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Despite overwhelming bipartisan Congressional support, Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., stood his ground Wednesday, vowing to continue his hold on the Joshua Omvig Suicide Prevention bill introduced by Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, before the August recess. Coburn called the bill insulting to veterans and warned that its mandatory mental health screening could harm their future job options. “I’m going to continue to hold this bill until we work on the issues to guarantee freedoms of the veterans in terms of the tracking,” Coburn said on the Senate floor.
Harkin, who served in the military during the Vietnam War, was surprised by Coburn’s hold and steadfastness and took the Senate floor to fight for his fellow veterans. “The Joshua Omvig Suicide Prevention Act has received intense scrutiny, including two hearings in the House and three in the Senate. The bill has been strongly endorsed by the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Disabled Veterans of America, and other veterans groups,” Harkin said. “So it is a travesty to have this bill held up, now, by a single Senator for reasons that are completely bogus.”
The aim of the bill is to reduce the shocking rate of suicide among our men and women retuning from Iraq and Afghanistan. The VA estimates that more than 5,000 veterans take their lives each year. Suicide rates are 35 percent higher for Iraq veterans than for the general population. And the Department of Defense recently reported that the Army is now seeing the highest rate of suicide since the Vietnam War.The Joshua Omvig Suicide Prevention bill was first introduced in the House by U.S. Rep. Leonard Boswell, a Democrat who named the bill after a soldier from his district in Grundy Center, Iowa. The soldier took his own life after returning from Iraq.
The bill directs the Department of Veterans Affairs to step up screening, counseling and other mental health services for returning war veterans by mandating this process. The House bill overwhelmingly passed in March by a vote of 423-0.
Harkin’s version of the bill, which is supported by fellow Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, appeared to be on the fast track before the August recess, but hit a snag over the recess with Coburn’s hold.
“Out of the blue, Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma objected to the unanimous consent request,” Harkin said. “And his principal reason for doing so is completely baseless. He speculates that if we have mandatory screening of all veterans for suicide risk, the resulting medical data might be used to deny a veteran the right to purchase handguns.”
Harkin refuted Coburn’s claim on the Senate floor Wednesday afternoon. “No medical professional can refer an individual to the background check system that would limit access to firearms. This can only be done through the judicial system,” Harkin argued. Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., asked Harkin to yield the floor during his speech to offer additional support for the bill and serve notice that bill will be moved before Congress before they adjourn. “We are not going to let one or two senators stop us from moving forward on this,” said Reid, who, citing his father’s suicide years ago, made a personal plea to help prevent any more suicides.
To help build his case, Harkin shared pieces of a New York Times editorial, “Locked, Loaded, and Looney” (Aug. 30, 2007):
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