With the lame-duck session underway, U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas, (D-N.H., 1st District) is pressing ahead with a bill that would provide additional support for veterans' mental health needs.
The congressman is optimistic that President Donald Trump will sign the bipartisan bill, given his past support for legislation supporting veterans.
"He signed other legislation and issued executive orders on this topic as well, so I think his interest is there," Pappas told Cheddar. "It really should be about doing what's best for the end veteran and not based on politics."
The Veterans COMPACT Act of 2020 aims to improve the transition phase from active duty to veteran status with a more robust network of support services. This would include extending outreach to veterans about existing services, raising awareness among family members, setting up a pilot program to identify service gaps, and eliminating costs for emergency mental health care.
The bill passed unanimously in both the House and Senate.
"This is an issue that is top-of-mind to so many of our policymakers and so many of our veteran service organizations," Pappas said. "We've got to find a way to lower the number of veterans that take their lives by suicide each and every day in this country."
A total of 6,435 U.S. veterans committed sucided in 2018, according to the latest data from the Department of Veteran Affairs, a rate 50 percent higher than for non-veteran adults.
High levels of suicide among veterans have persisted since 2005, even as the demographics of the population have shifted over time.
"The fastest growing group of veterans is women veterans, and they're not necessarily welcomed into VA," he said. "It's a service that was created for a different generation, so we've got to bring into the 21st century."
He'd also like to see a fresh face at the head of the agency. In particular, Pappas said that former Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg would be a "transformational choice," but that he looks forward to "working with whoever is chosen by President Biden."
David Daley, senior fellow for FairVote, joins Cheddar News to discuss the Supreme Court denying the GOP's challenge to congressional maps in North Carolina and Pennsylvania.
With the Russian invasion of Ukraine raging on, millions have turned to TikTok to stay up-to-date on the latest developments and get a first-hand look. The social media platform has been so prominent that the war has been dubbed "the first TikTok war" by many publications — and even the White House has taken notice. The Biden administration held a virtual briefing with 30 social media creators to discuss their role in communicating to their followers by countering what it deems as being misinformation. Ellie Zeiler, an 18-year-old TikTok star who attended the briefing, joined Cheddar to talk about the conference and her responsibilities as a social media creator. "How could you not be a little nervous or scared when you're getting your information and media all from this app? But also then you think back to, I guess, when media was changing between newspapers and TV, and I'm sure people were nervous about that too," she said. "So the fact is, is that people do really look to Tiktok and social media for their news."
U.S. markets closed the day at session lows as the Dow marked its fifth straight week of losses. Investors continue to weigh inflation and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and growing economic risk factors. George Seay, CEO of Annandale Capital, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
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It's been an eventful past few weeks for the WNBA. One of the league's top players, Brittney Griner, remains in Russian custody after being detained at an airport last month. The league is also dealing with a scandal after fining a team for providing charter flights to their players. Emily Caron, sports business reporter for Sportico, joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
School nutrition experts warn that millions of children could go hungry as soon as this summer, after Congress excluded waivers that would extend universal lunch for children in school from the $1.5 trillion omnibus spending bill. Cheddar News speaks with Jessica Gould, chair of the public policy and legislation committee at the School Nutrition Association, about the issue.
