Full Access to Benefits for Veterans

Floor Speech

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Ms. UNDERWOOD. Mr. Speaker, as a registered nurse and a member of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, I have spent my time in Congress fighting to ensure that northern Illinois veterans and veterans across the Nation have full access to the benefits and support that they have earned.

A critical part of that work has been focusing on ending the veteran suicide crisis by providing veterans with the resources they need and equipping VA employees and community partners with the training necessary to support veterans in crisis.

That is why, this week, I reintroduced the bicameral Lethal Means Safety Training Act with Senator Blumenthal and Representatives Brownley, Mrvan, Levin, and Pappas.

This legislation is an evidence-based approach to prevent suicide, and it creates valuable time and space between a veteran in crisis and a potentially lethal means.

I am honored that my bill has been endorsed by a broad coalition of veterans service organizations and suicide prevention experts, including: The Nurses Organization of Veterans Affairs, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, the Minority Veterans of America, the American Association of Suicidology, and many more.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the Lethal Means Safety Training Act and join me in the urgent mission of ending our veteran suicide crisis.

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