Rep. Peter Roskam (R-Ill.) threw his support behind a bipartisan act that will increase veterans’ access to mental health care during a speech on the House floor on Tuesday.
The Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act (SAV) was named after Marine Cpl. Clay Hunt, an Iraq and Afghanistan veteran and Purple Heart recipient who took his own life in March 2011 after a prolonged battle with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
“This is really a bill about real contrasts,” Roskam said. “And the contrast is starting at a very high point—a sense of calling, a sense of patriotism, a sense of going forward and meeting a duty and joining the Armed Forces of the United States. That’s one end of the spectrum. At the other end of the spectrum is Clay Hunt’s experience.”
The House passed the bill unanimously.
“The power of this when you have that broad of a political spectrum that says ‘we’re not going to tolerate this,’” Roskam went on to say. “We’re going to make sure that the issue is not lost in the shuffle, that this is not a statistic… so I’m happy today to join with those who are asking for favorable passage of the Clay Hunt SAV Act.”