Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) will make legislation addressing veterans’ mental wellbeing a priority in the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee next year, Military.com reported. Moran is expected to lead the panel when its current chair, Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), retires at the end of this year.
Moran and Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) have introduced legislation addressing access to mental health services.
“There is a tremendous challenge in states like Sen. Tester’s and mine, rural America, in which these professionals, if they do exist, they don’t exist close to where a veteran lives,” Moran said, according to the report.
More than 6,000 veterans died by suicide in 2017, the last year for which data is available.
Army photo of Sen. Jerry Moran, right, by Sgt. Steven Galimore
Editor’s Note: A previous version of this article mis-identified the committee and its current chair. On Base regrets the error.
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