This hearing will come to order.

Today, we are following up on the Department of Veterans Affairs’ efforts to reach out to the 17 million veterans in our country who are eligible for benefits but who are not enrolled to receive them. 

We will be hearing from veterans about their perception of VA’s pilot public awareness campaign in Washington, DC, to promote awareness of the suicide hotline and VA mental health services.  We are honored to have them here.  We will also hear from the marketing firm MDB Communications about best practices for reaching consumers.  Finally, the VA will update us on the status of the pilot public awareness campaign and its plans for expansion in conjunction with a national outreach strategy.

As you will recall, CBS News reported last November that veterans aged 20-24 were committing suicide upon return from service at a rate two-and-a-half to four times higher than their non-veteran peers.  This report raised a critical question.  If, by the VA’s own estimate, only 7.7 million of America’s 25 million veterans are currently enrolled and receiving benefits, how are we bringing the VA to the remaining 17 million veterans?

Waiting for veterans to show up at the VA is neither effective nor acceptable.  The VA must be more proactive.

In June, Secretary Peake took a promising step forward by formally lifting the VA’s longstanding, self-imposed ban on paid advertising.

On July 15, this Subcommittee heard testimony on the creation of an outreach strategy to alert veterans and their families where they can turn for help.  In the hearing, marketing experts encouraged the VA to conduct thorough market research before executing an advertising campaign, emphasizing the need for a strategic plan with a market-tested message, and with measurable objectives that focus on veterans’ needs.

We also heard from the VA’s Assistant Secretary for Public and Intergovernmental Affairs, Lisette Mondello, about the Department’s outreach plans, specifically, the 3-month pilot campaign to promote awareness of VA’s suicide hotline in Washington, D.C.

Today, Assistant Secretary Mondello will update us on the status of the pilot project, which is scheduled to conclude next month.  Last week, VA National Suicide Prevention Coordinator Janet Kemp testified before the Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Health, saying that calls in DC to the suicide hotline more than doubled after the pilot public awareness campaign began and that VA supports extension of the campaign to other areas.  We look forward to hearing how VA plans to do this, and how the VA can ensure maximum possible effectiveness. 

After hearing about the importance a well-researched, comprehensive, targeted outreach strategy in the July 15th hearing, we also look forward to learning what recent progress has been made in procuring the necessary market research expertise to help VA develop and refine its national outreach strategy. 

Additionally, in the July 15th hearing a public service announcement featuring Gary Sinise was shown.   I am curious to know why it wasn’t distributed to television stations in the Washington, DC, area as part of the DC-based pilot public awareness campaign, so the VA could gain initial some initial feedback?

It is now my understanding, based on what the VA has told our subcommittee staff, that the VA plans to award a contract next week to distribute this public service announcement nationwide.

While I am pleased to see the VA moving so swiftly, I want to make sure that it is doing all it needs to in order to ensure that its efforts have the maximum chance of success.  I know we need to get the message out as quickly as possible, and this is certainly a fast way to do it, but if market research concludes that this is not the best way to do it, I want to know that the VA will be able to make the necessary adjustments, and that the distribution of this one public service announcement will not preclude distribution of a more thoroughly market-tested public service announcement in the future.

I am also eager to learn how the VA will be tracking the use of this public service announcement by televisions stations, and whether it is proving effective.

Finally, I look forward to hearing more about the VA’s potential use of paid advertising at movie theaters nationwide to show the Gary Sinise public service announcement. In response to a post-hearing question from our July hearing, Ms. Mondello suggested the VA is considering this as an option.  This is certainly innovative, and if this is the best way to reach veterans at risk for suicide and let them know where they turn for help, then I am all for it.  The only question is: is it?  I am eager learn why the VA finds this particular approach so promising.

But first, we will hear from four veterans who live in the Washington, DC, area and who have been exposed to the pilot public awareness campaign.  I am eager to hear their impressions of this campaign, and I trust their input will be useful to the VA, as well.

We will also hear from Ms. Cary Hatch, President and CEO of MDB Communications.  I expect that her testimony will enlighten all of us on the requirements and potential pitfalls of launching an effective national advertising campaign.

Thank you to all of our witnesses for coming to testify before the Subcommittee today.  The fact that we are holding this hearing, the second this year to focus on media outreach, should make clear the importance of this issue, and we look forward to your testimony.

Before concluding, I want to publicly thank Chairman Michaud and Ranking Member Miller of the Subcommittee on Health for their dedication to veteran suicide prevention and all their hard work on this issue.  Finally, thank you to Ranking Member Brown-Waite for being such an invaluable partner in helping to ensure that our nation’s veterans receive the benefits they deserve.  Before I recognize the Ranking Member for her remarks, I would like to swear in our witnesses.