The House passed bipartisan legislation that is designed to help prevent veteran suicides. Congressman Steve Pearce cosponsored H.R. 5059, The Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act, a bill that will increase access, better meet the demand and boost the accountability of mental health care. The legislation has support from a number of veterans groups, including the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America and the VFW.
“Marine Cpl. Clay Hunt’s struggle to seek help in his desperate time of need will never be forgotten,” said Congressman Steve Pearce. “Tragically, he was only one of many veterans who suffer from the effects of war, and urgently require mental health services from the VA. The Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act makes needed reforms to the VA and will assist in the prevention of veterans’ suicidein New Mexico and across the country.”
The bill also:
· Increases access to mental health care by creating a peer support and community outreach pilot program to assist transitioning service members, and a one-stop interactive website of available resources.
· Better meets the demand for mental health care by starting a pilot program to repay the loan debt of students in psychiatry, to more easily recruit them to work at the VA.
· Boosts accountability of mental health care by requiring an annual evaluation of suicide prevention practices and programs.
NOTE: H.R. 5059, The Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act, is named in honor of Marine Cpl. Clay Hunt, who earned a Purple Heart in Iraq and was redeployed to Afghanistan. He was diagnosed with PTSD and sought to help others raise awareness about depression. On March 31, 2011, he took his own life.