Congress has passed and the president is expected to sign into law a bill that is intended to make it easier to help veterans suffering from depression and post-traumatic stress disorder and at risk of committing suicide,
The New York Times reported.
The bill, which passed both chambers unanimously, is named after
Clay Hunt, a Marine sniper who served in Iraq and committed suicide in 2011.
The legislation will ramp up the Department of Veterans Affairs' suicide prevention and mental health treatment programs.
It provides funding to enable the department's suicide prevention efforts to be independently evaluated. The law creates a peer-support pilot program aimed at rapidly matching returning veterans with comrades they can talk to.
There is also money to build a comprehensive website listing all of the department's mental health resources. Financial incentives for psychiatrists to work for the VA are included.
And the law gives Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans more time to register for mental healthcare.
A Veterans Crisis Line — 1-800-273-8255 — has already helped tens of thousands of veterans suffering from mental health issues, the Times reported.
Some 22 veterans kill themselves every day, the Times said, citing recent government data.
Connecticut Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal, one of the bill's sponsors, told the Times, "We owe these wounded warriors more effective psychiatric services and counseling so they can win the war against the inner demons that come home with them from service."
He added, "This bill will help save lives, but still it's only a first step."