Veterans Who Return Home with the Mental Wounds of War

Floor Speech

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Mr. ZELDIN. Mr. Speaker, tonight I rise on behalf of our veterans who return home with the mental wounds of war.

For generations, we have sent our sons and daughters into harm's way. For generations, they have served this country honorably. They don't come home in the same way they left. There were generations who came back to the United States who didn't even receive a ``thank you.'' There was not even a handshake or a hug waiting for them.

For our Vietnam veterans who are watching at home, we say to this day, ``welcome home,'' because when they first came home, they were spat on. Fortunately, we have learned a lesson from that generation. For me and my generation, as we return from Iraq and Afghanistan, there is a ``thank you,'' but there is so much more that needs to be done.

That is why we are here tonight for this Special Order. It is on behalf of our veterans who return home with the mental wounds of war.

Each and every one of our congressional districts is home to these veterans. For me, I represent Suffolk County, New York, on the east end of Long Island. We are proud of not only having the highest veterans' population of any county in New York, but of having the second highest veterans' population of any county in the country.

We have veterans who come home to family, to friends, and to people with whom they work who don't understand what it is their loved one or colleague is going through. Isolated and alone, too many of our veterans are losing their struggles with posttraumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury, and there is so much more that each and every one of us can do on their behalf.

Tonight is a bipartisan Special Order. We are joined by my colleague from Arizona, who has led the fight on a national level on behalf of men and women from all corners of this country who are struggling with recoveries from suicide attempts, and who has led in the effort to prevent that attempt in the first place.

I yield to the gentlewoman from Arizona (Ms. Sinema).

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Mr. ZELDIN. Mr. Speaker, I commend Representative Sinema for her efforts on behalf of the Somers family.

We lose a lot of our sons and daughters in harm's way, and there is reflection for that family as to what that sacrifice accomplished. I guess it depends on the year, the place, the circumstances.

But the Somers family knows that they have a champion here fighting on their behalf so that the sacrifice was not for naught. A legacy is left behind that those who struggle moving forward might have a helping hand.

I thank Ms. Sinema for her advocacy not just on behalf of the Somers family in her district, but for all of our veterans who need more help all across America.

At this time, I would like to recognize the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Rothfus) and thank him for his efforts in his home State and for joining this cause tonight on behalf of our veterans who not only are going to benefit from the immediate effort of this Chamber with all the different ideas that are before it now, but really for the decades and generations still to serve ahead.

I yield to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Rothfus).

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Mr. ZELDIN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman literally for every single word and for his passion and advocacy on behalf of all the veterans not only in his district, but in mine and elsewhere.

It is so incredibly important for the words that we just heard to be echoed throughout this Chamber and inspiration to be found for some of what are great ideas to actually come into effect.

Because while there is one Joseph Dwyer who served our country, as the gentleman just pointed out, there are numerous Joseph Dwyers all around America who have not yet lost their struggles.

Now, it is interesting because we so often call those who lose their bouts with the mental wounds of war--we call it suicide. Joseph Dwyer's last words were, ``I don't want to die.'' He was huffing, trying to get temporary relief from his pain.

The struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder led to him losing his life, and he left behind a young widow and a 2-year-old daughter.

There are Joseph Dwyers all around America who have not yet left behind young children and young widows. It is our duty in this House to fight for them with whatever energy and inspiration that we can find within us to ensure that what starts as a good idea becomes law.

The PFC Joseph Dwyer Veterans Peer Support program is not a new idea. It may be a new idea for this Chamber. We created it in New York State back in 2012. At that time, I was in the New York State Senate, and we created it as part of the 2012-2013 State budget.

As we just heard from the gentleman from Pennsylvania, veteran-to- veteran peer support, veterans helping veterans, is the key.

We started the program in four counties in New York: Suffolk County, which is my home county; Jefferson County, home of the 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum; Rensselaer County; and Saratoga County.

The program was so successful in these four counties and, by the way, operating at just $200,000 per county. Here in Washington, we talk about programs in the billions, the trillions, and the hundreds of millions.

In my home county, we helped hundreds of veterans in just that first year. Hundreds of veterans were helped, over 400, and $200,000.

We know firsthand how many lives were saved as a result. It was so successful. It started in four counties and expanded to over a dozen. In New York State, we are so proud of the Dwyer program.

I just came to Congress. This is my first term. I was sworn in January of 2015. There may be no other mission during my time here in this Chamber that will be more satisfying for me personally than to do my part to hopefully save at least one veteran's life. But there are so many more that can be saved if this Chamber takes up this bill and makes it law.

It doesn't matter whether you live in one of the most populated counties in America of veterans, like Suffolk, or if you live in a county that might not be that well populated overall anywhere else in this country.

If you raised your hand and you are willing to lay down your life in protection of our freedoms and liberties for that flag, for everything that makes our country great, to protect it and defend it, when you come home, you should have shoes on your feet.

There should be food on your table. There should be a roof over your head. Some come home with the physical wounds of war; others come home with the mental wounds of war.

Our veterans are fighting for us, all of us--not just for their family or friends, but for strangers, too. Isn't it our duty while we are here, as elected representatives, to be fighting for not just those veterans with the mental wounds of war whom we know, but the countless others who are under the radar right now? They are under the radar because they don't know where to go for help.

Within our communities, we have veterans. We have veterans service organizations--you know, like the VFW, the American Legion, the Vietnam Veterans of America, the list goes on--and we have mental health professionals who want to offer their services. We have others who may want to provide a venue for a meeting, others who may want to provide food.

The setting is not that hard to put into place. For someone from our community who may live around the block from any Member of this Chamber, the setting is not that hard to put together for that veteran to go to that room and be with maybe 8, 10 veterans, understanding the struggles that they are going through so that they can share each other's stories and help each other cope with what are the mental wounds of war. It is our duty; it is our opportunity to be able to bring these veterans together and to save lives.

As was noted earlier, the statistics are staggering: an estimated 22 veteran deaths per day--22. That is 8,000 in a year. It was just about a month ago when the Department of Veterans Affairs indicated that 17 of these 22 individuals weren't even in the VA system.

Some don't go for help because they don't know where to go; others might fear the consequences. What is so important is, with the Dwyer program, maintaining confidentiality so our veterans won't fear that they might lose their job because they are going for help. That is incredibly important as well.

A recent New York University Medical Center report indicated over 270,000 Vietnam-era veterans still suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. These figures are alarming. They are disturbing. The VA doesn't currently offer what we are talking about. This is different.

We are hearing about how some of our veterans are being helped because of pets--dogs, horses--fishing, other activities. Let's think outside the box. Let's not think of just the same way of doing things that have not worked inside the Department of Veterans Affairs. Let's do something different. We are not starting from scratch.

I would encourage any Member of this House to look at what we are doing in my home county of Suffolk. I am proud to say that we are leading the way in America, and there is a model there that works and should be replicated everywhere.

Staffing shortages, untrained support staff, lacking family support services and access to services during nonbusiness hours are just some of the problems that have been reported at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

I recently introduced legislation, H.R. 4513, which would expand nationally the PFC Joseph P. Dwyer Veterans Peer Support program. PFC Joseph Dwyer was from my district. His home was Mount Sinai, New York.

A lot of people know Joseph Dwyer because of an iconic photo from the start of the Iraq war. This picture was on national news. It was on the front cover of magazines. It was that iconic picture of that American soldier post-9/11 at the start of the war holding a wounded Iraqi boy as his unit was fighting its way up to Baghdad.

It looked like Joseph came home in one piece, a hero. While it may have seemed that he came home in one piece because he didn't have some of the physical wounds of war that we unfortunately see from other heroes, he came back with post-traumatic stress disorder.

PFC Dwyer died in 2008. Matina, his young widow, was left behind. Meaghan, his 2-year-old daughter, was left behind.

This was an effort that was launched in his honor, the PFC Joseph P. Dwyer Veterans Peer Support program. It is for our veterans with post- traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury. It provides a safe, confidential, and educational platform where all veterans are welcome to meet with other veterans to build vet-to-vet relationships in support of one another's successful transition from military life to post-service life.

We were able to conduct 148 group sessions, serving 450 veterans in my home county of Suffolk, just in the first year. Since 2013, the program has helped, now, into the thousands, as we count veterans from across New York with PTSD and TBI.

Through my bill, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs would be authorized to make grants to State and local entities to carry out peer-to-peer mental health programs. The bill would secure $25 million over a 3-year period to establish a grant program at the VA that will provide up to $250,000 in funding for all selected entities, such as nonprofits, congressionally chartered VSOs, or State or local agencies to implement the peer-to-peer program.

Let's think about that--$250,000. The Denver VA Hospital construction project, originally budgeted for just over $600 million, is operating $800 million to $900 million over budget--$800 million to $900 million over budget.

The Department of Veterans Affairs came to a Committee on Veterans' Affairs hearing, which I am proud to serve on that committee, and they said that they are operating off what they referred to as an artificial budget. Has anyone ever heard of an artificial budget?

I had one colleague who was asking for when she was going to get a timeline of when we would have an actual budget. Unable to get an answer, she asked the follow-up question, not trying to embarrass the Department. She ended up asking the follow-up question of when she was going to get a timeline of when she was going to get a timeline of when we were going to have an actual budget.

When $800 million to $900 million ends up getting spent over budget, think of the hundreds of veterans in one county alone who could be helped for just $200,000. The money is there.

When the Secretary of the VA, when the Department of Veterans Affairs signs off on a relocation and incentive bonus for one of their own, whose position is in Washington, D.C., and she wants to go to Philadelphia, where her family is, and take over a position in charge of their Veterans Affairs hospital, she arranges a move to get the person, the gentleman in charge of the Philly VA hospital moved to Los Angeles. So now she gets the job she wanted. She is closer to family, and she gets herself a relocation and incentive bonus over $200,000.

The Office of Inspector General was outraged. They made a report recommending that this gets referred to the Department of Justice. The Department of Veterans Affairs was so outraged at this report from the inspector general that they ended up turning on their own inspector general, not referring anything to the Department of Justice.

One of the responsibilities of this House is oversight. You look at our Constitution. Article I is long, all the powers granted to Congress. Look at the powers of the President and the executive. It is short. Within that article, it talks about the oversight of this body, oversight to make sure that money is being spent appropriately, wisely, efficiently, and that people are held accountable when they are not doing the right thing on behalf of our veterans.

My bill would effectively and efficiently, as it has proven, provide 24/7 peer-to-peer mental health services by trained peer specialists for veterans, Reservists, and National Guardsmen wherever and whenever they are needed.

In addition, the Dwyer program will provide group and individual meetings to help foster a greater sense of inclusion and community amongst our veterans and, as I mentioned earlier, the program also addresses the many privacy concerns that veterans and other servicemembers have, as the Dwyer program representatives themselves will be veterans and would not be responsible to the Department of Veterans Affairs, therefore easing reporting concerns.

This is a bill that I have been working on since I took office in January 2015, working closely with the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs that I serve on, the American Legion, other VSOs, the National Disability Rights Network, various healthcare providers on Long Island, as well as my Veterans Advisory Panel, which is made up of representatives from veterans groups and veterans themselves.

I want to thank the Dwyer family for all the inspiration the sacrifice of Joseph has provided to so many in our community and our country, and for me included. There would not be a Dwyer program in the State of New York without the sacrifice of Joseph Dwyer.

I want to thank the county of Suffolk and specifically Tom Ronayne, who runs the Veterans Service Office, for the countless hours and the love that he and his team have put into this effort that we talk about here tonight on the House floor; to Chris Delaney, Joseph's friend, who has served our country as well as Tom has and has done so much through his work with 9-1-1 Veterans and also serving on my Veterans Advisory Panel.

I think of so many individuals who have given so much of their personal time to make this work. It is an honor to be here on behalf of that team advocating for this cause.

I unapologetically love my country. I believe that we live in the greatest Nation in the world. I will say that the highlight of my day during my time in Iraq was going back to my tent at the end of the day. There would be care packages waiting for us from strangers--8-year- olds, 9-year-olds from other corners of the country--with pictures of tanks and flags and soldiers, cards saying, ``Thank you for your service.'' The generation that came before me didn't get that treatment.

Just think. Right now we have servicemembers in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere who were 4 years old on 9/11. Their entire generation, it is all they know. They went through their entire life, from 4 years old to today, knowing exactly what they were signing up for; and actually knowing what they were signing up for gave them all the motivation and inspiration in the world they needed to put on that uniform.

It is a great feeling the first time you get to put on our Nation's uniform. For me, it wasn't a feeling that I had about myself when I looked in the mirror and I saw myself wearing a uniform. It was thinking of those generations who came before us, like our Nation's Greatest Generation. It is a challenge for our generation to earn the title of our Nation's next Greatest Generation. Maybe that generation is now serving here in this Chamber where 31 Members of the House are under the age of 40, including new Members who have come in who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

As I think about that 8-year-old and 9-year-old who wrote that card to that stranger they did not know and as we stand here today enjoying our freedoms, we think of those who are in harm's way--strangers--we don't know them--they are going to come back after seeing things none of us would ever want to see in our lives. And will we be there for them?

Mr. Speaker, there is one other bill that was filed in this Chamber called the Fairness for Veterans Act. An Iraq veteran from Long Island, Kristofer Goldsmith, received a general discharge, which is a less- than-honorable discharge.

As a result, he doesn't have the same veterans benefits that someone who is separated with an honorable discharge would receive. He came back with post-traumatic stress disorder. He attempted to take his own life.

When your post-traumatic stress disorder ends up leading to a discharge with a less-than-honorable discharge, isn't it our responsibility to ensure that they have the ability to diagnose and treat their post-traumatic stress disorder?

What if they are applying for an upgrade of their discharge status? Should we put the burden on that veteran to prove that the circumstances that led to their discharge is connected to their post- traumatic stress disorder? No.

This bill addresses that by putting the burden on the government to show that the circumstances weren't connected to what led to that discharge.

We must fight for all our veterans who are willing to fight for us. My bills will bring much-needed support--the Dwyer Program and the Fairness for Veterans Act--to millions of veterans, if you think of all those not only serving now, but in the future, and their families.

Passing these bills and others to address veterans' mental health is of the highest priority for many of us in this Chamber. I will work every day in Congress to spread awareness of these two bills and gather cosponsors and the support of veterans groups and mental health organizations from all across the country so that we pass this bill as soon as possible.

One last word about our families. We often say thank you to our veterans, as we should. We say thank you to our first responders, our law enforcement, our volunteer firefighters, our EMTs.

There are so many people who try to give back and who believe in service because they love their community, their State, their country. They want to give back. They want to leave this place better than they found it.

When I was in Iraq this past Christmas, I met the Command Sergeant Major for the 82nd Airborne Division. He is on his 11th deployment. I spoke earlier about that veteran who was 4 years old on 9/11. We also have that Command Sergeant Major of the 82nd Airborne Division who was on his 11th deployment.

My daughters were born 14\1/2\ weeks early. They were less than a pound and a half when they were born. They spent their first 3\1/2\ months in the hospital. After they came out of the hospital--I was stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, at the time--I came across this woman who had three sets of triplets. She lost one from each set. All six of her kids had special needs.

Her shopping cart was full. Her husband was on another deployment to Iraq. With a smile on her face, with a very positive attitude, she is telling my wife and I all the resources that were available to us on Fort Bragg so that we could be better parents.

That was the last time my wife or I would ever have the nerve to feel sorry for ourselves for what we were going through with our daughters. They came home with about a dozen medications and heart monitors. They were going through a hard time.

But this woman, with her husband on another deployment, her shopping cart full, with six special needs kids with her as she is walking through the Fort Bragg commissary, with that positive attitude and a smile on her face, helping us be better parents, I realized that, when she was going to go home, no one was going to be waiting with an outstretched hand and a hug and say: Thank you for your service.

These bills and this effort tonight are for our veterans and their families in need, and it is the way that we give back. This is how to say a proper thank you.

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