{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.murphy.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/murphy-blumenthal-urge-va-to-follow-through-on-promises-to-end-veteran-suicide-epidemic", "Murphy, Blumenthal Urge VA To Follow Through On Promises To End Veteran Suicide EpidemicRead More", "2020-10-23", "2020", "2020-10", "Democrat", "House", "CT", "Christopher Murphy", "M001169", "www.murphy.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Murphy, Blumenthal Urge VA To Follow Through On Promises To End Veteran Suicide Epidemic \n        \n          \n             Following historic signing of veteran suicide prevention bill, Senators raise alarm over Administration's refusal to fully implement provisions under President Trump's Executive Order to expand critical mental health resources to nation's heroes \n          \n        October 23, 2020\n      \n        \n          WASHINGTON Following the\r\nsigning of the Commander John Scott Hannon Veterans Mental Health Care\r\nImprovement Actthis\r\nweek, U.S. Senators Chris Murphy\r\n(D-Conn.) and Richard Blumenthal\r\n(D-Conn.) joined Senator Jon Tester\r\n(D-Mon.) and 28\r\nof their colleagues in a push for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)\r\nto follow through on authorities under President Donald Trump'sExecutive Order (EO) 13822to\r\nincrease veterans' access to mental health care. The senators also urged the\r\nAdministration to aggressively implement critical provisions and new\r\nauthorities under the law to provide more veterans with the mental health\r\nresources they need and earned. More than 6,000 veterans\r\ndie by suicide annually, and each loss of life is immeasurable,the\r\nsenatorswrote to VA Secretary Robert Wilkie.Congress\r\nhas done its part by providing consistent and robust resources for VA's mental\r\nhealth budget and developing and passing comprehensive veterans' mental health\r\ncare legislation, most recently theCommander\r\nJohn Scott Hannon Veterans Mental Health Care Improvement Act. Hopefully\r\nthe issuance of EO 13822 was more than a hollow press opportunity by the\r\nAdministration, and we can expect it to do right by our nation's military and\r\nveterans by fully implementing the EO and all laws passed by Congress focused\r\non mental health and suicide prevention. In parallel with Congress'\r\neffort to end the veteran suicide epidemic, President Donald Trump signed EO\r\n13822 on January 9, 2018, promising to make significant changes to improve the\r\ntransition experience and connect servicemembers to mental health resources.\r\nHoweveralmost three years after the EO was signedVA failed to complete\r\ncritical authorities under this order. The senators highlighted,At the EO signing, Secretary\r\nShulkin stated this expanded mental health care benefit would be available by\r\nMarch 9, 2018. However, almost three years later, the Department has not\r\nincreased access to mental health care, leaving up to 60 percent of newly\r\ntransitioned servicemembers without access to life-saving care. Also troubling,\r\nthe Joint Action Plan for implementing EO 13822 contains no references or\r\ncommitments to providing transitioning servicemembers with this one year of\r\nmental health care. When can veterans expect to receive access to the essential\r\nmental health care promised to them by the Trump Administration? The full text of the letter can\r\nbe foundhere. \r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "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://www.murphy.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/murphy-blumenthal-urge-va-to-follow-through-on-promises-to-end-veteran-suicide-epidemic"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.943328883498907, "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"}