WASHINGTON – The U.S. House of Representatives today passed two of Sen. Maggie Hassan’s bipartisan bills supporting veterans’ mental health as part of the STRONG Veterans Act. The veterans mental health package includes Senator Hassan’s bipartisan bill with Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) to designate one week per year as “Buddy Check Week” to organize outreach events and educate veterans on how to conduct peer wellness checks, and Senator Hassan’s bipartisan legislation with Senators Kevin Cramer (R-ND) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) to strengthen and codify the VA’s Solid Start Program.

“Many veterans carry invisible wounds that stay with them long after they take off their uniform,” said Senator Hassan, a member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee. “As we work to provide health care that meets mental health needs, these bipartisan bills will help connect veterans to critical support systems through the VA and Veterans Service Organizations. I am grateful for the advocacy of veterans who have pushed this legislation forward to where it is today, and I will keep working to get these bills passed into law.”

Hassan’s Buddy Check Bill: Senator Hassan and Ernst’s peer-to-peer support bill is modeled after the American Legion’s “Buddy Check National Week of Calling” to connect veterans to other veterans in order to better ensure that they receive the support they need. Under the bill, the VA would work directly with nonprofits that serve veterans, mental health experts, and members of the Armed Forces, to provide educational opportunities for veterans to learn how to conduct peer wellness checks.

Hassan’s Solid Start Act: The VA launched the Solid Start program in December 2019 with the goal of reaching out to all newly separated veterans three times within their first year of separation to check in and help connect them to VA programs and benefits, regardless of separation type or characterization of service. The program also prioritizes outreach to veterans who accessed mental health resources prior to separation in order to quickly connect at-risk veterans to services. Senator Hassan, Cramer, and Cassidy’s bill would codify the Solid Start program and make improvements such as providing women veterans with information that is tailored to their specific health care and benefit needs – a priority that women veterans from New Hampshire raised with Senator Hassan during a roundtable.