GOP senator (Coburn) blocks veterans' suicide prevention bill

[pinboy3niner]

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

Sen. Blumenthal said he will reintroduce the bill in the new Congress.

[3catwoman3]

1. And Coburn is a damn...

...doctor, fer chrissakes.

[shenmue]

2. He can go to hell, for all I care

Heartless jerk.

[sarisataka]

3. Support the troops...

until they become a nuisance

[pinboy3niner]

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 Coburn’s 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]

5. "Sen. Blumenthal said he will reintroduce the bill in the new Congress."

Will Coburn be a part of the new Congress?

[pinboy3niner]

6. No. He's retiring.

[Major Hogwash]

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]

8. Lowlife scumbag.

This asshole defines what being a (R) is all about.

[sakabatou]

9. Let's hope it's not blocked again