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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsGOP senator (Coburn) blocks veterans' suicide prevention bill
December 15, 2014, 07:11 pm
By Ramsey Cox
Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) blocked the Senate from passing a veterans suicide prevention bill.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), who will serve as ranking member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee next year, asked for unanimous consent to pass H.R. 5059, the Clay Hunt SAV Act. But Coburn objected because he said the goals of the bill are already funded through programs within the Department of Veterans Affairs.
...
The bipartisan bill passed in the House last week. But Coburn was the final hurdle to passing the legislation before the Senate adjourns for the year.
H.R. 5059 would have required the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the Secretary of Defense to annually arrange for an independent evaluation of the VA and DOD mental health care and suicide prevention programs. It would also increase the number of psychiatrists at VA facilities.
...
http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/227223-gop-senator-blocks-veterans-suicide-prevention-bill
By Ramsey Cox
Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) blocked the Senate from passing a veterans suicide prevention bill.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), who will serve as ranking member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee next year, asked for unanimous consent to pass H.R. 5059, the Clay Hunt SAV Act. But Coburn objected because he said the goals of the bill are already funded through programs within the Department of Veterans Affairs.
...
The bipartisan bill passed in the House last week. But Coburn was the final hurdle to passing the legislation before the Senate adjourns for the year.
H.R. 5059 would have required the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the Secretary of Defense to annually arrange for an independent evaluation of the VA and DOD mental health care and suicide prevention programs. It would also increase the number of psychiatrists at VA facilities.
...
http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/senate/227223-gop-senator-blocks-veterans-suicide-prevention-bill
Sen. Blumenthal said he will reintroduce the bill in the new Congress.
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GOP senator (Coburn) blocks veterans' suicide prevention bill (Original Post)
pinboy3niner
Dec 2014
OP
That's why I was confused. He's done playing his stupid Republican games in the Senate.
Major Hogwash
Dec 2014
#7
3catwoman3
(24,005 posts)1. And Coburn is a damn...
...doctor, fer chrissakes.
shenmue
(38,506 posts)2. He can go to hell, for all I care
Heartless jerk.
sarisataka
(18,656 posts)3. Support the troops...
until they become a nuisance
pinboy3niner
(53,339 posts)4. Here's the clip about it from tonight's Rachel Maddow Show (LINK - 4:32)
http://on.msnbc.com/1BNOiKm
Rachel Maddow 12/15/14
Coburn obstinate in blocking veterans suicide prevention bill
Rachel Maddow plays Senator Tom Coburns oddly self-referential and perplexingly devoid of content remarks on the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act, which he alone is preventing from passage through Congress.
Rachel Maddow 12/15/14
Coburn obstinate in blocking veterans suicide prevention bill
Rachel Maddow plays Senator Tom Coburns oddly self-referential and perplexingly devoid of content remarks on the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act, which he alone is preventing from passage through Congress.
Major Hogwash
(17,656 posts)5. "Sen. Blumenthal said he will reintroduce the bill in the new Congress."
Will Coburn be a part of the new Congress?
pinboy3niner
(53,339 posts)6. No. He's retiring.
Major Hogwash
(17,656 posts)7. That's why I was confused. He's done playing his stupid Republican games in the Senate.
But, Coburn wants -- as one of his last acts as a Senator -- to block a suicide prevention bill for veterans??
Man, that doesn't make any damn sense at all to me.
I'm not surprised that he blocked it, inasmuch as I am puzzled as to what kind of warped, pretzel logic he used to come to that decision.
lpbk2713
(42,757 posts)8. Lowlife scumbag.
This asshole defines what being a (R) is all about.
sakabatou
(42,152 posts)9. Let's hope it's not blocked again