Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2024

Floor Speech

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Mr. CRENSHAW. Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Crenshaw, I rise today to offer amendment No. 137, which takes the simple yet important step of directing the Defense Health Agency to report to Congress on options for allowing Active-Duty servicemembers to participate in VA psychedelic-assisted therapy clinical trials.

I repeat, these clinical trials are already happening in partnership with the VA, and there is no reason that we should not be looking at the benefits of this research for our men and women that are already currently serving our country actively.

Mr. Chair, I want to be really clear about why I am supporting this small step to research psychedelic-assisted therapy for Active-Duty servicemembers. This is not about legalization. This is not about recreational use. It is about honoring our promise to our military families and confronting the high incidence of suicide in the military and veteran community.

There is a reason for the high rate of suicide--it is the trauma of serving. There are more than 20 veterans who kill themselves every day and 27 percent of post-9/11 veterans are diagnosed with PTSD.

We have a crisis, and the idea that we wouldn't research potential breakthrough treatments is unacceptable. The status quo is inadequate and it won't stop servicemembers and veterans from committing suicide. I believe this research will.

I have good reason for believing that, so let's look at the data. The most recent phase III clinical trials with MDMA found that 86 percent of the study participants had reduced PTSD symptoms and 71 percent didn't even qualify as having PTSD anymore.

Most people hear the word psychedelics and think of Woodstock. This is not the 1960s LSD trip that many people might be imagining. Some groups are actively lobbying Congress--no, this is not the work of the devil.

It is not the work of the devil when this treatment is actually saving families and keeping families together. This therapy is supervised by medical practitioners, and it occurs with repeat treatments in a very controlled setting. Oftentimes, it is a one- or two-time treatment and follow-up results reveal that the positive effects continue for years, even after just one treatment.

These clinical trials are already changing the lives of people I know. I have so many close friends of mine who can say that they are alive today because of this treatment. Their marriages have survived because of this treatment. The idea that we wouldn't even research it-- that we would keep this out of the hands of people who need it is appalling, frankly.

We should be listening to these stories. They have come up on Capitol Hill multiple times. For the Members we say: We need to learn more. We don't know enough. Well, why would you get in the way of more research?

You haven't come and listened to these veterans and these servicemembers when they have come up and told their stories. They have come up many, many times. We shouldn't make them come up here and spill their guts anymore. We should listen to them and we should act on it.

Mr. Chair, I unapologetically support this research. We shouldn't think twice about it. We owe this to our servicemembers and we owe it to their families. This is a really small but a positive step in the right direction.

I think the VA and the Department of Defense need to coordinate on this research into this psychedelic-assisted therapy, and that is all this amendment does. I encourage my colleagues to support it, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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