These days, most people are aware of veterans ’ struggles with mental health . Post-traumatic stress, traumatic brain injury, substance use, and suicide are topics I hear about daily.

As a veteran, these trends bother me. And as the father of a post-9/11 veteran, they disturb me more.

Global war on terror veterans face crises that we couldn’t conceive of when I served. They’ve survived injuries from crude IED blasts; suffered exposure to burn pits; served multiple deployments year after year, missing holidays and important moments with family; and brought the visible and invisible scars of war home with them.

The number of post-9/11 war veterans who’ve taken their own lives is four times higher than the number who were killed in action. An average of 17 veterans take their lives each day, more than 6,000 a year.

What these veterans, and veterans of all eras, need is access to quality care so they can live healthy and prosperous civilian lives. We owe them nothing less than the care we promised for the injuries and illnesses sustained in service to this country.

Unfortunately, we, as a nation, have broken that promise.

The Department of Veterans Affairs has a mission to care for those who have served. But the VA routinely, as a matter of policy, stands in the way of veterans accessing timely and quality care.

Documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit show the VA has actively discouraged veterans from using community care, an option veterans have under law to seek care from providers outside of the VA if the agency can’t schedule an appointment soon or close enough. Administrators have also added extra layers of bureaucratic review of referrals to community care to ensure they are “appropriate,” and they have even attempted to dissuade veterans from using this option when they call to ask for it.

What’s appropriate is empowering veterans to make healthcare choices that are best for them and their families, not holding them hostage at the whims of VA bureaucrats.

In addition, VA staff habitually manipulate wait-time calculations to keep veterans trapped on VA wait lists. A recent VA Office of Inspector General report revealed a VA medical center in Florida used incorrect wait-time calculations that skewed wait times and kept veterans from meeting the access standards for community care.

The bottom line is that the VA has put veterans in a maze of bureaucracy and made-up policies to keep them from getting timely access to care.

It is clear the VA is primarily self-interested and will not put veterans first. Congress has to step in to fix the problem through reform and accountability. And veterans have to demand that they follow through on promises made.

This year, we’ve seen a few solutions introduced, but some are better than others.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn’s (R-TN) Veterans Health Care Freedom Act is the gold standard for what VA and veterans' healthcare reform could look like. This legislation would get veterans quicker and easier access to care, whether that care comes from the VA or the community.

This isn’t just good for veterans. It’s also good for the VA because it would relieve some of the pressure on an overwhelmed system.

In contrast, legislation such as Sen. Jon Tester’s (D-MT) Making Community Care Work for Veterans Act doesn’t fully embrace empowering veterans to take control of their care. Rather, it prioritizes the VA over the veteran, putting restrictions on mental healthcare access and leaving the VA in place as a gatekeeper before allowing veterans into community care.

Giving veterans a choice over where they seek their care is the answer to solving the veteran mental health crisis, not leaving the VA in the driver’s seat to make the decisions it sees fit for veterans' health.

Politicians like to thank veterans for our service and sacrifice. While gratitude is appreciated, it means little without meaningful action to ensure we have the care we need for our physical and mental health.

I encourage lawmakers in Washington to put veterans first and support true reform measures such as the Veterans Health Care Freedom Act.