Rep. Cisneros Listens to Testimony from VA Officials in Hearing to Address the Veteran Suicide Crisis

**Witnesses tell Cisneros about the programs that can help resolve this national crisis**

**Watch Rep. Cisneros’ question line on this issue here.**

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday, Congressman Gilbert R. Cisneros, Jr. (CA-39) joined his colleagues in a press conference calling for urgent action in response to the recent suicides at Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers, drawing much needed attention to the national epidemic of roughly 22 veteran suicides per day. Later that evening at the House Veterans Affairs Committee, Rep. Cisneros received testimony from representatives from the Department of Veteran Affairs, National Institutes of Health, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration at a hearing entitled, “Tragic Trends: Suicide Prevention Among Veterans.”

“It is simply heartbreaking and unacceptable that there are cases each year where veterans — through issues or challenges they are contemplating with personally — decide to end their lives and commit suicide,” said Rep. Cisneros. “With the recent suicides at VA hospitals throughout the nation, it is important now, more than ever, that we ensure the safety of our veterans and expand access to life saving resources when they need it.”

At the hearing, Rep. Cisneros’ testimony centered around local programs with law enforcement, medical professionals, and VA services that veterans in our district depend on and seek out when they need help. He highlighted Long Beach VA Health Center’s pilot program, the Veterans Medical Evaluation Team, or VMET, a partnership with the VA and law enforcement to proactively reach out to veterans in trouble. VMET is a pilot veterans outreach program that partners a specially trained VA police department officer with a VA clinician to join law enforcement on difficult calls involving veterans in need, and has thus far yielded positive results.

Rep. Cisneros is a 10-year Navy veteran and is an original cosponsor of Rep. Max Rose’s (D-NY) bipartisan H.R. 2430, the Fostering Intergovernmental Health Transparency in Veteran Suicides Act, or FIGHT Veteran Suicides Act, which addresses the escalating trend of veterans’ death by suicide within VA campuses and on VA grounds.