The Congressional Quarterly (1/22, O’Brien, Subscription Publication) reports that yesterday, by a vote of 15 to 0, the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee approved HR 203, the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act, a measure that “would require annual third-party evaluations of Veterans Affairs Department mental health and suicide-prevention programs and promote collaboration between the VA and non-profit mental health organizations to stem the epidemic of veteran suicides.” The proposed legislation, which is “named for Clay Hunt, a Marine veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan who was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and committed suicide in 2011 at age 28,” would also “create a pilot program to repay the loans of some psychiatrists who agree to serve in the Veterans Health Administration.”
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— Congressional Quarterly (requires login and subscription)