{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://crow.house.gov/media/press-releases/crow-introduces-five-bills-to-improve-veterans-services-and-strengthen-veteran-benefits", "Crow Introduces Five Bills to Improve Veterans Services and Strengthen Veteran Benefits", "2025-11-11", "2025", "2025-11", "Democrat", "House", "CO", "Jason Crow", "C001121", "crow.house.gov", "crow", "https://crow.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON \u2014 Congressman Jason Crow (D-CO-06), a former Army Ranger, will introduce a package of legislation to improve services that veterans and their families rely on and strengthen the benefits they earned through their service.\n\nCongressman Crow has long worked to address the challenges faced by veterans when they return home from service. Crow will introduce bills that would: combat veteran suicide; enhance mental health care; expand access to educational opportunities for veterans\u2019 families; lower recidivism for veterans involved in the criminal justice system; and improve care for veterans struggling with ALS.\n\n\u201cI went to war three times for this country, and throughout my time in Congress, I have worked hard to ensure my fellow veterans are equipped to transition to civilian life,\u201d said Congressman Crow. \u201cChallenges still remain, but our veterans simply can\u2019t wait any longer for the help they need. That\u2019s why I\u2019m introducing five bills to address challenges facing our veterans so that they and their families have the resources to thrive.\u201d\n\nAs an Iraq and Afghanistan veteran, ensuring America\u2019s military servicemembers and their families get appropriate care and resources is a top priority for Congressman Crow. Earlier this year, he introduced the Support Modern Approaches in Recovery Technology for Traumatic Brain Injury (SMART for TBI) Act, bipartisan legislation that would improve care for active-duty servicemembers suffering from traumatic brain injury (TBI). In the 117th Congress, he supported the PACT Act, which expands care to millions of servicemembers exposed to toxic chemicals.\n\nRead more about each of the bills Crow will introduce below.\n\nCombatting Veteran Suicide\n\nCongressman Crow is introducing the Veterans\u2019 Sentinel Act, bipartisan legislation to address suicides on Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) campuses by requiring comprehensive analysis of the underlying causes and enhancing congressional oversight of these facilities. Veterans make up less than eight percent of the population, yet in 2023 represented a disproportionate 13.8% of all suicide deaths among adults in the US annually.\n\nThis bill would establish a working group focused on accurately collecting and analyzing the data, while also requiring the VA Secretary to submit an annual report to Congress detailing on-campus veteran suicides and suicide attempts and recommendations for improving prevention efforts.\n\nCongressman Jake Ellzey (R-TX-06) will join Congressman Crow in introducing this bill.\n\nClick here for a one-pager detailing more information about this bill.\n\nEnhancing Mental Health Care\n\nCongressman Crow is introducing the Building Resources and Access for Veterans' Mental Health Engagement (BRAVE) Act, which would enhance veterans\u2019 access to mental health care at the VA. It would achieve this by strengthening the VA\u2019s mental health workforce and and services, and would renew the Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program\u2014a grant program that provides funding for local organizations combatting veteran suicide.\n\nCongresswoman Jen Kiggans (R-VA-02) will join Congressman\n\nCrow in introducing this bipartisan legislation.\n\nClick here for a one-pager detailing more information about this bill.\n\nExpanding Access to Education for Veterans\u2019 Families\n\nCongressman Crow is introducing the Veterans Earned Education Act, a bipartisan bill that expands educational opportunities for dependents of servicemembers who qualify for the Post-9/11 Educational Assistance Program. Under current transfer guidelines, servicemembers may not transfer these benefits unless they have already completed at least six years of service and agree to serve an additional four years from the date of the transfer request. This requirement places an additional burden on some of our most deserving servicemembers - those who have dedicated their lives to service and those who are medically retired. The bipartisan Veterans Earned Education Act would expand educational opportunities for the dependents and spouses of those servicemembers without imposing additional service obligations.\n\nCongressman Joe Wilson (R-SC-02) will join Congressman Crow in introducing this bipartisan legislation.\n\nClick here for a one-pager detailing more information about this bill.\n\nImproving Care for Veterans with ALS\n\nCongressman Crow is introducing the Veterans with ALS Reporting Act. Data suggests that veterans are twice as likely to develop ALS \u2013 which is why the VA recognizes ALS as a service-connected disease and assigns a 100% disability rating upon diagnosis. However, very little is known about why this link exists or what can be done to protect those who serve.\n\nCongressman Crow\u2019s bipartisan bill would require the VA to study the prevalence of ALS within the military and veteran communities, and create a strategy to improve access to clinical trials for veterans with the condition.\n\nALS Caucus Co-Chairs Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA-01), Congresswoman Terri Sewell (D-AL-07), and Congressman Ken Calvert (R-CA-41) will join Congressman Crow in introducing this bill.\n\nClick here for a one-pager detailing more information about this bill.\n\nLower Recidivism for Veterans in the Criminal Justice System\n\nCongressman Crow is introducing the Justice Involved Veterans Support Act, bipartisan legislation to reduce recidivism and provide support to veterans involved with the criminal justice system across the country.\n\nMore than half of these veterans face mental health challenges, such as PTSD and depression, or substance abuse disorders, such as alcoholism and drug addiction. While existing services such as Veteran Treatment Courts and Veterans Justice Outreach programs have been shown to lower recidivism and facilitate access to VA services, many justice-involved veterans do not know that these services exist. The Justice Involved Veterans Support Act would create a pilot program to help identify veterans involved in the criminal justice system so they can better access these resources.\n\nCongressman Don Bacon (R-NE-02) will join Congressman Crow in introducing this bipartisan legislation.\n\nClick here for a one-pager detailing more information about this bill.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:52:45Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://crow.house.gov/media/press-releases/crow-introduces-five-bills-to-improve-veterans-services-and-strengthen-veteran-benefits"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.6475231386721134, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}