Oregon Veterans, Supporters Call on Smith for Help with PTSD, Suicides, Other Services

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

With Army suicides at 26-year high, local vets make urgent plea to Senator Smith to support funding bill, despite Bush veto threat

(Portland, OR) - Local veterans and their supporters today urged Senator Gordon Smith to support a bill pending in the Senate that would boost investment in health care, job training, and injury research for veterans and oppose a threatened veto by President Bush. They made it clear that it's up to Senator Smith to oppose the President's reckless veto threats and stand up for Oregon and our priorities.

Earlier this month, the Army Suicide Event Report found that suicides in the Army had reached a 26 year high. Local veterans responded by calling on Senator Smith to vote for the Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill, which funds critical programs suicide prevention programs, as well as job training and homelessness prevention services. The bill is expected to come up for a vote in the U.S. Senate in the coming weeks. President Bush has threatened to veto it.

"We left our families, friends and careers to serve our country - and we'd gladly do it again. All we ask is that the Senator Smith respect our sacrifice by investing in job training, health services and other needs we face when we return home from war. We ask that Senator Smith side with Oregon's veterans and our families - vote for the Labor-HHS bill and oppose President Bush's threatened veto," said Nathan Hepper, who returned from Iraq in 2005 after serving as a squad leader in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

While most veteran-related programs are funded by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the Departments of Labor and Health and Human Services provide critical services to help veterans, especially the two-thirds of returning veterans who have not enrolled in the federal veterans' health care program. Yet President Bush has threatened to veto the Labor-HHS bill, even though it includes:

• $3.4 billion for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), which provides mental health and suicide prevention services. Experts believe that conditions such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may put veterans at risk of suicide. Alarmingly, a new report found that Army suicides recently reached a 26 year high.

• $228 million for the Department of Labor's Veterans' Employment and Training program to help returning veterans returning find good paying jobs, enforce their rights as veterans seeking employment and $23.6 million for the Homeless Veterans Program.

• $10 million to help Americans with traumatic brain injuries (TBI) receive emergency and hospital care, rehabilitation, education, and long-term support. Experts say TBI is a signature injury of service in Iraq and that many returning National Guard soldiers will rely on the community-based systems of care funded by the Labor-HHS bill, rather than VA provided care.

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