{"id":75756,"date":"2019-03-05T22:34:58","date_gmt":"2019-03-06T06:34:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/69.46.6.243\/?p=75756"},"modified":"2019-03-05T22:34:58","modified_gmt":"2019-03-06T06:34:58","slug":"president-trump-at-signing-of-executive-order-national-roadmap-to-empower-veterans-and-end-veteran-suicide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=75756","title":{"rendered":"President Trump at Signing of Executive Order, \u201cNational Roadmap to Empower Veterans and End Veteran Suicide\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Washington, DC&#8230;Thank you very much.  I very much appreciate it.  I\u2019ll be heading to Alabama on Friday.  So I think some of you will be joining me, but we\u2019ll be going down Friday.  And we\u2019ll let you know times and when we\u2019re leaving, and how long we\u2019ll be there.  It\u2019s been a tragic situation, but a lot of good work is being done.  And we\u2019ve been in constant touch with the Governor, and also the Governor of Georgia.  And so we\u2019ll be going to the area.  We\u2019ll be \u2014 Alabama and the general area.  We\u2019ll see Governor Ivey.  So that\u2019ll be on Friday.  Thank you very much.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/pV9RbR9UIpQ\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>And we\u2019re here today to confront a solemn crisis that requires urgent national action.  In a few moments, I will sign an executive order addressing one of our nation\u2019s most heartbreaking tragedies: veteran suicide.<\/p>\n<p>Our mission is to mobilize every level of American society to save the lives of our great veterans and support our heroes in need.  We\u2019ve worked very hard on Choice for the veterans and so many other programs, and done a really great job in so many ways.  Veteran suicide is something that\u2019s been an incredible thing to watch \u2014 hard to believe.  It\u2019s tragic.  Today we can help end this crisis.<\/p>\n<p>I would like to thank Secretary Wilkie for being here today with us.  He has done a fantastic job as Secretary.  He is making tremendous progress at the VA.<\/p>\n<p>We are also profoundly grateful to be joined by many of our nation\u2019s leading veteran service organizations \u2014 the best \u2014 and all of the state and local veteran leaders.  And I want to thank everybody very much for being here.  Thank you very much.  Thank you all very much.  I know how hard you\u2019ve been working on this.<\/p>\n<p>Veteran suicide is a tragedy of staggering proportions.  Hard to believe an average of 20 veterans and service members take their lives every single day.  Who would believe that\u2019s possible?  There are more than 6,000 veteran suicides per year.  The suicide rate among veterans is 1.5 times greater than that for non-veteran adults, and the suicide rate for post-9\/11 soldiers has increased significantly over the last ten-year period.<\/p>\n<p>To every veteran: I want you to know that you have an entire nation of more than 300 million people behind you.  You will never, ever be forgotten.  We are with you all the way.  I think you know that.<\/p>\n<p>Supporting veterans is a very, very important thing to me.  And it\u2019s been very important \u2014 from my campaign, from day one, and from before my campaign \u2014 but from day one.<\/p>\n<p>Supporting veterans in distress is a critical priority for our entire administration \u2014 everybody in the administration.  Last year, I signed into law the largest funding bill for the VA in its history, which included $8.6 billion for veterans in mental health services.  I also signed an executive order directing the Department of Defense, Veteran Affairs, and Homeland Security to ensure our veterans have seamless access to mental health care and suicide prevention resources.  These efforts focus on veterans the first year after they separate from military service when they are at the heightened-risk area.<\/p>\n<p>The White House VA hotline has fielded more than 200,000 calls and successfully resolved 93 percent of the concerns our veterans brought to them.  And they work very hard.  It\u2019s been very, very effective.<\/p>\n<p>We secured $206 million for VA suicide prevention programming.  Every VA medical center now offers same-day emergency mental health care.<\/p>\n<p>These are crucial steps, but unfortunately most veterans who die by suicide have not been in the care of the VA.  Many of them don\u2019t know about the programs that we have or the programs that we\u2019ve instituted.  In fact, nearly 70 percent of those lost to suicide have not received care from the VA in the previous two years.  They\u2019re just not aware of those great strides.  They\u2019re just not aware.  It\u2019s just not something that\u2019s on their mind.<\/p>\n<p>This grave problem can only be solved if our entire country works together to build communities that truly serve, support, and protect our veterans from the first moment they return to civilian life.  It\u2019s so different.  They leave a military life and they go to civilian life, and it\u2019s just much different.<\/p>\n<p>We must keep our promises to those who keep us free.<br \/>\nThrough today\u2019s action, I am launching the PREVENTS Initiative \u2014 \u201cThe President\u2019s Roadmap to Empower Veterans and End the National Tragedy of Suicide\u201d.  This order creates a new Cabinet-level task force co-chaired by Secretary Wilkie.  The task force will create a comprehensive, national public health roadmap that brings together federal and local government, along with private sector partners, to improve the quality of life for our veterans and turn the tide on this terrible crisis.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re being helped greatly by our strong economy.  Our economy is very, very powerful and makes it a lot easier for people to get jobs, including veterans.  And a lot of companies are actually giving priority, at our request, to veterans and they\u2019re very happy with the results.<\/p>\n<p>The task force will be charged with developing a national research strategy so that we can more effectively identify, intervene, and help veterans during a time of need.  By investing in research and scientific advances, we can better understand the trauma our brave soldiers face and how to restore their faith and their health.<\/p>\n<p>Under this order, my administration will also work with Congress to pass legislation providing resources and assistance in the form of grants to communities so that they can empower veterans with critical information, services, and networks of total, total support.  We\u2019re going to take care of our veterans.  We\u2019re working so hard on this.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re making so much progress and we\u2019re going to take care of them like never before.  Veterans are America\u2019s greatest national treasure and a lot of people understand that; some people don\u2019t.  I will tell you, our single-greatest national treasure.  They kept us safe and we\u2019re going to keep them safe.  They courageously fulfill their duties to our nation.  Now we must fulfill our duties to them.<\/p>\n<p>Here with us today is Frank Larkin.  His son, Ryan, followed in his footsteps to become a Navy SEAL.  Terrific, terrific young man.  Tragically, Ryan is no longer with us.  Frank, we\u2019d love to have you come up and just say a few words about your great son, please.  Frank.<\/p>\n<p>MR. LARKIN:  Thank you, Mr. President.  And thank you to our warriors and veterans present today; along with the veterans service organizations \u2014 our partners who are working hard every day to make a difference for our veterans who are in need; to the other government leaders here today; and to the survivors of suicide who live every day with the pain from the loss of their loved one.<\/p>\n<p>Ryan was a decorated high-performing Navy SEAL who suddenly went over the edge.  In the two years that we tried to rescue him, he was prescribed over 40 different drugs.  His treatment was all psychiatric- and behavioral-health focused.  All along, Ryan kept saying that something was wrong with his head, but nobody was listening.<\/p>\n<p>Months before he took his life, he expressed a wish to donate his body for TBI research.  Ryan was concerned about his teammates and the similar struggles that they were experiencing following both training for combat and combat operations overseas.  Many are burdened with invisible wounds as a consequence of going into harm\u2019s way into the service of this nation.<\/p>\n<p>After Ryan\u2019s death, we learned that he suffered from an undiagnosed, severe level of microscopic brain injury uniquely related to military blast exposure from firing our weapons systems, rockets, mortars, using explosive breaching charges, and being exposed to improvised explosive devices \u2014 IEDs.<\/p>\n<p>We are currently challenged by the fact that this newly discovered pattern of brain injury cannot be seen in a living person \u2014 not unlike the contact sport players who are trying to understand the effects of microscopic CTE, which also cannot be seen in a living player.<\/p>\n<p>This executive order is defining a national strategy that needs to resemble a Manhattan-like Project.  We need the science to illuminate our path forward.  I am convinced that we can solve this.  It is not because we lack the intellectual capability or capacity; in many cases, it\u2019s because of culture.  We need all the relevant players to step onto the same field of play at the same time, completely focused on solving this problem.  We need collaboration, integration of data, and unity of effort across DOD, the VA, HHS, DHS, academia, and the private sector.<\/p>\n<p>We need a holistic approach with a heightened sense of urgency to push the scientific research.  As we develop knowledge \u2014 as we experienced with the Manhattan Project and space exploration \u2014 we will inform on other disease processes and therapies that will go well beyond the veteran community and vice versa.<\/p>\n<p>I receive calls almost weekly from special operators, past and present, seeking help.  They want to know what is happening to them.  They are experiencing unexplained changes.  They want to know if the pain will get better, if the demons will go away, if they will return to being the person they once were.<\/p>\n<p>I have to commend my own SEAL community and the Special Operations Command for embracing this challenge.  They realized that things did not go well in Ryan\u2019s case \u2014 that he got left behind.  They are working hard now to get it right, collecting exposure data, promoting a brain donation program to advance the research, increasing baseline health surveillance, and changing tactics to reduce exposures, especially in the combat training environment.<\/p>\n<p>We also need to appropriately recognize invisible wounds suffered on the battlefield.  The monetary cost of a Purple Heart award is low \u2014 a few dollars for the medal itself.  But the emotional impact is very high to those suffering daily with these obscure injuries to be recognized for their sacrifice.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. President, following this event I\u2019m going over to Arlington National Cemetery to tell Ryan that he\u2019s still making a difference, that he\u2019s still helping his boys.  We can\u2019t leave any more of our valiant men and women behind.<\/p>\n<p>To our warriors, our veterans, and their families: Please do not lose hope.  We will find a better way.  Remember, we made a promise to take care of those who served us.  Failure is not an option.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. President, I thank you for the platform.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Very nice.  Thank you.  (Applause.)  Thank you.  Thank you, Frank, very much.<\/p>\n<p>Also here today with us is Thomas Winkel, a Marine Corps veteran.  He is the Director of the Arizona Coalition for Military Families and the creator of a nationally recognized community collaboration model called \u201cBe Connected.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And, Thomas, if I might, could you please come up and say a few words?  Thomas.<\/p>\n<p>MR. WINKEL:  Thank you, Mr. President.  I greatly appreciate being able to be here and speak with you all today.  To Frank, I really appreciate your words.  I\u2019m sorry about your son.  He is in our hearts and you are in our hearts, your family.  And Semper Fi, brother.<\/p>\n<p>MR. LARKIN:  Thank you.<br \/>\nMR. WINKEL:  Folks, the PREVENTS Initiative it exactly what this country needs.  It is exactly what the thousands \u2014 the tens of thousands of individuals across the country have been hoping for.<\/p>\n<p>For the past 10 years, I\u2019ve been working with states \u2014 every single state \u2014 across the country.  Local teams, state teams, federal teams.  And when you boil everything down \u2014 all their concerns, all their hopes, all their dreams, all their frustrations \u2014 what it really comes down to is that there needs to be a sense of coordination and collaboration unlike what we have today and unlike what we\u2019ve seen before.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re not talking about just regular old coordination and collaboration, or a partnership that is \u201cpartnership\u201d in name only.  But we need partnership that is true, that is consistent, that allows the organization to meet both its own metrics and its altruistic metrics.  It\u2019s incredibly important.  And it\u2019s incredibly valuable.<\/p>\n<p>We have examples of this true partnership \u2014 little ones, all across the country.  One from Arizona happens to be in 2010.  The Arizona National Guard had its highest rate of suicide ever.  Very, very difficult situation.  Partners got together under the leadership of a collective impact initiative.  And we all had the same goal in mind: How do we reduce this number or get rid of it completely?<\/p>\n<p>Over the course of 36 months, we dropped the rate from the highest ever to zero.  It can be done.  We have the ability to prevent suicide, to make lives more empowered, to make lives have more meaning, and to be able to drive folks forward to feel the success that happens when they get a great job, or they get a great spouse, or they have kids.<\/p>\n<p>Look, the reality is, is that we\u2019ve all known someone who has died by suicide.  It is hard.  It is painful.  And we have the ability to stop it.  What our belief is, and the way that we were able to do this is that we worked with a \u201cNo Wrong Door\u201d and \u201cNo Wrong Person\u201d approach.  A \u201cNo Wrong Door, No Wrong Person\u201d approach.  That means very single organization was engaged.  Every single organization was involved that had a stake in service members, veterans, and their families, and their survival and their thriving.<\/p>\n<p>So we have mechanics, and lawyers, and doctors, and teachers, and first responders.  And we have hotel clerks \u2014 one of my favorite stories is a hotel clerk that noticed that a person that was checking in happened to be a veteran \u2014 that they were struggling in a variety of different ways.  But the hotel clerk didn\u2019t know what to do.  He called what we have in Arizona, called the \u201cBe Connected\u201d line, and talked with them.  They coached him through how do you just connect with the individual.<\/p>\n<p>So the clerk goes up to his room, knocks on the door, and says, \u201cHello, sir.  I just wanted to check in with you.  You seem like you might be a little distressed and I wanted to see if there was anything I could do for you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The individual said, \u201cI\u2019m so glad that you came up.  I\u2019m so glad that you talked with me because I was sitting here contemplating how I was going to die.  Not \u2018whether.\u2019  Not \u2018if.\u2019  So you may have just saved my life.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>We hear these stories consistently, and it takes the entire community to be able to do this \u2014 everybody working off the same page.  Our belief is, is that if everyone knows what to do when an individual is in trouble, they will act.  And we\u2019ve seen it time and time again.<\/p>\n<p>So, Mr. President, we greatly support this act \u2014 or this initiative.  It is an incredible thing.  We deeply appreciate everything that you have put into this.  It is going to make a huge difference.  And I can speak on behalf of Arizona and the other states that I have spoken with that we stand ready.  Thank you.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  So, Thomas, I heard one thing beyond all else when you just spoke so beautifully, and that was \u201cfrom the highest rate ever to zero.\u201d  That was a very big statement.  So we\u2019re going to have to find out what you are doing.  Somebody\u2019s got to get together with you.  That\u2019s an incredible job.  I\u2019ve heard about it, too.  \u201cHighest rate ever to zero.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>MR. WINKEL:  Thank you, Mr. President.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  That\u2019s what it\u2019s about.  That\u2019s what we\u2019re up here for.  There has to be something that we can do.<\/p>\n<p>MR. WINKEL:  There is.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Twenty a day?  It\u2019s hard to believe.  So thank you very much.  Come here.  Again, thank you very much.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019d like to ask a man who\u2019s really done an incredible job, before I sign \u2014 Secretary Wilkie \u2014 to step up and just say a few words.  I\u2019m so happy that he\u2019s our Secretary.  If you look over the last fairly long time now that he has been Secretary, we\u2019ve had so many good stories about what\u2019s happening, generally, at the VA.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re extremely of proud of Choice.  It\u2019s been many, many decades that they have been trying to get Choice, where a veteran can go out and see a doctor if the lines are long.  They don\u2019t have to wait four days, nine days \u2014 I always say three weeks, five weeks, ten weeks.  Never get to see a doctor.  People go on line and they\u2019re not feeling well, and they end up being terminal by the time they get to see a doctor.<\/p>\n<p>And, by the way, we have great doctors.  I have to say, I\u2019ve heard \u2014 one thing I hear: We have great doctors in the VA.  A lot of people say getting there is tough but, when you see them, they\u2019re as good as anybody in the world.  We have great doctors.<\/p>\n<p>But a man who has really put it all together is Secretary Wilkie.  So, Secretary, please say a few words.  Please.<\/p>\n<p>SECRETARY WILKIE:  Thank you, Mr. President.  I\u2019ve said this to you before, separate and apart from the honor of serving in your administration, but I am what passes for an amateur historian.  And there has never been a campaign or an administration where the candidate and the President put veterans at the centerpiece of his campaign and his administration until you did that.  And as I speak for all of us who have worn the uniform, in whatever capacity we have served, we can\u2019t thank you enough for that, sir.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you very much.  Thank you, sir.<\/p>\n<p>SECRETARY WILKIE:  So, last week, three Department of Veterans Affairs heroes put their lives on the line to keep a fellow veteran from taking his own life.  Dr. Bruce Goldfeder, Dr. Evelyn Alba, and hospital technician Navarone Johnson in the West Palm Beach VA Medical Center risked their lives to save the life of a veteran.  Two of our VA heroes were wounded \u2014 one severely.  But that veteran lived.<\/p>\n<p>Since 2017, VA employees \u2014 doctors, nurses, technicians, policemen \u2014 have saved 243 veterans just like the one that our heroes saved in Palm Beach.  But since 2017, 19 veterans have not been saved.  That is what today\u2019s ceremony is about.  It is about pulling together the resources of the federal government, our states and localities, our charities, our non-governmental organizations, and coming together with a roadmap and the resources to make sure that we no longer have those 19.<\/p>\n<p>I have said many times that the mission of the Department of Veterans Affairs is to remind our fellow citizens why they sleep soundly at night.  They sleep soundly at night because of the sacrifices of a select number of their fellow Americans who have taken the affirmative step to serve in uniform.<\/p>\n<p>Those \u2014 as the President said, those 20 who every day take their own lives \u2014 14 of them outside of our VA system, most of them from my father\u2019s generation.  His comrades from Southeast Asia.  We deserve, for them, the last full measure of our devotion.  And this begins the closing of that circle.<\/p>\n<p>And, Mr. President, I thank you and your team for everything they have done on behalf of America\u2019s warriors.  Thank you, sir.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Good job.  Thank you very much.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>This is very important to me and to everybody here.  Thank you very much.<\/p>\n<p>(The executive order is signed.)<\/p>\n<p>Where\u2019s Frank?  Here you go, Frank.<\/p>\n<p>MR. LARKIN:  My son\u2019s bracelet.  It\u2019s a symbol of all the veterans who have taken their lives.  We\u2019ve got to keep our eye on the ball.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you, Frank.<\/p>\n<p>Thank you very much everybody.  Thank you.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Sir, your response to the Democrats who are calling for a criminal investigation into Jared Kushner\u2019s security clearance?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  The witch hunt continues.  The fact is that, I guess, we got 81 letters.  There was no collusion.  It was a hoax.  There was no anything.  And they want to do that instead of getting legislation passed.  Eighty-one people or organizations got letters.  It\u2019s a disgrace.  It\u2019s a disgrace to our country.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m not surprised that it\u2019s happening.  Basically, they\u2019ve started the campaign.  So the campaign begins.  But the campaign is actually \u2014 their campaign has been going on for the last two and a half years.  So it\u2019s a shame.<\/p>\n<p>And the people understand it.  When they look at it, they just say, \u201cPresidential harassment.\u201d  But that\u2019s okay.<\/p>\n<p>No administration has accomplished \u2014 probably, you could say this with absolute surety \u2014 in the first two years anywhere near what we have accomplished.  Whether it\u2019s the tax cuts; whether it\u2019s regulation cuts; whether it\u2019s the Veterans Administration \u2014 what we\u2019ve done with the Veterans Administration with Choice and so many other things that nobody thought would be possible to get passed; no administration has done in its first two years what the Trump administration has done.<\/p>\n<p>So what the Democrats want to do \u2014 they cannot stand the loss.  They could not stand losing in 2016.  I see it all the time.  I see people getting on \u2014 I saw a certain person get up yesterday.  The anger.  The anger.  And they just haven\u2019t gotten used to the fact that we won a lot of states that haven\u2019t been won by Republicans in a long time.<\/p>\n<p>But essentially what they\u2019re saying is the campaign begins.  And instead of doing infrastructure, instead of doing healthcare, instead of doing so many things that they should be doing, they want to play games.<\/p>\n<p>President Obama, from what they tell me, was under a similar kind of a thing \u2014 didn\u2019t give one letter.  They didn\u2019t do anything.  They didn\u2019t give one letter of the request.  Many requests were made; they didn\u2019t give a letter.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s too bad because I\u2019d rather see them do legislation.  We negotiate out legislation.  We have so many things \u2014 actually things that we agreed on, like infrastructure.  But they want to focus on nonsense.<\/p>\n<p>So I just want to end by thanking all of the people that are in this room today.  Very special people.  The job you\u2019ve done for the VA is incredible.  And just keep up the good work.  And, Secretary, you\u2019ve been fantastic.  Thank you very much.<\/p>\n<p>Thank you all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Washington, DC&#8230;Thank you very much. I very much appreciate it. I\u2019ll be heading to Alabama on Friday. So I think some of you will be joining me, but we\u2019ll be going down Friday. And we\u2019ll let you know times and when we\u2019re leaving, and how long we\u2019ll be there. It\u2019s been a tragic situation, but [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13330,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,5,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-75756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-government","category-news","last_archivepost"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/whitehouselogo200.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75756","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=75756"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75756\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=75756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=75756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=75756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}