WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator John Boozman (R-AR), Chairman of the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies (MilCon-VA) Appropriations Subcommittee, led a hearing examining the fiscal years 2026 and 2027 budget request for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and secured Secretary Doug Collins’ support for reauthorizing a Boozman-authored program to enhance mental health outreach and suicide prevention in veteran communities.

The senator reviewed the Department’s proposed budget in his opening statement and highlighted several important priorities.

“The PACT Act has certainly been a dramatic change for veterans, and I also think VA has a good story to tell about its implementation, the new veterans enrolling, and the number of PACT Act-related claims received and processed. It also created the Toxic Exposure Fund, and this year’s budget request represents more than a $22 billion increase,” Boozman said. “The budget request includes a large increase for the Electronic Medical Records program. With well more than $12 billion of taxpayer money invested, it’s time to start seeing a return on this investment.”

Boozman also urged Collins to lay out how he intends to lead the VA’s approach to combat the consistently high rates of suicide in the veteran community. 

“I know something that’s very important to you is veteran suicide, which it is to me and so many other members of this committee, on both sides of the aisle. The VA has numerous suicide prevention initiatives and yet we still see elevated suicide rates among veterans relative to their civilian counterparts,” Boozman said.

“This is the one that keeps me up at night,” Collins said. “What has happened since 2008 is a number that’s not really changed: 17 to 22 veterans taking their own life [daily]. Of those numbers, half of them have not had contact with the VA, they’ve not been in our system.”

“Things like the Fox Grant Program, which I encourage to be renewed,” Collins continued. “Ninety-five organizations have been a part of that and they’re reaching out and helping veterans who are not enrolled in our system. They’re bringing them in.”

The Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program was signed into law as a provision of the Commander John Scott Hannon Veterans Mental Health Care Improvement Act and is currently scheduled to sunset in 2025. The senator, also a senior member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, has pushed for its renewal and expansion as well as having previously encouraged the VA to explain its impact and provide an endorsement of a reauthorization.

Click here to watch part of Boozman's opening statement. Click here to watch his questions for VA Secretary Collins.