Hurd Continues Fighting for Texas Veterans

This week I was proud to support the passage of several bipartisan bills that help our veterans by improving suicide prevention and mental health services, along with increasing the cost-of-living adjustments for disabled veterans and their families.

Roughly 20 American combat war veterans take their own lives each day, and veterans who have regular contact with VA health services are less likely to commit suicide than those with little or no interactions. We must keep the promises we made to those who have served and make sure our veterans have access to the care they have earned. I am proud to support these bills today that make strides to improve the effectiveness of VA healthcare and increase cost-of-living adjustments for disabled veterans. I look forward to continuing to fight for our Texas veterans as a member of the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Subcommittee.

The House passed the following bills to protect veterans:

• Veterans Compensation Cost-of-living Adjustment Act of 2019 (H.R. 1200), which increases the compensation rates for disabled veterans and their families;
• The Vet Center Eligibility Act (H.R. 1812), which authorizes additional veterans and service members, including those who were active duty in response to a national emergency, natural disaster or drug operation, to receive services at Vet Centers;
• Support for Suicide Prevention Coordinators Act (H.R. 2333), which requires the GAO to assess the support for veteran suicide prevention coordinators;
• FIGHT Veteran Suicide Act (H.R. 2340), which requires the VA to notify Congress within seven days of any suicide or attempted suicide in a VA facility and notify within 60 days of the veteran’s background and use of VA health care;
• The Navy Seal Chief Petty Officer William Bill Mudder Transition Improvement Act (H.R. 2326), which helps ease the transition process for veterans by authorizing grants to job assistance groups offering employment training to veterans, directing the VA to assess career counseling programs, and allowing the Labor Department and VA to access a national jobs database to track veteran employment rates;
• Veterans’ Care Quality Transparency Act (H.R. 2372), which creates a study on the effectiveness of VA partnerships with outside groups to provide suicide prevention and mental health services;
• Veterans’ Education, Transition, and Opportunity Prioritization Plan Act of 2019 (H.R. 2045), which establishes the Veterans Economic Opportunity and Transition Administration at the VA to manage the department’s vocational rehab, education, housing and veteran-owned small business programs.
• The Whole Veteran Act (H.R. 2359), which directs the VA to submit a report on the availability of alternative treatments for whole health transformation such as yoga, acupuncture, and meditation at VA medical facilities; and,
• H.R. 1947, which allows the VA to establish nonprofits within VA medical centers to conduct research.