Whole Veteran Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. TAKANO. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, before I begin my comments on H.R. 2359, let me acknowledge the centennial year of women's suffrage and the wonderful yellow roses we are wearing in acknowledgment of that centennial year. Happy 100th year to women's suffrage in America.

Madam Speaker, American healthcare systems are grappling with the need to redesign the delivery of care model to better meet the needs of veterans struggling with mental health conditions.

Two decades of increased social isolation, economic inequality, and prohibitive healthcare costs have seen an increased use of complementary and alternative medicine such as health coaching, chiropractic services, acupuncture, yoga, meditation, and equine therapy.

The Veterans Health Administration is one of the first healthcare systems to redesign care with a focus on maintaining patient well-being and early intervention, rather than a system designed to treat conditions and diseases only after they have occurred.

This redesign, VA's whole health transformation, will accommodate the veteran population and their unique needs while empowering veterans to control their health and well-being.

By improving well-being, veterans build resiliency that assists in the early intervention and identification of mental healthcare symptoms that, left untreated, can advance to the point of crisis. In 2017, VA launched the whole health transformation program at 18 flagship sites, with positive early outcomes.

According to a February 2019 memo on VA's whole health transformation, VA plans to expand the full program to an additional 18 sites by summer 2019, and 140 medical centers have elements of this program.

The pace, efficacy, and reach of the whole health program are not known to Congress. H.R. 2359, as amended, offered by Congressman Lamb, requires the delivery of a report on VA's whole health transformation. It will contain an analysis of the accessibility of critical services so that Congress can better inform its efforts to ensure veterans are treated as whole people and not just episodes of care. This is particularly true for socially isolated veterans and veterans living far away from a VA facility.

A two-pronged strategy is needed to effectively address the veteran suicide public health crisis. The second prong is treating those veterans in crisis and making treatment more accessible. The first prong must address the complex set of social determinants that can lead to a crisis.

Early interventions in mental healthcare can prevent veterans from falling into crisis and having suicidal ideations. This legislation falls under the first prong of the strategy, which will support creating opportunities for early, pre-crisis intervention.

Congress must understand how VA has rolled out the initial expansion outcomes and the resources needed to continue the whole health program. This body must do everything in its power to reduce the number of veteran suicides in this country because this is a sustained, prolonged, and frustrating national public health crisis.

Sadly, over the weekend, yet another veteran died by suicide at a VA Hospital.

This bill is the first of five measures we will consider today to address mental healthcare and suicide prevention efforts at VA. Our work, however, does not end today. We will write more legislation. We will hold more bipartisan hearings.

In fact, a hearing right this very moment, this afternoon, with the Armed Services Subcommittee on Military Personnel and our Health Subcommittee brought VA and DOD to the same table to help end this crisis. It is a joint hearing through this joint subcommittee between the Veterans' Affairs Committee and the Armed Services Committee.

We will do whatever it takes to end these tragic incidents of suicide. I am fully committed to this effort. Losing 20 veterans a day is unacceptable.

I will be voting ``yes'' on this critical piece of legislation, and I call on every Member of this body to do the same and help reduce veteran suicide.

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