A California lawmaker this week criticized a veteran suicide prevention plan created by the Trump administration, saying it’s not backed by adequate research or input from the veteran community.
Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif., chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, called the president’s plan “meek” and “tepid,” saying it didn’t seek collaboration with veteran service organizations, Stars and Stripes reported.
“Tepid calls for more research, interagency coordination and meek public education campaigns won’t do enough to end this crisis,” Takano said in a statement. “We have much more substantial work to do to prevent veteran suicide and ultimately help save veterans’ lives.”
President Trump on Wednesday touted the plan, which came some 15 months after his administration created the task force.
“My administration is marshaling every resource to stop the crisis of veteran suicide and protect our nation’s most treasured heroes,” Trump said. “They’ve been through so much, and it’s such a deep-seated problem. And we’re doing tremendous research and everything you can do, but it is something that nobody quite understands. And they are gaining knowledge, but they don’t quite understand it.”
Trump signed an executive order on March 5, 2019 establishing the PREVENTS Task Force, which would create a public health “all-hands-on-deck” roadmap to ending veteran suicide.
The order called on the task force to submit a roadmap within a year of the signing. The plan will also see the task force creating a legislative proposal with recommendations for grants to better service the veteran community.
PREVENTS, or the President’s Roadmap to Empower Veterans and End a National Tragedy of Suicide, is co-chaired by Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie.
“But there’s more work to do,” Trump said. “Ending the tragedy of veteran suicide demands bold action at every level of society. Twenty veterans and service members take their own lives every single day. The loss of our heroes breaks our hearts and pains our souls.”
Author: Jared Morgan
Jared is the senior editor and web team lead for the Department of California and chair of its Media & Communications Commission. He became a member of the American Legion in 2014 when he joined Palisades Post 283 to find stories about veterans issues for a local newspaper while working as its news editor. He was soon brought in as 283's assistant adjutant and historian to help produce the post's award-winning community newspaper. Since then, Jared has used his media skills to help further the efforts of The American Legion in its advocacy of veterans and their families. Jared has also worked for several years to help revitalize the 100-year-old Santa Monica Post 123, formerly as its adjutant and as a member of its executive board, before transferring back to Post 283.
