Jerry Moran

What more needs to be done to reassure our allies and to deter Russian aggression?

Has there been a consequence of our reassurance efforts in a response from Russia in how we would have expected them to behave or how they are changing their behavior?

How would you describe the change in climate from that point in time to today?

A part of the theme of my conversation with you all today has been the Choice Act.

I don't know that you'd know this, but the amount of geography that you cover or the number of veterans, it's a significant expanse for three people.

The suicide prevention team is there in that moment of acute crisis.

I can better understand Kansas than I can all 50 states.

We should treat the loss of even one Veteran to suicide as a national tragedy and the loss of 20 Veterans a day as a national crisis.

As long as there is even one Veteran suicide in any community anywhere in our country, we should not rest.

There are many veterans and many veteran family members and friends who don't know what services are available.

For veterans who may be watching or listening to the hearing, we want you to know that we care.

In my view, this has been useful.

Thank you very much. And in that regard, I would compliment you.

My final and usual question in a hearing like this is, is there anybody on the panel who feels like they have not had the opportunity to say what they want to say?

In Kansas, we have 105 counties, all of them are covered by a community mental health center.

Let's see if we can get it resolved and solved for the benefit of our veterans.

It appears to me that there are significant impediments and not much results in the hiring of these professionals.

I've been working to get other professionals included within the VA system.

You would have to have a Medicare provider number in order to...

Do we have a separate path that the Department of Veterans Affairs believes this is the care and treatment that should be provided?

I think that's a good point. There are certain things that the VA has through history and volume, experience, and the collection of professionals that don't exist in many other places.

I would also highlight, this may be nationwide, but in Kansas, we have mobile vet centers who travel the state in a large truck van and----

We're trying to shine a light on the progressive growth and the positivity the Veterans Administration has done in the past year or two.

So any of the veterans who use the call center would not end up receiving any attention by you.

Awareness is one thing, but this is a call to action.