San Diego City Wire

Following the release of the Navy’s investigation into the series of suicides of sailors assigned to the USS George Washington last year which recommends new manning requirements, improved living conditions, and expanded access to mental health resources, Congresswoman Sara Jacobs (CA-51) renewed her calls to improve the quality of life for service members and military families.

Congresswoman Sara Jacobs said, “Military families often ask what I’m doing to take care of our service members when they’re deployed and when they’re here at home – and the string of suicides of sailors assigned to the USS George Washington last year underscores that we’re simply not doing enough to keep them safe. While I’m glad the Navy is learning lessons from those tragedies, small changes will not make up for the fact that too many service members can’t afford safe housing, health care, child care, and enough food to eat. Another $13 billion aircraft carrier won’t make a difference if our service members are too depressed, stressed, and hungry to focus on the mission. As we soon consider this year’s NDAA, now is the time to rethink our priorities and overhaul our budget to improve the quality of life of those who serve and sacrifice so much for us.”

Last month, Congresswoman Sara Jacobs penned an op-ed in the San Diego Union-Tribune, calling for increased federal investments to improve the quality of life of our service members and military families in order to address recruitment and readiness challenges and live up to our country’s values.

Original source can be found here.