News
Sep 27 2007
Coburn Lifts Hold on Suicide Prevention Bill
Senators at odds over a veterans’ suicide prevention bill reached an agreement Thursday that clears the way for passage next week.
Tom Coburn, R-Okla., had blocked unanimous consent passage of the bill (HR 327), intended to address the high suicide rate among veterans. He announced Thursday he had lifted his hold after the removal of a section of the bill that called for the Veterans Affairs Department to conduct “appropriate tracking of veterans” and another section addressing mental health screening.
The bill is named after Joshua Omvig, an Iraq War veteran who served in the Army Reserve and killed himself in December 2005 after an 11-month deployment. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, the sponsor of a similar bill (S 479) approved by the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, said in a statement that the compromise cleared the way for Senate passage of the bill.
“Veterans and their families have worked their hearts out to see this crucial legislation through,” Harkin said. “They never gave up.”
Tom Coburn, R-Okla., had blocked unanimous consent passage of the bill (HR 327), intended to address the high suicide rate among veterans. He announced Thursday he had lifted his hold after the removal of a section of the bill that called for the Veterans Affairs Department to conduct “appropriate tracking of veterans” and another section addressing mental health screening.
The bill is named after Joshua Omvig, an Iraq War veteran who served in the Army Reserve and killed himself in December 2005 after an 11-month deployment. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, the sponsor of a similar bill (S 479) approved by the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, said in a statement that the compromise cleared the way for Senate passage of the bill.
“Veterans and their families have worked their hearts out to see this crucial legislation through,” Harkin said. “They never gave up.”