| Michaud Statement on Veteran Suicide Hearing |
| Monday, May 05 2008 | |
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WASHINGTON, DC - Today, Congressman Mike Michaud, Chairman of the House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Health, issued the following statement regarding today's House Committee on Veterans' Affairs VA hearing on veteran suicide. "Today, we tried to get to the bottom of whether VA attempted to cover-up or mislead Congress on the scope of the veteran suicide problem. It is clear the VA severely mishandled some communications. The VA emails that have been exposed are truly disappointing. But now that we are where we are, it is crucial that the Department actively address the problem of veteran suicide, especially among those recently returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Every veteran should be encouraged to seek the care they deserve, especially when it comes to mental health care. VA needs to rededicate itself to reducing the incidents of veteran suicide.
"While I am pleased that Secretary Peake expressed the need for the
VA to be more transparent, actions truly speak louder than words. The
men and women who volunteer to serve in our military deserve the best
care that our country can provide and part of that is having our
agencies provide open and accurate analysis and statistics. I will
continue to monitor VA's progress on this front."
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