(Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray
(D-WA) sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates urging him to enact
recommendations from the Joint Suicide Prevention Task Force that would create
a suicide prevention office within the Department of Defense to manage and
advise suicide prevention services across all military branches. The letter
comes after a report from the Joint Suicide Task Force found that a centralized
approach to suicide prevention would be more effective than having a large
number of programs spread out across the military. Specifically, the report
found that a system of programs dispersed throughout the military can result in
soldiers in need of care slipping through the cracks.
“As
you know, the results of the Joint Suicide Prevention Task Force have been
released and one of the most significant recommendations is to “create,
restructure, and resource suicide prevention offices at the Office of the
Secretary of Defense, the Services, installations, and unit level to achieve
unity of effort.” The report found that having a large number of disparate
programs spread throughout the military as a whole has created gaps in the
system. I believe that these gaps in care are unacceptable,” wrote Senator Murray.
During a
Senate
hearing held early this year, Senator Murray questioned Veterans’ Affairs’
(VA) top mental health official about efforts to provide counseling services to
help veterans with PTSD and other mental health challenges and called on the VA
to do more to reverse rising veteran suicide rates.
The full text of the letter appears below:
The
Honorable Robert Gates
Secretary of Defense
U.S. Department of Defense
Washington, DC 20301-1000
Dear
Secretary Gates:
As
you know, I have repeatedly expressed my concerns over the increasing rate of
servicemember suicides as our men and women in uniform continue to fight two
wars and support operations worldwide. Last year, 309 servicemembers committed
suicide, a dramatic increase since 2007. Recent news articles, have noted the
nearly 900 suicide prevention programs over 400 military installations. I
commend the efforts of the Suicide Prevention Task Force and hope you consider
their recommendations and take immediate action
As you know, the results of the Joint Suicide Prevention Task Force have been
released and one of the most significant recommendations is to “create,
restructure, and resource suicide prevention offices at the Office of the
Secretary of Defense, the Services, installations, and unit level to achieve
unity of effort.” The report found that having a large number of disparate
programs spread throughout the military as a whole has created gaps in the
system. I believe that these gaps in care are unacceptable.
I wholeheartedly support the Task Force’s recommendations and feel we need to
move swiftly on establishing these suicide prevention offices to assist
servicemembers in need. Also, these suicide prevention offices should
focus both on the servicemembers and their families because the mental health
of the entire family is crucial to the success of the program.
I
applaud the efforts of the Suicide Prevention Task Force and hope that you
consider this among the many other recommendations to take immediate action in
suicide prevention. One servicemember suicide is one too many when it
could have been prevented through our collective efforts. Please let me
know if I can assist in the development and implementation of the suicide
prevention offices.
I
look forward to working with you on this issue.
English 
Spanish