Congressman Joe Morelle is announcing legislation that would strengthen resources for veterans facing mental health issues and help prevent veteran suicide.
The Reach Every Veteran in Crisis Act requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to improve the operation, oversight, and evaluation of its suicide prevention outreach campaigns.
Morelle says this is a health crisis. According to Morelle, the VA only spent $1.5 million of its $6.2 million outreach budget toward suicide prevention outreach in the last fiscal year. He wants to know why money is being left on the table when veterans are taking their own lives.