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A few years back, a Southern Illinois veteran named “Lieutenant Dan” — yes, just like the movie — gave me a red and yellow woven bracelet. It represented the colors of the Marine Corps. He had one simple request: that when I wear it, I remember for whom I work.
As a Marine and the father of a Marine, that bracelet has special meaning to me. Every time I take my seat in the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, I look down at my wrist and see those red and yellow threads and am reminded of the generations of men and women who fought and sacrificed so much to keep us free.
On Veterans Day, we join together as a community to honor the estimated 55,000 veterans who call Southern Illinois home. We thank them for their service and offer a prayer for their well-being. But the effort to honor and provide for our veterans can’t be a one-day effort.
In Congress, no matter how gridlocked things have become, we’ve often been able to work together to serve the needs of our veterans. This year, we’ve passed numerous bills to help our nation’s veterans, many of which I have been proud to cosponsor. For example, the Support for Suicide Prevention Coordinators Act is legislation I introduced with Rep. Anthony Brindisi, D-New York, to address the crisis of veterans’ suicide, improving suicide prevention efforts and mental health resources at the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Every day, 20 veterans die from suicide across the country. However, suicide prevention coordinators at the VA, professionals who work to identify high-risk veterans, have reported they don’t have all the resources that they need. Our bill would ensure that these men and women have the tools required to do their job so that they can provide veterans with crucial mental health resources.