Help for Our Returning Servicemen and Servicewomen
Floor Speech
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Mr. ZELDIN. Madam Speaker, our servicemen and-women have sacrificed so much in their courageous fight for our exceptional Nation and our freedoms. Unfortunately, when our veterans return home from the battlefield, too often they find that their fight has just begun.
My home county in New York, Suffolk, boasts one of the highest concentrations of veterans in the country, and we pride ourselves on our rich history and commitment to serving our Nation's veterans.
The Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that approximately 20 veterans per day take their own life, oftentimes plagued with post- traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury.
One of those suffering was PFC Joseph Dwyer, an Iraq war veteran from Mount Sinai, New York. As an Army combat medic, PFC Dwyer was the face of the Iraq war. In 2003, this photo next to me was taken of Joe carrying an injured Iraqi child to safety, and it went viral worldwide.
Unfortunately, when he came back home to Long Island he returned with the mental wounds of war, and after years of struggling, he lost his battle with PTSD in 2008. It is important to note that Joe didn't commit suicide. He was seeking temporary relief from his pain, and his last words were: I don't want to die.
Understanding that PFC Dwyer was just one of the local veterans struggling, I created the PFC Joseph P. Dwyer Veteran Peer Support Program as a New York State senator in 2012. The Dwyer program is modeled as a peer-to-peer support program for veterans struggling with PTSD and TBI.
This model provides a safe, confidential, and educational platform where all veterans are welcome to meet with other veterans in support of each other's successful transition to post-service life and seeks to build vet-to-vet relationships that enhance positive change.
The Dwyer program also incorporates a variety of therapeutic activities, such as horse training and fishing that provide for common experiences, learning, and personal growth.
Suffolk County served as one of four test counties in New York, and since then, with the dedication and hard work of so many exceptional men and women, the program has successfully expanded to more than 25 counties across New York, saving lives and assisting tens of thousands of New York veterans battling PTSD and TBI.
The program has been so successful that the New York State budget for fiscal year 2022 included a 22 percent increase in funding for the Dwyer program. The way the program is organized, by providing grants to localities, it has allowed each county to customize its individual program to fit individual needs and resources they have available while running an efficient and effective program.
Each county only receives between $100,000 and $300,000 from the State, and what they manage to do with that money is incredible.
Its continued track record of success is why I introduced bipartisan legislation, H.R. 1476, the PFC Joseph P. Dwyer Peer Support Program Act, to expand the Dwyer program nationally by authorizing the VA Secretary to make grants available to State and local entities, to carry out peer-to-peer mental health programs all across our Nation and help ensure that all of our Nation's veterans have access to the support they need.
This important legislation has earned the support of 14 veteran advocacy organizations, including: The American Legion, Military Veterans Advocacy, Blinded Veterans Association, Military Order of the Purple Heart, American Ex-Prisoners of War, Paralyzed Veterans of America, Catholic War Veterans, New York City Veterans Alliance, Jewish War Veterans, the Fleet Reserve Association, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, Wounded Warrior Project, AMVETS, and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
It has also been cosponsored by 36 of my colleagues, both Republicans and Democrats, some of whom we will hear from this evening about the importance of this legislation and improving the resources and care we provide to our Nation's heroes as they make the difficult transition to civilian life.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. Costa), who is a leader in this effort fighting for our veterans and is a cosponsor of H.R. 1476.
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Mr. ZELDIN. Madam Speaker, I thank Congressman Costa so much for his leadership and advocacy. It is so important that from coast to coast every veteran in the United States of America knows that there are people in their community who would drop everything at a moment's notice in the middle of the night to provide that love and support to get them through their difficult times. Every veteran should have access to a program like this, and I appreciate the gentleman's leadership.
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Mr. ZELDIN. Madam Speaker, Congressman Mike Garcia is another cosponsor of H.R. 1476. He was a Navy fighter pilot. We are not going to hold that against him. We are still just getting close here to an Army-Navy game.
But what we find is that different generations serving in different branches and different conflicts, whether it is in peacetime or wartime, we have so many veterans who have stepped up. Congressman Mike Garcia sure has done his part. It is an honor to serve with him now here in the House.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. Garcia), who is a cosponsor of H.R. 1476.
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Mr. ZELDIN. Madam Speaker, the gentleman just said something that really struck with me as he reflects on people he served with who lost their lives due to PTSD.
I have actually known more people in the military who have lost their lives due to PTSD than have lost their lives in combat. When we were deciding whether or not to create a program like this and we created a veterans' advisory panel to design the proposal, one of the members was someone named John Jennings. Right before we had our first meeting, John lost his battle due to PTSD, and we named it the John P. Jennings Veterans' Advisory Panel. But these stories for many post-9/11 veterans--and it was called something else in decades and generations past, it seems like each time there has been a conflict it has had a different name--so many veterans have been impacted actually losing more friends due to PTSD than in combat.
My colleague from New York, Chris Jacobs, who is a cosponsor of H.R. 1476, comes from a part of the State that I actually had just visited. They have successful Dwyer models now in his region, too. Veterans of all generations and proud veteran supporters all throughout Chris Jacobs' district are looking to find ways to tell the story of how the Dwyer program is working for them and in other areas looking for ways to expand it to go further. Every minute since he has been here, Chris Jacobs has been an outstanding leader for our veterans and our veteran community. Of course, he is cosponsoring this legislation because he doesn't waste any opportunity to do everything in his power to help fight for vets.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Jacobs).
Mr. JACOBS of New York. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his service and sacrifice to our country.
Madam Speaker, I rise today in support, as well, of H.R. 1476 to allocate more resources to our American heroes struggling with post- traumatic stress disorder, PTSD, and traumatic brain injury.
Madam Speaker, as we become more aware of mental health, we must ensure that we make every possible effort to help those who served our Nation and are now struggling. It is estimated that 11 to 20 percent of veterans suffer from PTSD, and almost 500,000 veterans have suffered a TBI in the past 20 years.
These injuries were incurred protecting our Nation and defending our freedom across numerous wars. Certainly this conversation surrounding mental health has gained a new national spotlight in the past number of months as veterans witnessed the chaotic and reckless withdrawal from Afghanistan. My office has received numerous calls from veterans in my district who are deeply disturbed by the events we have witnessed, and many are experiencing new grief and pain.
Similarly, it was reported that the veterans crisis hotline saw a recent surge in both texts and calls from veterans struggling with mental health around the Nation.
There is no greater honor or act of selflessness than to sign up to serve our Nation in our military. We have a moral and sworn obligation to protect those who sacrificed protecting us, and we have an obligation to ensure any veteran can access the resources they need.
I proudly cosponsored the PFC Joseph P. Dwyer Peer Support Program Act as one solution to this complex problem. I would say I knew full well how well this program operated as a member of the State senate trying to carry on the great work and the creation of Congressman Zeldin when he was in the State senate. I want to thank him for his leadership on this issue and carrying this forward to the Federal level so more areas can benefit from it.
Supporting our veterans is a bipartisan issue we can all get behind. There is no room to debate this issue, only room for action to help our American heroes.
Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in cosponsoring H.R. 1476, and I urge this body to move efficiently to provide more mental health and brain injury resources to hundreds of thousands of veterans across the Nation who desperately need it. I am grateful for this opportunity.
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Mr. ZELDIN. Madam Speaker, Congressman Jacobs, as he mentioned, was a member of the New York State Senate, and every single year it was a budget battle to get this money in that final budget. Thanks to Chris' efforts working on both sides of the aisle in both the New York State Senate and New York State Assembly, it didn't just continue to get funded but it expanded, and it is now in his region very successfully.
Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for being here and for his cosponsorship.
Congressman Madison Cawthorn with North Carolina's 11th District is a member of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee. He is a cosponsor of H.R. 1476. He is all in on that committee to fight for our veterans to make sure that the Department of Veterans Affairs is being run as effectively and efficiently as possible and there are a whole lot of Americans all across this country who know that as Madison Cawthorn has their back as a member of this committee. We are all proud of him and glad he is here in the House with us. We are honored to have him as a cosponsor.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Cawthorn).
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Mr. ZELDIN. Madam Speaker, I thank Congressman Cawthorn, and I am not surprised that he is a cosponsor of this bill. He very eloquently stated the need to think outside the box.
People go for help, and there are some people who just always thought, Congressman Rutherford, that the answer is just to provide a medication. They weren't thinking outside the box.
I remember people were showing up sick to PT. They would go to the infirmary complaining, and they were diagnosing Tylenol and codeine. You have a headache, Tylenol and codeine. You need knee surgery? Well, here is Tylenol and codeine. Whatever it was, it was just all over the base. It was the instinctive response.
I think, for a while, the Department of Veterans Affairs thought that that was the only answer.
We have a county sheriff who, in many ways, I look to him as the sheriff here in the House. He is also a cosponsor of H.R. 1476. He is someone who knows his purpose here in the House, a principled man, a fighter. His constituents are very lucky to have him in Florida's Fourth Congressional District. And he gets it.
That is why he has been all in fighting for veterans every day that he has been here.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Rutherford).
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Mr. ZELDIN. Madam Speaker, here, in the Halls of Congress, you hear millions, billions, trillions get thrown around, big dollar numbers. What has been so amazing is that a county gets $180,000, saving countless lives, seeing families staying together, people being able to stay in their jobs, and communities are stronger.
It is so efficient, and that, I think, is one of the keys of success because there are people in our communities who want to volunteer their specialties. There is a social worker, psychologist, psychiatrist. There is someone who wants to provide food to that barbecue, a venue for a meeting. They want to give back.
There are a lot of people I come across all the time who say that their only regret in life is that they never served. They wanted to serve and didn't do it, and that is their biggest regret in life. They are finding ways to serve.
The gentleman is stepping up in a huge way, and it is something that I would be excited to see in his congressional district in Florida.
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Mr. ZELDIN. Madam Speaker, I have seen that, too. There is a spouse out there who is seeing their loved one struggling with post-traumatic stress, and they don't know what to do to help. They are reaching out to the local veterans service office. They are reaching out to their local Dwyer program because they want to help their loved one. They want to keep their marriage together. They don't want everything to fall apart.
The specialty, the expertise here, is not just about providing that support and help to the servicemember. When one person serves in the military, just like you were a sheriff, when one person serves in law enforcement, the whole family serves. You come home with the mental wounds of war, and really, in a way, the whole family is experiencing the mental wounds of war.
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Mr. ZELDIN. Madam Speaker, I remember when I first got here to the House, and there was somebody with a national veterans service office who was advocating for peer-to-peer support. I asked this national commander what he had in mind, what he envisioned, what his model was for how to provide peer-to-peer support.
I wasn't trying to ask it as some type of a trick question, a gotcha question, but I realized, in his answer, he didn't really know. He knew that he was supposed to advocate for peer-to-peer support, but he didn't know exactly what that model was going to look like.
Then, over the course of these last few years, more of these national veterans service organizations have been looking at what is going on in New York. Now they come to the Halls of Congress and are testifying in front of the Veterans' Affairs Committee. They talk about peer support, and they specifically are citing the Dwyer program as that model.
I saw, at a place called the Warrior Ranch in Suffolk County, a veteran who is struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder be placed in this area with a wild horse that was just rescued. He had never interacted with horses before. Within minutes--he had some training as to how to understand what the horse is thinking, how to take charge, realizing that the horse is going to be testing you out a little bit as to who is in charge. He took charge of that situation, and he immediately developed this bond with this horse.
I was speaking to someone who barely survived his own struggle with post-traumatic stress. He is upstate New York. Through a similar program, he developed a bond with a horse, and it was so strong that the owner of this ranch would allow him to come in the middle of the night if he was having a bad night and spend some time with this horse. That was how he got through his tough time.
I mean, he is healthy. He is doing great. He is a leader in his community, with the veterans community specifically. And he credits that interaction he had with a horse.
Others, it is fly-fishing. Others, it is having access to a companion animal.
The answer is not just to medicate a person with mental health issues. You need to find other alternative ways to try to assist these men and women in need.
It is not just veterans, although here we are specifically talking about veterans with the mental wounds of war. A lot of the examples that could be provided of success with the Dwyer program can be replicated for others who are nonveterans who have mental health challenges in this country.
The Dwyer program has made a lifesaving impact in our State. I have received a few testimonials.
Danielle is an Army veteran enrolled in the Suffolk County Dwyer program. She stated:
I started the Dwyer program back in April 2020 because the internship program I was in was no longer an option during COVID-19. I was a single mother who was furloughed and attempting graduate school through virtual means, which was extremely taxing on my mental health.
The support group grew into a sisterhood of not only emotional and spiritual support but guidance and education on the resources available to us and that female veterans must continue to fight for their needs as a special population.
I owe everything to this magnetic group for being the positive guidance I needed to continue my service, complete my educational goals, and become employed at an agency that truly cares about veterans' special needs.
In Suffolk, that program is led by Thomas Ronayne and Marcelle Leis and a number of others. They are all in. They have dedicated their lives toward making it a huge success. They certainly impacted Danielle's life.
They also impacted Robert's life. He is a Navy veteran and a Suffolk County Dwyer program participant who said:
I was struggling with both substance abuse and use and thoughts of self-harm, as well as a suicide attempt.
This program, and those involved, helped me battle all this, and I now have over 5 years sober, a family, two degrees, and a new career.
Roger is a Marine Corps veteran, a Purple Heart recipient, and a Suffolk County Dwyer program participant. He said:
You have to be mentally ready to say to yourself, I need something. I need to reach out to somebody somewhere, because even though it takes a tremendous amount of courage and dedication to join the military, it takes just as much courage and dedication to be able to express that you have an issue with your life because of your experiences through the military. I am really happy for the Dwyer program because it gives us the outlet we need, because veterans only relate to other veterans.
Judy is from Suffolk County. She said:
I am a psychiatric RN with 33 years clinical experience. During that time, I have treated veterans with PTSD and traumatic brain injury. As these issues are long term, the problem has always been providing support after hospitalization. There have been no resources in the community until Dwyer came along.
Now there is a strong helping hand to support these heroes. But it needs to be expanded to accomplish more. Without it, veterans face repeated hospitalizations, resulting in premature and unnecessary deaths.
Arthur is a Vietnam veteran from Suffolk County. He said:
As a combat vet of the Vietnam war, I can relate to the need for the Dwyer program. When I returned home from Vietnam, there were no support services that I was aware of. I went from my duty station in Vietnam to CONUS in 3 days, no adjustment.
I am not alone, as there are many Vietnam vets that are suffering even today. I believe that not adjusting to civilian life sets back an individual's progress and assimilation back into society.
I will give you one last testimonial, and I would like to be able to introduce my friend, Buddy Carter from Georgia.
Anthony is a Suffolk County Dwyer program participant. He said: I have personally seen how veterans, myself being a disabled veteran included, show up to a meeting, and they are provided with food, drinks, and a safe and secure environment to share veteran-related issues with other veterans and receive positive, supportive feedback that significantly improves their quality of life. I am happy to support this program and be involved in any way possible.
Congressman Buddy Carter and I were elected in 2014. He is a friend. He is a great public servant. He has a number of specialties that bring diversity here to our Chamber. A number of times, based off of his civilian experiences in life, he has made letters, requests, and legislation all better and stronger when he has weighed in.
Madam Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Carter), who is my friend and a cosponsor of H.R. 1476.
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Mr. ZELDIN. Madam Speaker, I thank Congressman Buddy Carter of Georgia for being here and for cosponsoring this bipartisan bill. There are a lot of people on both sides of the aisle who have signed on, on this effort.
Congressman Carter has the expertise to understand what has been a longtime, conventional treatment, where doctors would just be prescribing a medication. The value of thinking outside the box has just saved so many lives. To be able to bring this program to Georgia, to Florida, to California, all across our entire Nation, would be enormous.
I want to thank all my colleagues who joined me here today in sharing stories of veterans they represent or served with during their time in the military, and some of their own experiences. I look forward to continuing to work with each of them to expand and improve access to lifesaving mental health resources for our veterans suffering from PTSD and TBI.
We are less than 2 months removed from the 20th anniversary of the 9/ 11 terror attacks and less than 3 months since the withdrawal of Afghanistan. The tragic events that unfolded in Afghanistan were hard for Americans to watch, including many Afghanistan vets who are speaking out.
What was interesting to note, and not surprising for many, as we are having our individual conversations, especially with the Afghan vets, the calls rose to the Veterans Crisis Line, online chats with the crisis line staff were up almost 40 percent, and texts to the crisis line rose by 98 percent.
For me, my life could be separated into two parts. I am 41 years old. Half of my life was before September 11, 2001; half of my life was after September 11, 2001. But what is so amazing about those who are currently serving, so many of them, and those who are contacting our offices looking for congressional nominations to go to a service academy, all they know is life post-September 11, 2001. They either weren't born yet or they are just too young to remember.
Everyone who is here in this Chamber now, every one of us probably vividly remembers exactly where we were on September 11, 2001. For these people who are signing up right now, to think that their whole life is everything we have seen post-9/11 and they still raise their hand and answer the call. We have a duty to look out for them, in some way to try to give back, because they are willing to give it all up in defense of us.
I want to thank all 14 of the veteran service organizations who have stepped up, the national commanders who come here to the Halls of Congress to talk about the PFC Joseph P. Dwyer program.
If you go back and look at the American Legion National Commander's testimony earlier this year in front of the House and Senate VA committees, he was advocating for the Dwyer program to be expanded nationally.
It is our duty to give back, to look out for our vets and our veteran families. PFC Joseph P. Dwyer left behind a young widow, a 2-year-old daughter, a proud family, and forever they should know that this country will never forget Joseph Dwyer's service and sacrifice. We are trying to turn it into as much of a positive as possible.
For anyone who is out there, any veteran in need, there is the Veterans Crisis Line to call and there are online chats. There are ways to reach out in your local community and nationally. Please reach out to your local Department of VA, at the very least, if you don't know of any other opportunities or resources available in your community.
There are people who live around the block from you who will drop everything in the middle of the night to help you, as I mentioned earlier. Don't give up. We have your back. We are so grateful for your service to our country. This is a great world, a great country that is worth fighting to protect and defend, and a life worth living.
Madam Speaker, I thank all of the cosponsors, and I yield back the balance of my time.
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