Participates in Senate Armed Services Committee hearing to address increases in suicides
WASHINGTONU.S. Sen. John Cornyn R-Texas today testified as a witness and then questioned senior military officials and experts during the Senate Armed Services Committee Personnel Subcommittees hearing to examine the rising number of suicides among U.S. military service members including the string of recruiter suicides in the Houston Recruiting Battalion since 2005.
Sen. Cornyn also discussed suicide prevention efforts and other related mental health issues along with additional steps the military can be taking to prevent future suicides within the Houston Recruiting Battalion and our military as a whole.
Combat-related mental health conditions have emerged as a significant health issue for our troops resulting in an alarming and unacceptable number of suicides. My heart goes out to every service member family and friend affected by this tragedy.
I recently visited a local recruiting station in Houston and met with recruiters on the ground to hear firsthand about their experiences daily challenges and the tremendous stresses involved in their work. We owe it to them and their families to put better safeguards in place to prevent future suicides both within the Houston Recruiting Battalion and across our Armed Forces" Sen. Cornyn said.
Todays hearing was a necessary look at the increased suicide rates in the military and any relationship they may have to the stresses associated with a service members job and responsibilities. For the fourth straight year the Army has reported increases in suicides across the board so I appreciated the opportunity to delve further into this issue.
I learned about efforts underway to combat this alarming trend as well as steps taken to provide additional resources to our troops. Clearly the military is taking this issue seriously and working to put more effective policies and procedures in place. This hearing helped shed additional light on the matter for recruiter suicides and the overall issue of military suicides. I will be exploring ways in which Congress can help with the effort to provide additional support and resources to our returning troops and their families."
Sen. Cornyn testified as the sole witness on the first panel where he discussed the string of suicides at the Houston Recruiting Battalion and the Armys investigation into the situation. The audio of his opening remarks can be viewed here.
During the second panel Sen. Cornyn questioned the Army Vice Chief of Staff the Air Force Vice Chief of Staff the Vice Chief of Naval Operations and the Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps about how and when each branch can do a better job preventing suicides be it at the initial point of recruitment into the military upon return from deployment or another point in time to allow for more effective identification of at-risk individuals and intervention to prevent these types of tragedy. Audio of his question and answer can be viewed here.
Sen. Cornyn serves on the Finance Judiciary and Budget Committees. He serves as the top Republican on the Judiciary Committees Immigration Refugees and Border Security subcommittee. He served previously as Texas Attorney General Texas Supreme Court Justice and Bexar County District Judge.
