Blumenthal Statement on Release of Annual Veteran Suicide Report

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] - Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee Ranking Member Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) today issued a statement following the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) release of its National Veterans Suicide Prevention annual report, revealing a decrease in veteran suicides from 2022 to 2023. At a Committee oversight hearing last week, Blumenthal pressed VA Secretary Doug Collins for the release of this delayed report, which should have been published last year.

"Veterans suicide is one of our nation's most serious problems. While we saw a decrease in the number of veterans losing to their life to suicide in 2023, more needs to be done. We must safeguard lifesaving resources like the Veterans Crisis Line, address the shortage of mental health professionals at VA, and ensure every single veteran seeking mental health care gets that care in a timely manner. I'll continue working to reduce this grim number by bolstering the suicide prevention, mental health care, and support programs relied upon by veterans, and fighting against any effort to diminish the critical care they provide."

VA's report shows 6,398 veterans died by suicide in 2023. Additionally, 61% of veterans who died by suicide in 2023 had no contact with the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and were not receiving VA benefits. The suicide rate among veterans in VHA care with mental health or substance use disorder diagnoses fell 34.7%. This data highlights the importance of both strengthening VA's direct care system and expanding outreach and suicide prevention efforts for veterans who are not engaged in VHA health care.

Last month, Blumenthal's released a comprehensive report, Breaking the Pact: Impacts of Trump, DOGE, and Doug Collins' Ongoing Assault on Veterans, detailing the harm and impacts of the Trump Administration's draconian directives and cuts on veterans. Among its many findings, the report revealed a historic loss of staff, dire health care staffing shortages, and spiking VA mental health care wait times. Based on these findings, Blumenthal has asked Secretary Collins for updated facility-by-facility data for wait times on mental health care access-noting that the public data shows nearly one-third of facilities have wait times for new patients exceeding 40 days.

Blumenthal has been a stanch fighter to improve and expand veterans' mental health care. Last year, he introduced the BRAVE Act-comprehensive legislation to strengthen VA's mental health workforce, infrastructure, and services, including renewing the Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program. This first-of-its-kind grant provides funding for local organizations combatting veteran suicide. Blumenthal also successfully attached an amendment to protect the life-saving Veterans Crisis Line from future cuts by the Trump Administration in the Fiscal Year 2026 federal funding bill.

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