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VSOs and lawmakers press for stronger mental‑health access, TBI research and suicide prevention measures
Summary
Veteran service organizations and lawmakers urged expanded mental‑health services, better access standards, greater attention to traumatic brain injury and more research — including authorizing studies of psychedelic‑assisted therapies — as part of broader VA reform.
Leaders of Disabled American Veterans and other veteran organizations urged Congress and VA to strengthen access to mental‑health care, expand suicide‑prevention measures, and accelerate research into traumatic brain injury (TBI) and emerging therapies.
At the hearing, Commander Daniel Contreras described caregiving and mental‑health needs as priorities and asked for a comprehensive approach rather than singular fixes. Joy Elam, DAV legislative director, highlighted firearm safety counseling as an important suicide‑prevention tool and said veterans should feel comfortable discussing firearm storage with providers; she referenced a statistic that roughly 72–73% of veteran suicides involve firearms.
Members asked what strategies could close mental‑health care gaps. Witnesses recommended better timeliness for specialized services such as residential rehabilitation and substance‑use disorder treatment, clearer access standards, and increased community‑care capacity under the Mission Act. Senator Moran pressed for more information about quarterly VSO engagements under the PACT Act and how those exchanges could improve mental‑health implementation.
Several members raised TBI as an underaddressed risk factor for suicide. Horace Johnson (AMVETS) and other witnesses called for additional research linking TBI to mental‑health outcomes. Senator King asked whether DAV would oppose proposals that reduce disability benefits to achieve budget savings; DAV representatives said they would not support reductions in benefits and expressed concern about policy ideas in documents like Project 2025 that target future claims.
The hearing also touched on research into psychedelic‑assisted therapies. Representative General Bergman, co-chair of the PATH Caucus, and others asked about VA research roles; witnesses expressed cautious interest in exploring alternatives and called for expedited, rigorous research so that effective treatments can reach veterans.
Ending: Lawmakers and VSOs asked VA to speed access to mental‑health services, incorporate suicide‑risk factors such as military sexual trauma into predictive models, increase TBI research and consider rigorous study of emerging therapies. They urged continued VSO engagement to monitor outcomes and implementation.
