Buchanan’s House-approved NDAA amendments support mental health, safety of troops

The U.S. House-approved National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2023 includes three amendments offered by U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL) that would support the nation’s military service members.

“These three proposals seek to address the health and safety of our active-duty military community, one of my top priorities in Congress,” Rep. Buchanan said on Monday. “I’m pleased to see these provisions pass the House this week with unanimous support and am very hopeful they will be enacted into law.”

The House of Representatives on July 14 voted 329-101 to pass the amended H.R. 7900, sweeping annual legislation to authorize U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) activities for FY 2023 and address numerous related issues.

Rep. Buchanan’s first amendment would require the DOD to study and report to Congress on the accessibility of mental health care providers on military bases, the accessibility of inpatient mental health services for service members and steps that may be taken to improve the accessibility of such services, according to a summary provided by Rep. Buchanan’s staff.

The amendment aims to identify holes in mental health care for active-duty service members, and in turn, reduce military suicides, says the summary, which cited data from the fourth-quarter of calendar year 2021 DOD Suicide Report showing that 328 active duty service members committed suicide in 2021.

The congressman’s second amendment would require the Government Accountability Office to study and determine if equipping tactical vehicles with black box data recorders could prevent future accidents.

Rep. Buchanan has advocated in Congress for reforming current training procedures and improving emergency response capabilities after his constituent, Army Specialist Nicolas Panipinto, died at the age of 20 in 2019 when the M2A3 Bradley Fighting Vehicle he was driving overturned during a road-test in South Korea.

The lawmaker’s third amendment would require the DOD to maintain prescription drop boxes on all military bases to allow for the safe disposal of unused prescription drugs, including opioids, to help prevent medication misuse and opioid addiction.

H.R. 7900 now heads to the U.S. Senate for consideration.