Why It Matters
Advancing Mental Health for Military Families LLC filed a third-quarter lobbying disclosure through BGR Government Affairs LLC covering mental health care for veterans, active-duty service members, National Guard, Reserves, and their families. The client's combined spending across all registrants totaled $180,000 in the third quarter of 2026, after Cornerstone Government Affairs Inc. terminated its engagement in the second quarter of 2026.
By the Numbers
BGR's third-quarter report lists $120,000, unchanged from the second quarter of 2026 and from the third quarter of 2025, marking seven consecutive quarters at that level. Brownstein filed a separate third-quarter report at $60,000, bringing the combined total to $180,000. Cornerstone filed a termination in the second quarter of 2026, ending an engagement that ran through at least the third quarter of 2025.
The BGR team on this filing:
- Dan Greenwood, practice head and principal; Bill Viney, principal; Tristan Whitaker, director
- Don Andres, vice president; former House chief of staff to Rep. Norma Torres (D-CA-35) and former senior legislative assistant to Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX-30); chief of staff to Rep. Chuy García (D-IL-4)
- Syd Terry, principal; former House chief of staff to Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL-9) and former policy coordinator on the House Energy and Commerce Committee
- Justin Rzepka, co-chair; former Senate staffer
Broader Context
Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) introduced S. 793 in March 2025 to modify and reauthorize VA's Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program. A related bill, S. 702, sponsored by Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), would require a study of quality differences in mental-health and addiction-therapy care.
On Sept. 29, Veterans Affairs (VA) announced it had awarded $111.9 million in Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program funding to 191 community organizations.
On S. 926, the Saving Our Veterans' Lives Act of 2025, which would require VA to provide eligible individuals a firearm lockbox or voucher upon request:
- The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) backed S. 926 before the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee in December 2025, citing VA data showing firearms were the means in nearly 75% of male veteran suicides and 45% of female veteran suicides in 2022.
- A coalition including the American Psychiatric Association and the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) supported the bill, citing VA data that an average of 17.6 veterans die by suicide daily and firearms were used in 72% of veteran suicides in 2021.
- VA told the committee it did not support S. 926 as drafted, citing concerns about scope and cost and noting it had already launched a lockbox-distribution program for enrolled veterans at medium-to-high suicide risk.
The Bottom Line
BGR's fee has held at $120,000 per quarter for seven consecutive quarters, while the client's combined spending fell to $180,000 in 2026 quarter three from $220,000 in 2025 quarter three.
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