Hannah Doggett, a West Texas chapter board member for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, recently traveled to Washington, D.C., to advocate and gain support for three bills that would better support veterans’ mental health needs. Doggett said that the bills, which would work to lower veteran suicide rates, need community support to increase the chances of being passed.
Doggett said that her expertise is in suicide and trauma. She referenced two reports from the Department of Veterans Affairs: one released in 2012 found that 18.3 veterans die by suicide a day. According to the 2024 national veteran suicide prevention annual report, that number decreased to 17.6. Doggett said that although the number is smaller, it is still significant.
“One is too many, and it honestly indicates that the country in which they’ve served, and for which they’ve served, has not supported them in the ways that they’ve needed to the fullest extent possible,” Doggett said.
STOP Suicide Act
Doggett said that H.R. 8124, also known as the Stabilization to Prevent Suicide Act, would provide grant funding for veterans to receive care from support organizations outside the VA.
She said that federal funding cuts have affected VA staffing, and the VA counselors and behavioral health professionals now have more clients, meaning they are not always available when a veteran is experiencing a crisis. Doggett said that although a veteran’s crisis hotline exists, if passed, the bill will fund crisis counseling and support for VAs.
Kathy Tortoreo, director of behavioral health and wellness with the Veterans Resource Center at Family Support Services, said that since its creation, the resource center has received grant funding from the VA to support the mental health needs of veterans in the area. She said that the grant funding supports the salary of a licensed professional counselor.
Tortoreo said that their veteran counselor can not only serve veterans referred to FSS through the VA, but they can also provide counseling and therapy for veterans who have been dishonorably discharged. According to the VA, Veterans with a dishonorable discharge are ineligible for most VA benefits, including disability compensation, education assistance, and housing loans. Some services for mental health crises or healthcare for service-related injuries may be provided.
Tortoreo said that some clients have told FSS they previously received services at the VA, but their counselor was only able to see them once a month. She said the allocation from the VA allows the resource center’s counselor to see veterans as often as once a week.
“When they’re having a lot of difficulty, once a month doesn’t feel like it’s enough for them, and so our therapist has the flexibility to see them more often,” Tortoreo said.
Tortoreo said the stigmas surrounding mental healthcare, especially for male veterans, often affect the time that a veteran waits before they seek help. Often, she said, the image of a strong man who feels nothing is promoted and visualized in the military and in the media, which impacts people’s willingness to seek help.
Tortoreo said that sometimes veterans are never able to talk about the trauma that they experienced, but that the resource center offers different therapeutic means that allow the veterans to release those feelings and emotions without having to voice them. She said the resource center serves veterans of all ages, some having left the service as recently as a month ago, and veterans who served over 30 years ago.
“Mental health of military veterans is a critical issue, because the suicide rate continues to be very high compared to the general public, and the stigma needs to be addressed; the stigma needs to have attention put on it,” Tortoreo said.
Doggett said that reducing the stigma around veterans seeking help with their mental health would provide more information and awareness for veterans to understand their risks. Continued check-ins would also assist this goal.
Tim Reid, executive director for the Texas Panhandle War Memorial Center, said in an effort to reduce the stigma and recognise veterans who have died by suicide, the memorial center dedicated a white star garden. A white star is a symbol that honors and represents the families of veterans and first responders who have died by suicide.
Reid said that the war memorial offers counseling services for veterans through Easy Thoughts counseling services. The memorial’s War of the Wagons event focuses on veterans’ mental health and resources.
Chris Israel, executive director of Homeless Heroes and a veteran, said the additional resources provided by the bills would give more opportunities for veterans to help veterans. Israel said that a veteran being able to speak to another veteran, no matter their branch, allows for some layers and apprehension to be peeled back because they know that the person across from them has experienced the same or similar struggles. Tortoreo said that FSS recognizes the need for more veterans helping veterans and is currently planning to offer more veteran-led group therapy opportunities.
Israel said that the reason why so many veterans struggle after leaving the military is that if something traumatic occurs while they are in the military, they are often too busy to address it at that time, or they have their peers around them for support. He said that after leaving the military, the defined structure is gone, and some struggle to remain busy and maintain a clear path.
“I mean, you got these big bad Marines, Navy Seals, door kickers, submarine drivers who are super competent when they’re in the military, and then some of us just fall apart without the cohesion and the direction and structure of the military,” Israel said.
Doggett echoed Israel, saying that while in the military, service members’ housing, food, healthcare, and daily lives are structured and taken care of. She said that often, veterans also enter the service after high school and may not have lived the life of an average civilian. She said these bills would provide veterans with support to better equip them for life after service.
H.R. 2878/ S. 2096
Doggett said H.R. 2878/ S. 2096, also known as the Daniel J. Harvey, Jr. and Adam Lambert Improving Servicemember Transition to Reduce Veteran Suicide Act, focuses on suicide prevention and would build on the current services through the Transitional Assistance Program to offer more awareness and outreach for veterans within the first year after they leave military service. The bill focuses on that first year because, statistically, veterans are one and a half to two times more likely than the average civilian to die by suicide during that time, according to Doggett.
The Transitional Assistance Program is an income-based program, funded by the Department of Defense, that provides opportunities, services, and training to better prepare service members for post-military life and goals. The program is required for all service members with at least 180 continuous days of active service, including the National Guard and Reserve.
“This bill uses that same program, but creates more of a warm handoff into civilian life, which increases the continuity of care,” Doggett said.
She said that the bill would provide services through area VAs. It would require that service members be contacted at least three times after release to allow more opportunities for veterans to connect with resources.
“What I love about this bill is it’s not trying to reinvent the wheel; it is adding on to systems that are already in place,” Doggett said.
Doggett said service members are currently required to participate in the program, but that a lot of information is provided to them in a short amount of time. She said that if passed, this bill would allow service members to have additional knowledge about behavioral health and risk factors for suicide.
“It’s akin to drinking from a fire hydrant. We want them to be able to drink from a cup and be able to get that information in a slower fashion,” Doggett said.
The Amarillo VA said it doesn’t typically comment on pending legislation, but provided the following information:
“If you’re a Veteran in crisis or concerned about one, please contact the Veterans Crisis Line to receive 24/7 confidential support. You don’t have to be enrolled in VA benefits or health care to connect. To reach responders, Dial 988 then Press 1, chat online at VeteransCrisisLine.net/Chat, or text 838255.”
Barriers to Suicide Act
H.R. 3505, also known as the Barriers to Suicide Act, if approved, would create a competitive grant program with the Department of Transportation to facilitate the installation of suicide-prevention nets and barriers on public structures such as bridges, buildings, parking garages, railroad stations, and highway-rail grade crossings to prevent suicide. Doggett said that although suicide by jumping is not as common in Amarillo and the surrounding area, if passed, the bill would provide funding for preventative measures for more populated areas throughout the nation.
Doggett said she is worried that the bills will not receive the congressional support needed due to current federal funding conservation efforts. She said the best way to gain more support for the bill is for people to contact their area representative and encourage them to co-sponsor the bills.
Get in touch with our local representatives:
Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX13) Amarillo office: 806-641-5600 or contact him online.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) Central Texas office number: 512-916-5834 or email him at west_texas@cruz.senate.gov.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) Lubbock office number: 806-472-7533 or email him at cornyn.senate.gov.
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Correction, June 3, 2026 5:36 pm: This article was corrected to match bill numbers and names to the correct legislation.
This article first appeared on Amarillo Tribune and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.