Rep. Cisneros Questions VA on Veteran Suicide Prevention Efforts

**Watch Rep. Cisneros’ question line here**

WASHINGTON, DC –  Today during a House Veterans Affairs Committee hearing, Representative Gilbert R. Cisneros, Jr. (CA-39) discussed the veteran suicide epidemic with Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Robert Wilkie. Rep. Cisneros raised concerns with staff vacancies at the VA and how they serve as barriers to VA’s ability to provide high-quality cost-effective psychotherapy, family counseling, medication management, mental health assessments, and other forms of clinical care.

Rep. Cisneros also spoke with Secretary Wilkie about his concerns that there are veterans who may simply not be aware of the VA services they have earned from their service. Specifically, Rep. Cisneros stated, “Like my colleagues, this is an important topic for me, and for me, it’s also very personal…  Secretary Wilkie, like your father, my father is also a Vietnam veteran... It took my dad 30 years before he went to the VA. He didn’t even know that was an option for him. He was suffering from diabetes and later on after he started receiving his treatment from the VA he was also diagnosed with PTSD… We want to integrate these people into the VA, we want to make sure they’re getting this holistic healthcare from the VA… How are we getting the word out there to make sure these people are being brought in?”   

Rep. Cisneros is a Navy veteran and is an original cosponsor of the Fostering Intergovernmental Health Transparency (FIGHT) Veteran Suicides Act and the Navy Seal Chief Petty Officer William "Bill" Mulder (Ret.) Transition Improvement Act to address the escalating trend of veteran suicides within VA campuses and on VA grounds. Rep. Cisneros also led a bipartisan letter to Acting Secretary Shanahan (DoD) and Secretary Wilkie to express his concerns with the veteran suicide epidemic and ask how the Department of Defense (DoD) and VA are responding to this crisis.

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