On the recordSeptember 27, 2017
I want to start by thanking Congresswoman Sinema and Congressman Murphy and all of my Democratic and Republican colleagues for trying to bring attention to this very important issue. I also want to thank Secretary Shulkin, who has announced his Get to Zero initiative to try and address this problem of 20 veterans every day committing suicide in our country. Just today, as on many days, I saw a veteran who had lost both of his legs. It is common here in Washington, D.C., but it is common throughout every city and every town throughout our country that we see more and more veterans who have injuries. After 16 years at war, there are more and more veterans in our country who have been disabled. With 20 veterans committing suicide every day, we know, however, that there are many injuries that we cannot see, injuries that veterans carry around by themselves at home, alone, in the dark of night, with nothing but their pain. As Congressman Murphy pointed out, 70 percent of the veterans of the 20 per day that commit suicide in our Nation--70 percent, 14 of the 20--do not have access to veterans benefits at the current time and do not utilize those services. In fact, in our Nation today, there are 21 million veterans, approximately, and of those 21 million veterans, only 7 million have access to veterans benefits. I have introduced a bipartisan bill, H.R.…
