{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://zinke.house.gov/media/press-releases/zinke-leads-navy-seals-bipartisan-group-veterans-improve-mental-healthcare", "Zinke Leads Navy SEALS & Bipartisan Group of Veterans to Improve Mental Healthcare for Vets", "2023-06-01", "2023", "2023-06", "Republican", "House", "MT", "Ryan K. Zinke", "Z000018", "zinke.house.gov", "zinke", "https://zinke.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "(WASHINGTON) \u2013 Congressmen Ryan Zinke (R-MT) and Congressman Donald Davis (D-NC), along with twelve additional colleagues including every Navy SEAL in Congress, introduced a bipartisan, bicameral bill to ensure the Department of Veterans Affairs is granting veterans access to life-saving mental health care in their local communities. The legislation streamlines veteran\u2019s community-based care by allowing expedited residential healthcare referrals when the local VA is at capacity. The bill also requires yearly tracking of referrals to be reported to Congress, and requires any alterations the VA may seek to make to community care standards be made by Congress, not the department.\n\n\u201cThe very program created to take care of our veterans should be the last obstacle standing in their way, unfortunately that has become the reality with the VA \u2013 especially when it comes to mental health,\u201d said retired Navy SEAL Commander Rep. Ryan Zinke (MT-01). \u201cVeterans deserve the best, quickest, and most updated version of healthcare we can give them and expanding access to community-based mental healthcare does exactly that. Intervention at the point of crisis is mission critical to saving lives. The longer veterans have to wait in line to heal their mental and emotional scars, the more their lives are at risk.\"\n\nAir Force veteran and Congressman Donald Davis (D-NC) said: \u201cOur veterans deserve nothing less than the highest standard of health care. It is the least we can do to repay their sacrifices forthis great nation. On behalf of the nearly 50,000 veterans in North Carolina\u2019s First Congressional District, I am proud to support the Protecting Veteran Community Care Act, legislation that amends landmark reforms to veterans\u2019 health care, including mental health treatment. It is simply unacceptable to lose more than 20 veterans daily to suicide. This bill will further veteran access standards and no longer depend on VA access standards, bringing down costly wait times. No veteran should have to put their health on the line to access lifesaving mental health care. \"\n\n\u201cAmerica\u2019s veterans deserve ample and timely access to mental healthcare. After returning home, many veterans still carry the weight of their service with them in their day-to-day lives, and face long wait times to utilize VA resources,\u201d said U.S. Navy SEAL veteran Dan Crenshaw (R-TX). \u201cI\u2019m proud to cosponsor Congressman Zinke\u2019s bipartisan bill to expedite healthcare options and ensure our veterans get the medical attention they need, when they need it.\u201d\n\n\u201cAs a disabled combat veteran and a Representative for a large veteran community, I understand the challenges our military members face when they return from service \u2014 it\u2019s not always physical or visible,\u201d said Congressman Luttrell (R-TX). \u201cWhen I speak with veterans in my district, they always express concerns for broader access and diverse forms of treatments for mental healthcare. I\u2019m proud to cosponsor this legislation that will provide much deserved swifter and higher quality care for veterans.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe VA continues to fall short on their commitment to provide timely care, forcing veterans into unacceptable waiting periods and unreliable appointment scheduling,\u201d said U.S. Navy SEAL veteran Eli Crane (AZ-02). \u201cWith many of our veterans living in rural areas, expanding access to favorable healthcare choices often means the difference between life and death. As a veteran myself, I\u2019m proud to sign onto this bill, which would counteract the agency\u2019s backsliding and ensure our vets aren\u2019t isolated by senseless restrictions.\u201d\n\n\u201cAs a retired U.S. Navy SEAL who has lost many friends to the unseen wounds of war, my number one priority in Congress is preventing veteran suicide. The Protecting Veteran Community Care Act will ensure our veterans in rural communities have access to the mental health care they need, and I fully support it,\u201d Congressman Derrick Van Orden (R-WI) said.\n\nSenator Daines, who introduced a companion bill in the Senate, said the bill will expand healthcare access for veterans in remote places across Montana.\n\n\u201cThe VA\u2019s mission is to \u2018care for those who have served in our nation\u2019s military,\u2019 that means ensuring our brave Montana veterans have access to the highest quality of care no matter where they live,\u201d said U.S. Senator Steve Daines (R-MT) I will always work to protect Montana veterans\u2019 access to health care in communities across Montana.\u201d\n\nThe \u201cProtecting Veteran Community Care Act\u201d strengthens the existing community care program, limits the VA\u2019s ability to restrict access to care in the community, and requires the VA to track relevant community care data and provide those statistics to Congress.\n\nSpecifically, this legislation would:\n\nAmend the MISSION Act to specifically include inpatient mental health standards.\n\nAdds clarity to veteran eligibility for care in the community.\n\nRequires the VA to track and present to Congress data on how veterans are requesting and using community care, along with what services community care funds are paying for.\n\nRequires passage of a Joint Resolution in both chambers of Congress to modify community care eligibility.\n\nRead the one-pager HERE.\n\nBackground:\n\nThe 2018 VA MISSION Act was a landmark piece of legislation that overhauled the VA Choice Program to provide veterans with improved access to healthcare. Unfortunately, the VA has failed to live up to its obligation to provide timely care. Veterans are still facing unacceptably long waiting periods and frequently rescheduled appointments. The VA continues to fall short on the complete and proper implementation of the MISSION Act. This has resulted in the need forCongress to strengthen existing authorities to ensure that the VA isn\u2019t restricting care in the community for veterans who need it most.\n\nCurrent House cosponsors: Reps. Donald Davis (D-NC), Brad Finstad (R-MN), Matt Rosendale (R-MT), Michelle Steel (R-CA), Eli Crane (R-AZ), Stephanie Bice (R-OK), Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ), Morgan Luttrell (R-TX), Daniel Webster (R-FL), Chip Roy (R-TX), Derrick Van Orden (R-WI), Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) Kevin Hern (R-OK)", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T00:08:25Z"]], "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://zinke.house.gov/media/press-releases/zinke-leads-navy-seals-bipartisan-group-veterans-improve-mental-healthcare"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.983150141313672, "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"}