prevention bill for America's veterans.

One veteran lost due to suicide is one too many, and it is a national tragedy that we continue to lose 20 veterans each day to suicide.

I am glad that Congress has come together to do our part to ensure this bill which will save lives. It needs to be passed without delay and signed into law.

This bill will establish a grant program and require the VA to better collaborate with community organizations across the country already serving veterans. This provision was specifically championed by my colleague Senator Boozman of Arkansas.

In addition, this legislation directs the VA to embark on groundbreaking research in the form of a precision medicine initiative that will improve how mental health conditions are diagnosed and treated, expand VA telehealth capabilities to better serve rural and Tribal veterans, bolster and expedite Federal research capabilities, increase accountability over the Department's mental health and suicide prevention programs, and make necessary improvements to the VA mental health workforce.

While this legislation puts in place the critical care, services, and support that will save veterans' lives, it is my hope that the bill will also serve as a signal to our veterans, servicemembers, and their families that they are never, never alone.

I want to extend my gratitude to the President for his support of this bill, and I ask him to sign this legislation as soon as it arrives on his desk.

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