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HOUSTON—U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, today visited a recruiting station from the U.S. Army Houston Recruiting Battalion and met with recruiters to hear about their recruiting experiences and learn about the preventive measures the Army is implementing to address the alarming trend of suicides in the Battalion. Since 2001, the Houston Recruiting Battalion has lost four Army recruiters to suicide; all were combat veterans. Sen. Cornyn was joined today by Brigadier General Frank Turner, who led the Army’s official investigation into the Houston Recruiting Battalion suicides, which Sen. Cornyn asked the Army to conduct. “I welcomed the chance to hear from local recruiters firsthand about their daily experiences and challenges. Theirs is a difficult job by nature, but unacceptable and inappropriate practices and a toxic command climate in the Houston Recruiting Battalion placed these recruiters under undue pressure and negatively impacted their morale,” Sen. Cornyn said. “As I witnessed today, the Army has taken several important steps to improve the environment within the Battalion and implement suicide prevention measures to address problems uncovered by Brigadier General Turner’s investigation. As the families of the fallen recruiters continue to grieve, it is critical that we honor the memory of their loved ones and take every possible step to ensure this kind of tragedy does not occur again. The role of the Army recruiter is essential to our national security, and we need to give them the resources they need to do their jobs successfully, while also ensuring their leaders provide a suitable environment in which to recruit new soldiers and conduct their daily business. I can assure our military families in Texas I will continue to do everything in my power to prevent future tragedies and support their loved ones in uniform. “Recent reports indicate suicide has become a very serious problem Army-wide. I will continue to work to devote funding to mental health research to allow for better understanding and treatment of mental health conditions like PTSD. While the military and Department of Veterans Affairs have made significant strides in identifying these conditions and other ‘invisible wounds of war,’ we need to do a better job in reaching out to our wounded warriors returning from Iraq and Afghanistan and ensuring they have the proper care to make a full recovery and return to military service or transition to civilian life. These are the issues I intend to raise when the Senate holds an upcoming hearing on mental health conditions and suicide within our Armed Forces.” Background: After learning about the high number of suicides within the Houston Recruiting Battalion and hearing from countless constituents personally impacted by the poor morale and toxic command climate within the unit, Sen. Cornyn wrote two letters to Army Secretary Pete Geren expressing serious concerns and calling for a thorough, unbiased investigation. Shortly thereafter, at the direction of Secretary Geren, BG Turner began a broad, comprehensive investigation into these issues. The Army, based on the seriousness of BG Turner’s findings, as well as an overall increase in Army suicides in 2008, has initiated a series of actions designed to help soldiers and put a stop to the rising trend of suicides within its ranks. On February 13, the Army declared and held a recruiting “stand-down day” for all units in the U.S. Army Recruiting Command, including the Houston Recruiting Battalion. Instead of recruiting that day, Army Recruiters participated in a training and education program to learn how to deal more effectively with the stresses of the job that could cause a recruiter to take his or her own life. Other remedial actions include the establishment of a partnership with the Department of Veterans Affairs and the National Institute of Mental Health, intended to further the study and understanding of military suicides and their root causes. The Army is also considering a variety of disciplinary and administrative actions for members of the Battalion whose conduct contributed to the problems. On January 22, Sen. Cornyn wrote to the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee requesting hearings on the overall issue of recruiter suicides. The Chairman has informed Sen. Cornyn he will hold a hearing on the mental health of our troops and suicide prevention efforts, and Sen. Cornyn will likely be invited to participate. The U.S. Army reported a sharp increase in suicides last month; for the month of January 2009, the number of soldiers who committed suicide surpassed the number of soldiers who were killed in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. Sen. Cornyn serves on the Finance, Judiciary and Budget Committees. He serves as the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee’s Immigration, Refugees and Border Security subcommittee. He served previously as Texas Attorney General, Texas Supreme Court Justice, and Bexar County District Judge.