BLUMENTHAL STATEMENT ON RELEASE OF ANNUAL VETERAN SUICIDE REPORT

WASHINGTON, Oct. 5 -- Sen. Richard Blumenthal issued text of the following press release:

[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 slight decrease in the rate of veteran suicide from 2023 to 2024.

"The high rate of veteran suicide remains distressing. We need to allocate every resource we can to reduce this grim number. That starts with safeguarding resources for the Veterans Crisis Line, hiring more mental health professionals at VA, and ensuring every single veteran seeking mental health care gets that care in a timely manner. I'...