U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer is urging his Senate colleagues to pass bipartisan legislation aimed at improving mental health care and suicide prevention resources for America’s veterans, including approximately one million veterans living in New York State.
The Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act, would, among other things, require a third-party evaluation of existing suicide prevention programs at the Department of Defense and the VA to gauge their effectiveness and make recommendations for consolidation, elimination or improvement. Schumer addressed suicide last November in Albany: "In the last decade, 15-hundred New York State Veterans have taken their own lives."
The bill has already passed the House of Representatives and will be voted on by the Senate Monday. The legislation, which Schumer co-sponsored, was introduced by Senators Richard Blumenthal and John McCain.
