Senator Hassan, Brig. Gen. Bolduc Discuss “Green Alert” Systems with Easterseals NH in Stratham

STRATHAM – In case you missed it, Senator Maggie Hassan yesterday joined Brigadier General Donald Bolduc, USA, Ret. and Easterseals NH staff to discuss the Senator’s bipartisan Green Alert Act, which she introduced this month with Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA). The bipartisan bill would help states implement “Green Alert” systems to locate at-risk veterans when they go missing so that they can receive appropriate care.

The Senator also commended Easterseals NH leaders for their work to provide a full-range of services to meet veterans’ unique needs, including support for veterans struggling with substance misuse, homelessness, and unemployment.  

Click here for the full story from Seacoast Online or see below for excerpts:

STRATHAM -- U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan wants states to adopt a system to find distressed veterans, similar to systems used to locate lost children and seniors.

On Wednesday, Hassan visited the staff at Easterseals to discuss legislation she co-sponsored with Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa. The “Green Alert Act” would establish a federal commission to develop best practices and provide technical assistance to states to implement Green Alert systems, which would alert law enforcement and the public in the event of a veteran’s disappearance. It would be similar to AMBER Alert systems for missing children and Silver Alert systems for lost senior citizens. She said Delaware and Wisconsin have Green Alert systems in place.

[…] She was joined by retired U.S. Army Brigadier Gen. Donald Bolduc, who she said has been instrumental in garnering public attention and support for the legislation. Though most statistics indicate 20 to 21 American veterans die by suicide each day, Bolduc said the number is likely two or three times higher because only 21 states report the number of veteran suicides. He said unofficially 10,000 veterans are reported missing every year.

“There’s an infrastructure in place, we don’t have to reinvent the wheel,” Bolduc said. “The view here is to federalize this to get national data so we can really understand the problem of missing veterans; where are the demographics? Where do we need to allocate funding? My responsibility is to stand up and say, ‘I went through the same thing you went through and I need to ask for help,’ because when you ask for help you’re strong. We end up finding (veterans) after they commit suicide and we have to stop that.”

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