On the recordFebruary 9, 2016
As a proud cosponsor I rise in strong support of H.R. 2915, the ``Female Veteran Suicide Prevention Act,'' which directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to implement mental health care and suicide prevention programs and identify metrics that are effective in reducing the incidence of suicide among female veterans. Over the last decade suicide has become a major issue for the military, but the research has been predominantly focused on men and too much remains unknown about the cause and frequency of suicide among female veterans. Mr. Speaker, several recent studies show that, unfortunately, female military veterans commit suicide at nearly 6 times the rate of other women. The suicide rate among female veterans is so high that it approaches that of their male counterparts, a finding that surprises researchers because men generally are far more likely than women to commit suicide. The highest rates of suicide are found among young female veterans, ages 18-29, who are 12 times more likely to commit suicide as their civilian counterparts. This is heart breaking, but perhaps not unexpected, since reports indicate that 10% of women serving on active duty are victims of rape and another 13% were subjected to other unwanted sexual contact. Mr. Speaker, in every other age group, including women who served as far back as the 1950s, suicide rates for female veterans are between 4 and 8 times higher than that of their civilian counterparts.…
