Today is Veterans Day, and we honor those who served in our armed forces. To celebrate, Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL-17), a veteran himself, appeared on Fox to discuss his Veterans' True Choice Act. The bill, first introduced in 2021, allows former service members to receive coverage from TRICARE Select, part of the Dept. of Defense. Steube tweets that "I’ll continue to fight for our veterans in Congress every step of the way. I joined @FoxFriendsFirst to discuss why it’s critical Congress pass my Veterans’ True Choice Act. Thank you to all who served!"
I’ll continue to fight for our veterans in Congress every step of the way.
I joined @FoxFriendsFirst to discuss why it’s critical Congress pass my Veterans’ True Choice Act. Thank you to all who served! pic.twitter.com/sKM1ZSsQQ8
— Congressman Greg Steube (@RepGregSteube) November 11, 2022
Host Carley Shimkin begins by thanking Congressman Steube for his service, then asks what Americans should reflect on this solemn holiday. "Well my message is with this Republican majority in the House coming in, which we'll likely get those results in the next couple days, I'm going to continue to fight for veterans. I hope that I can get passed the True Choice for Veterans bill, that would allow veterans with service connected disability to actually get TRICARE, and TRICARE for life, and not be forced into the VA medical system, go anywhere that they want, to get the medical care they need, when they need it."
Additionally, Steube brings up the tragic statistic of how frequently ex-military members commit suicide. "And I submit to you that those 21, 22 veterans a day that commit suicide, wouldn't be committing suicide anymore, because they have TRICARE and can go right there in their community when they're having some type of episode and get the mental health treatment that they need, when they need it."
In September, we covered that 493 veterans in Florida took their own lives in 2020, which, while an decrease from the previous year's 553, is still too many.
Hopefully, Florida can continue to lower that number with so many who served now serving the Sunshine State.
