Dear Friends,
On average, 18-22 veterans are taking their own lives every day. This is a national tragedy that Congress, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), non-profits, community-based organizations, private business, and regular citizens need to join forces to correct.
Yesterday, the House voted to pass H.R. 5392, No Veterans Crisis Line Call Should Go Unanswered Act. The bill would require VA to develop a strategic plan to answer or return all calls from veterans to the Veterans Crisis Line (VCL) within thirty seconds. The VCL was created in 2007 to help provide emotional support for veterans struggling with the invisible wounds of war. In 2015, after a 700 percent increase in phone calls to the VCL, VA has struggled to meet the increase in demand.
The VCL is a well-intended government program that could amplify our efforts to greatly reduce the suicide rate of our Nation’s heroes. This legislation would be an important step toward getting the VCL to a place where it can help every single veteran who is in need of emotional support.
At the beginning of this Congress, the president signed into law the Clay Hunt SAV Act, a comprehensive veterans suicide prevention bill. The work to address this problem can’t end with the passage of these two bills; we need to continue to remain engaged and educate all of our citizens about this crisis.
As a way to help increase awareness about veterans suicide, I am participating in the 22 pushup challenge. Please take a moment to watch my video by clicking on the image below.
Social media remains a great tool for educating others, and I hope you will join me in the completing the 22 pushup challenge.
Sincerely,
Representative French Hill
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| Photos for the Week |
Rep. Hill with Brian Storrie of UAMS, Retta Yorns and Karen Jackson of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, and Erika Sward of the American Lung Association. |
Rep. Hill with Preston Banks who was in Washington for the opening of the National Museum of African American History and Culture. |
Rep. Hill with William McCastlain (second from right) and the other recipients of the 2016 Marie Interfaith Civic Leadership Award. |
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Suicide Prevention and Awareness
September is Suicide Prevention Month. On Sunday, Rep. Hill was present as William McCastlain received the 2016 Marie Interfaith Civic Leadership Award for his work in suicide prevention and awareness. William was an intern in Rep. Hill's Washington, D.C. office this summer and someone Rep. Hill has known since before his days at Episcopal Collegiate School.
William, now a sophomore at Vanderbilt University, and his family, were personally affected by the loss of his brother, Cal. Since then, William has worked tirelessly to increase awareness and help steer others away from taking this tragic step.
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Hill Talks Iran Payment on Fox Business
Last week, Rep. Hill went on Lou Dobbs Tonight to discuss the Obama Administrations dubious explanation for why they paid the Iranian Government with Cash in exchange for their American prisoners.
Click the image below to watch Rep. Hill on Lou Dobbs:
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Working Around Obama's Unworkable Overtime Rule
This past week, 21 states, including Arkansas, filed a lawsuit against the Obama Administration’s overtime pay rule.
In response to the lawsuit, Rep. Hill stated:
“In a long line of bad regulatory policy from the Obama Administration, the Department of Labor’s overtime rule is one of the worst. Since the rule’s inception, I have heard from businesses of all sizes, non-profits, colleges, and our cities across Arkansas about the damaging effects the rule will have on local economies and concerns over the lack of sound economic analysis and failure to carefully consider different industries and geographic regions in the United States.
"While Congress works to enact legislation to prevent its implementation this December, the legality of the rule has also come into question, and I fully support this collection of Attorneys General fulfilling their responsibility and taking this fight to the courts.”
Rep. Hill also cosponsored the H.R. 6094, the Regulatory Relief for Small Businesses, Schools, and Nonprofits Act. This bill provides a six-month extension to allow businesses, colleges, non-profits, and local governments additional time to comply with the new salary threshold.
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