Statement from U.S. Senator Dean Heller (R-NV)
“As a senior member of the U.S. Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, Senator
Heller has been a long-time champion for Nevada’s 300,000 veterans and
has authored or helped introduce over 45 pieces of legislation that are now
law and aimed specifically at addressing Nevada’s veterans’ needs, including
their access to mental health care treatment. Whether it’s the law he
authored to expand mental health services to veterans who previously may
not have had access to them or his bipartisan legislation to prevent veterans
suffering from severe traumatic brain injuries from being kicked out of
rehabilitative centers treating them that was signed into law by President
Obama, Senator Heller has an extensive record of ensuring veterans
struggling with invisible injuries receive the health care services and benefits
that this country promised them.
“Around the same time last year that the VA released a report stating that
Nevada had one of the highest veteran suicide rates in the nation, Senator
Heller and VA Secretary David Shulkin met at the VA Sierra Nevada Health
Care System in Reno and discussed the need for increased efforts to address
veteran suicide in Nevada. In order to help Nevada veterans who are
suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, and
related issues, Senator Heller supported legislation to provide veterans with
access to additional treatment options, including magnetic resonance
therapy, which veterans have said freed them of their PTS symptoms and
changed their lives. Introduced by Senator Perdue, the No Hero Left
Untreated Act is supported by several veteran service organizations,
including the American Legion, AMVETS, Association of the United States
Navy, U.S. Special Operations Command, Blue Star Families, and Vietnam
Veterans of America.
"Senator Heller has fought for and always will stand up for Nevada veterans,
and he will continue working to identify bipartisan solutions that will make it
easier for them to get the mental health care services they need at the time
time they need help. Senator Heller will never apologize for supporting
policies that could lead to additional treatment options for Nevada
veterans because no one who has served this country should be waiting for
care once they return from combat, especially those veterans who can't
afford to because their life depends on it."