IL CORRIERE DELLA COLLERA

And, for the second time in five weeks, supporters will have to wait and see when — or if — the Senate will move ahead on the measure.

House lawmakers called passage of the bill a critical need for the Department of Veterans Affairs, which estimates as many as 22 veterans a day commit suicide.

“Since we last passed this bill … 750 veterans have taken their lives,” said bill sponsor Rep. Tim Walz, D-Minn. “We cannot wait another day. We cannot pass this problem forward.”

The Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention bill, named for a Marine veteran activist who took his own life in 2011, would require an annual evaluation of VA suicide prevention programs, to determine which are working and which need to be replaced.