{"id":110430,"date":"2020-01-02T11:13:46","date_gmt":"2020-01-02T16:13:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=110430"},"modified":"2020-01-02T11:13:46","modified_gmt":"2020-01-02T16:13:46","slug":"brindisi-i-am-honored-the-president-signed-my-bill-to-help-our-veterans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=110430","title":{"rendered":"Brindisi: I am honored the president signed my bill to help our veterans"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Rep. Anthony Brindisi<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Trump signs Brindisi\u2019s Suicide Prevention Coordinators Act\nto give VA more tools to address suicide crisis<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

President [Donald J.] Trump signed the bipartisan Support\nfor Suicide Prevention Coordinators Act, authored by Congressmen Anthony\nBrindisi (NY-22), Mike Bost (IL-12) and Jim Banks (IN-3), into law. Brindisi, a\nchampion for Upstate New York veterans, authored the legislation to help\naddress the suicide epidemic hurting our veterans. Twenty veterans, service-members,\nreservists and members of the National Guard die by suicide every day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOne veteran life lost to suicide is too many,\u201d Brindisi\nsaid. \u201cI hear from veterans across New York who are struggling and, as a nation,\nwe need to do right by them. This bill will help bring down the suicide rate\nand give the VA the tools they need to succeed. I am honored the president\nsigned my bill to help our veterans.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe lose 20 veterans each day to suicide, which is 20 too\nmany,\u201d said Bost. \u201cWe have a duty to ensure veterans have access to critical\ntools and resources during their time of need, and this bipartisan legislation\nis a step in the right direction. I want to thank my colleagues in the House\nand Senate for joining Rep. Brindisi and me in standing with our veterans and\nensuring the VA has the resources it needs. Thank you to President Trump for\nsigning this critical legislation into law to let our veterans know that they\nare not alone and that help is available.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bipartisan bill requires the comptroller general of the\nUnited States to conduct an assessment of the responsibilities, workload, and\nvacancy rates of the Department of Veterans\u2019 Affairs\u2019 suicide prevention\ncoordinators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Suicide Prevention Coordinators are the face of the VA\u2019s\nefforts to combat veteran suicide. They identify high-risk veterans and ensure\nthey receive appropriate care, conduct outreach and promote awareness and\nsuicide prevention best practices within VA, among other responsibilities. Many\nsuicide prevention coordinators report being overworked and unable to keep up\nwith their many responsibilities. The Support for Suicide Prevention Coordinators\nAct would help ensure these men and women have the tools and resources they\nneed to provide veterans with critical mental health resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Upstate New York veterans praised Brindisi\u2019s tireless efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe suicide rate among our nation\u2019s veterans is\nunacceptable,\u201d said Christina M. Balderrama, assistant professor of psychology at\nBinghamton University. \u201cThe timely coordination of appropriate care and\nresources during a time of crisis is essential to reducing suicide risk.\nLegislation that supports the effectiveness and functioning of the VA suicide\nprevention coordinator position is critical to better meet the comprehensive\nhealth needs of veterans at risk for death by suicide.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe passage of H.R. 2333, the Support of Suicide Prevention\nCoordinators Act, sponsored by Congressman Brindisi is another concrete example\nof his steadfast support of legislation that addresses the needs of veterans,\u201d\nsaid retired USAF Lt. Col Anthony Rabasca of Rome. \u201cRegardless of one’s\npolitical leanings, I urge all voters in Congressional District 22 to look at\nCongressman Brindisi’s efforts on behalf of veterans. Passage of H.R. 2333 is\nnot only a win for veterans in our district, but for all Veterans across the\ncountry. When it comes to our veterans, Congressman Brindisi is walking what\nhe’s talking.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI want to thank Congressman Brindisi for sponsoring the\nSupport for Suicide Prevention Coordinators Act, as well as for his other bills\nin support of veterans which have passed the House with bipartisan support, including\none which was his first bill to be signed into law,\u201d said Afghanistan veteran\nand Barneveld resident Colt Brumm. \u201cCongressman Brindisi has developed a strong\nsystem for supporting our veterans: maintain open communication with us, listen\nto what we say we need, then go back to Washington and work hard to deliver it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat process has yielded some amazing results that will\npositively impact the lives of our veterans for many years to come. This bill,\nin particular, will help identify effective ways to support the VA\u2019s suicide\nprevention coordinators to ensure that they have the resources that they need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese individuals serve a critical role in the VA\u2019s veteran\nsuicide prevention efforts, and they are frequently overworked and unable to\nkeep up. Ensuring that they have the tools that they need when they need them\nmay help to reduce the tragic loss of veterans\u2019 lives. For your dedication, for\nyour support, and for listening to us, thank you, Congressman Brindisi.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is Brindisi\u2019s fourth bill signed into law, and his\nthird supporting veterans and our nation\u2019s service-members. Last year, Trump\nsigned Brindisi\u2019s Department of Veterans Affairs Expiring Authorities Act of\n2019. Brindisi\u2019s Support Procurement of our Nation\u2019s Stainless Steel Act was\nsigned into law as part of the National Defense Authorization Act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bipartisan Support for Suicide Prevention Coordinators\nAct passed the Senate 95-0 and has been signed into law by the president.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Trump signs Brindisi\u2019s Suicide Prevention Coordinators Act to give VA more tools to address suicide crisis President [Donald J.] Trump signed the bipartisan Support for Suicide Prevention Coordinators Act, authored by Congressmen Anthony Brindisi (NY-22), Mike Bost (IL-12) and Jim Banks (IN-3), into law. Brindisi, a champion for Upstate New York veterans, authored the legislation […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":102245,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23810,8,21571],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-110430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wellbeing","category-top-story","category-veterans"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110430","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=110430"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110430\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/102245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=110430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=110430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=110430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}