No Wrong Door for Veterans Act

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak in hesitant support of H.R. 1969, the No Wrong Door Act, as amended.

This bill would reauthorize the Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program, or Fox grants, for fiscal year 2026.

As the ranking member of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, one of my top priorities has been and will continue to be veteran suicide prevention. The Fox grant program is an important tool in our arsenal for this work.

Community-based programs are a crucial part of a public health approach to suicide prevention. However, I do have significant concerns with this legislation's approach to reauthorizing this program.

We must ensure that we reauthorize this program in a way that ensures it is as effective and robust as possible. I would like to take this time to highlight some of those concerns.

First, based on congressionally mandated reports that the committee has received, VA has not established enough metrics to allow Congress to monitor the success of the program. Additionally, in our view, grantees are not collecting or reporting complete data for all participants, which further limits Congress' ability to determine whether the program is meeting its intended purposes. It is clear that this bill, as drafted and amended, will not do enough to improve data collection and make clear what data grantees are responsible for collecting.

This bill would also compound this issue by requiring grantees to use the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale to screen participants for their baseline mental health when entering the program. While this scale is a widely accepted, clinically validated behavioral health screening instrument, its primary use is to measure a patient's suicidal ideation and the severity of suicidal risk at a given point in time.

VA already requires Fox grantees to screen their participants using a number of other validated screening tools, both at baseline and after connecting veterans to additional support. Each of these tools measures other upstream factors of mental health that contribute to veterans' suicide risks, such as levels of emotion, optimism, work satisfaction, and social support.

Limiting grantees to the use of a single screening instrument that measures suicide risk at a point in time will further limit our ability to evaluate the overall effectiveness of the Fox grant program on improving veterans' mental health.

Perhaps more importantly, Congress is not and should not be in the business of mandating the use of a particular clinical tool. Not only does it micromanage providers or grantees in terms of determining the most clinically appropriate tool, but it also arbitrarily limits providers and grantees from using a different tool in the future if it is determined to be more effective.

Finally, I remain concerned about language that would dramatically alter the entities that would be eligible to receive grants. Specifically, we oppose language that would add ``healthcare providers'' as eligible grantees. The Fox grant program was designed to allow community-based organizations to help address upstream suicide risk factors and provide services to support veterans' needs. It was never intended to directly provide clinical care, particularly mental health care.

Combined with my existing concerns about the bill's lack of requirements to strengthen data collection and demonstration of effective outcomes, I remain extremely concerned that opening eligibility up to new types of grantees without establishing additional definitions, guardrails, or oversight will weaken the quality of care provided to veterans.

In its current form, H.R. 1969, as amended, does not reauthorize this grant program in a way that will meet the needs of our veterans.

Just 2 weeks ago, we held a markup where my Republican colleagues rejected several amendments to improve this version of the bill, including an amendment I offered that would have at least partially addressed my concerns. Thus, the bill that we are considering today is not one that considers any of the areas of improvement that I had hoped could be incorporated into the legislation at the community level.

Mr. Speaker, I believe that Senator Warner's bill to reauthorize this program, S. 793, is a better starting place that will help ensure that we reauthorize the strongest possible version of this grant program.

I hope we will have an opportunity to engage in robust renegotiation and discussion with my Republican colleagues and our Senate counterparts to ensure we advance the strongest possible bill to prevent veteran suicide.

That said, while I have serious concerns about how this bill would reauthorize the program, I want to make clear that I understand that this grant program is a critical piece of VA's efforts in ensuring veterans receive the outreach, support, and services they need and deserve when it comes to their mental health.

Therefore, I hope that, moving forward, we can work together, along with our Senate counterparts, to reauthorize the Fox Grant Program in a responsible way and ensure it is as effective and robust as our Nation's veterans deserve.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to share my position on H.R. 1969, the No Wrong Door for Veterans Act, as amended. I will always be supportive of efforts to prevent veteran suicide, but I remain concerned that this bill does not do enough to ensure the Fox Grant Program is working as intended.

Veterans deserve our best legislative efforts, not legislation that creates more problems than it solves and that does not take steps to improve suicide prevention efforts.

That being said, I will not stand in the way of forward progress on veteran suicide prevention efforts, but I strongly urge my House and Senate colleagues to work with us to ensure that final reauthorization of this program is as robust as possible.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1969) to amend and reauthorize the Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on H.R. 1969, as amended.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 1969, as amended. This bill was introduced by the gentlewoman from Iowa (Mrs. Miller-Meeks), my friend and colleague.

The bill is a powerful reminder that mental health and physical health go hand in hand. This bill extends authorization for the Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program.

House Republicans created the Fox grant program to expand the reach of VA's mental health services through community-based organizations where veterans and their families live. The organizations that have qualified for the Fox grant program provide traditional and nontraditional mental health and therapy support services to veterans in need. This ensures VA services are reaching everyone who needs them. We should, without question, continue the Fox grant program.

This bill also recognizes that being in the military is a physical task. If our country wants to make veterans whole after their service, it only makes sense that VA should provide the means for physical activity.

Representative Miller-Meeks' bill would make adaptive prosthetics a necessary medical service. This would help our veterans to return to the activities they were accustomed to or even explore new opportunities.

We must not let our veterans' time in service be what holds them back from living the rest of their lives.

Mr. Speaker, I thank our Health Subcommittee chairwoman for her leadership on both issues. This bill is a fantastic idea that will save veterans' lives, and I urge all of my colleagues to support H.R. 1969, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, at the end of the fiscal year, the Fox Grant Program expires. This bill will keep the Fox Grant Program going. We have made important

improvements to the grant program, the bill that is before us today.

I look forward to continuing to work with stakeholders and veterans groups to find ways to make even more improvements to the Fox Grant Program, but I won't let perfect be the enemy of the good. We can't let this lifesaving program that veterans and their families rely on stop. That is what we are here to do.

When it comes to the screening tool, it is essential that all grantees use the same protocol to determine the effectiveness of services and programs.

The Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale is currently a tool used by VA as one component of an eligibility screening and identifies individuals with suicidal thoughts and behavior.

If we simply allow grantees to use whatever protocol they choose, this could create differing approaches and confusion. The bill simply requires that grantee servers include this essential screening tool. The code says include, not exclude or only.

This bill, as amended, preserves VA's flexibility to ensure the best results for veterans who are seeking mental health services in their most desperate moments.

It is common sense to allow those who are already providing mental health services to receive grants for a suicide prevention program. Not only are these applicants subject to the same level of scrutiny as previous years' grantees but they also receive the same amount of funding.

The idea that this creates a loophole or expands community care is far from reality. Adding qualified providers to the list of grantees helps keep the door open for veterans seeking mental health services. The reality is this program is set to expire in September, and we cannot allow this to happen.

Delay jeopardizes this program. We have big problems to solve. Adding qualified mental health providers will only help.

I can appreciate the fact that the Senate has a different perspective. However, I find their approach to be business as usual for Congress and VA. Their bill would simply reauthorize the program for longer and with more money. It would also oblige VA to provide more vague reporting requirements and briefing, in other words, more money and more bureaucracy.

If this program had been perfect, maybe this would be a good idea. I think we can do better by ensuring the program continues longer, while giving Congress the opportunity to revisit these programs.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Iowa (Mrs. Miller-Meeks).

Mr. Speaker, once again, I encourage all Members to support this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Bost for yielding time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 1969, the No Wrong Door for Veterans Act. As an Army veteran of 24 years, a physician, and a Member of Congress, I have seen the toll that service can take on our veterans, not just physically but mentally and emotionally. I have heard from too many who feel forgotten once they have taken off the uniform.

While I respect my colleague's comments from the other side of the aisle, to ask for data for metrics and for outcomes but not to provide a tool for these grantees seems to be the wrong path to take.

Mr. Speaker, 17 veterans die by suicide every single day. That number should shake this Chamber. It is a national tragedy and a moral call to action. This bill reauthorizes and strengthens the VA's Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program, one of the most effective tools we have to get local, trusted organizations the funding they need to help struggling veterans.

In Iowa, I have seen incredible work being done by people like Shane Sawyer, an Air Force special operations combat veteran who helps lead the Quad Cities Veterans Network. He brings veterans together, not just to socialize but to survive, to reconnect with the tribe they lost, to rediscover their identity, and to talk to people who understand what they have been through.

His work saves lives. It is that simple. This bill helps him and thousands like him do even more. It also includes my Veterans SPORT Act, which ensures veterans can access adaptive prosthetics for sports and physical activity.

Recovery isn't just about prescriptions. It is about purpose. Whether it is walking a golf course or playing a team sport, these activities can be the difference between isolation and hope.

Mr. Speaker, we made a promise to our veterans. This bill is about keeping it. It ensures no veteran falls through the cracks. No door should be the wrong door when a veteran is in crisis. No door should be the wrong door when it comes to making our veterans whole.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 1969. Let's do the right thing by those who put everything on the line for us.