Congressional members urge VA data transparency to help address veteran suicide

Washington, D.C. — Uifa’atali Amata is one of six Members of Congress who together sent a bipartisan letter on March 2 to United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs Denis McDonough urging the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to address discrepancies between state, local, and federal veteran suicide data and engage in data transparency with research-based organizations like the America’s Warrior Partnership (AWP) in order to better shed light on the crisis of veteran suicide in America. Congressman Andrew R. Garbarino (R-NY-02) led this effort with Representatives Aumua Amata Radewagen (American Samoa), Josh Gottheimer (D-NY-05), Max Miller (R-OH-07), Mark Amodei (R-NV-02), and Tom Kean, Jr. (R-NJ-07). 

The Members wrote, "We agree that a community-wide effort is necessary to fully understand the various factors that may contribute to veteran suicide, especially as discrepancies between state and federal data paint a different picture of the scope of veteran suicide. This past September, America’s Warrior Partnership (AWP) published its interim report on Operative Deep Dive, a project meant to combine local, state, and federal data to gain a comprehensive view of the crisis of veteran suicide. Strikingly, the report from Operation Deep Dive found that former service members take their life at a 2.4 times greater rate than previously reported by the VA. These reports make clear that there are discrepancies between state, local, and federal veteran suicide data that must be addressed."

"While data security and privacy of our veterans is paramount, organizations like AWP regularly work with other federal and state agencies and worked through these same concerns to form meaningful partnerships," they continued. “We strongly encourage the VA to end the unnecessary wait and commit to working with those organizations like AWP that are committed to the same goal: ending veteran suicide."

"Congress has been very clear: there is an undeniable benefit to our nation’s veterans when the VA shares data and collaborates. It is the law, and clearly defined in statute, regulation, and the VA’s own directives," said Jim Lorraine, President & CEO, America’s Warrior Partnership. "The VA needs to be more open and transparent – including sharing important data. Together, we can do better. This is especially true when the data is related to veteran suicide, which is what America’s Warrior Partnership’s study, Operation Deep Dive TM, is researching. We are grateful for Congressman Garbarino and others on this letter for highlighting the importance of this issue. We all need to work together to tackle the ongoing epidemic of veteran’s taking their own lives, and we look forward to working closely with the VA."

Click on attachment to download full text of letter.