Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, Agriculture, Rural Development, Energy and Water Development, Financial Services and General Government, Interior, Environment, Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Act, 2022

Floor Speech

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Mr. CORREA. Mr. Speaker, I also rise in strong support of this measure, and I also have the veterans very near and dear to my heart.

Mr. Speaker, 15 years ago, I started my quest to help veterans deal with those invisible wounds that they bring back from the battlefield, PTSD and other mental issues that they bring back with them and carry with them on a day-to-day basis.

As the chair of the California Committee on Veteran Affairs, I held hearings. I kept getting veterans saying: We prefer cannabis to opioid medication. We want the VA to give us cannabis. We don't want opioids.

I soon discovered that there was no medical research anywhere to determine what cannabis was good for and what it was not good for.

Today, as a Member of Congress, I have attempted to pass legislation year after year mandating that the VA do research, conduct research into the medical benefits of cannabis, and we scored zero.

This amendment is simple. It is about saying let's do medical research into the benefits of cannabis and other drugs that our veterans are taking that they say are good for them. Let's not take away from our veterans the ability to have the medications they prefer.

Mr. Speaker, I strongly support this measure. Let's do it for our veterans. Let's do it for their welfare. Let's do it for scientific research.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to please support this measure.

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