Help for Our Returning Servicemen and Servicewomen

Floor Speech

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Mr. CARTER of Georgia. Madam Speaker, this afternoon, I am pleased to join many of my colleagues to discuss the crucial need to improve access to critical mental health resources for veterans battling post- traumatic stress disorder, PTSD, and traumatic brain injury, TBI.

Georgia's First Congressional District, which I have the honor and privilege of representing, has a strong presence from each branch of the military, with 61,000 Active Duty servicemembers.

We are home to four major military bases: Fort Stewart, Hunter Army Airfield, Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base, and Moody Air Force Base.

My district is also home to over 50,000 veterans. Approximately 19,000 of these veterans are post-9/11 veterans, 14,000 are Gulf war veterans, 15,000 are Vietnam war veterans, 1,800 are Korean war veterans, and nearly 200 are World War II veterans.

Suicide is a major issue, not just within Georgia's First District, but one across our entire Nation as well.

The Department of Veterans Affairs reports that an estimated 20 veterans a day commit suicide. Madam Speaker, that is totally unacceptable. Twenty servicemembers, 20 veterans a day committing suicide. It is a sad thought that 20 of our veterans and servicemembers are taking their own lives after returning home.

Even worse, a recent study released this past summer by the Costs of War Project found that servicemembers and veterans are four times more likely to have committed suicide than those who lost their lives in combat. This is an epidemic.

We are losing more veterans on our home front than we have fighting the global war on terrorism. It affects not only the veterans suffering from mental stress but their families, friends, and loved ones they leave behind.

The Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that 11 to 20 percent of veterans who deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom will have PTSD in a given year, compared to veterans of Desert Storm and Vietnam, who will suffer from PTSD at a rate of 12 and 30 percent, respectively.

As many as 23 percent of combat veterans who have returned home from Iraq and Afghanistan have come back with a traumatic brain injury. The reason why these statistics are so alarming is the increased risk factors veterans with PTSD and TBI have for committing suicide.

Veterans who suffer from PTSD are four times more likely to commit suicide than those veterans without PTSD, while veterans with a TBI are twice as likely to commit suicide than those without one.

That is why I stand here today with my colleagues and pledge we work together in passing crucial legislation needed to improve access to critical mental health resources for our veterans.

One critical piece of legislation that I was proud to cosponsor is H.R. 1476, the PFC Joseph P. Dwyer Peer Support Program Act, which has been offered by my friend and colleague, Representative Lee Zeldin. This bill will expand veteran peer-to-peer support programs nationally and help veterans suffering from PTSD and TBI. It is imperative that veterans receive the care they need and to prevent this ongoing crisis.

Over 60 percent of the veterans that died by suicide in 2018 did not visit the VA in the year of their death or the previous year. Again, over 60 percent of the veterans that died by suicide in 2018 did not visit the VA in the year of their death or the previous year.

While the VA offers different types of treatment for veterans who are battling with PTSD and TBI, we need to ensure that veterans are aware of the programs available to them and remind them that they are not alone.

That is also why earlier this month I cosigned a letter led by my friend Representative David Joyce to Secretary McDonough. This letter urged the VA to develop a comprehensive plan to connect veterans of the war in Afghanistan and the global war on terrorism to essential VA benefits and services as soon as possible.

As I mentioned, Georgia's First Congressional District is home to a large military and veteran community. We have several veteran nonprofit organizations who focus on providing peer-to-peer support for veterans who suffer from PTSD.

The PFC Joseph P. Dwyer Peer Support Program Act will ensure that all veterans have access to a safe and confidential peer-to-peer platform. I wholeheartedly believe this will help lower the number of veterans who commit suicide in our country each day.

One death is too many.

Madam Speaker, I thank my friend from New York for organizing this today. His efforts are appreciated, they are recognized, and we thank him for that.

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