Joshua Omvig Suicide Prevention bill still tied up by Coburn

VMFP ad VCS Call on Washington to Resolve Differences for Veterans
WASHINGTON, Septtember 20, 2007 -- Ellen and Randy Omvig channel the grief they suffer into service to other military families. Their son, Joshua, took his own life following a second tour of duty in Iraq, three days before Christmas 2005. To make sense of the 22-year-old’s death, the pair work to spread the message of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the illness that, as much as the handgun, deprived their son of life. The Iowa couple’s ultimate goal is to see the Joshua Omvig Veteran Suicide Prevention Act get signed into law this year.

“A single Senator is holding it up,” Tom Howe, mentor of the bill for Veterans and Military Families for Progress said. Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) has reservations about the bill, sponsored by Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) and co-sponsored by 31 other Senators, which the House passed 423-0 in March. Coburn is taking advantage of a Senate rule that gives him the power to delay the bill’s final passage.

The Department of Veterans Affairs reports more than 5,000 veterans die at their own hands annually and the numbers are increasing. Worse still, an August, 2007 Pentagon reports indicates the problem is not limited to veterans as a record number of active duty service members committed suicide in 2006 as well. With but one vote in the senate standing between veterans and suicide prevention, VMFP demands leadership on this issue.
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http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/ArticleID/8470