Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2026

Floor Speech

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Mr. BERGMAN. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition, although I am not opposed to the amendment.

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Mr. BERGMAN. Mr. Chairman, I thank my dear friend and fellow PATH Caucus co-chair, Congressman Correa, for his work on this amendment.

Washington, D.C., has built its success on good partnerships, especially across the aisle, on issues that benefit all of our Americans, not just a few.

I rise in strong support of this amendment, which directs the Veterans Administration to begin preparing for the rollout of breakthrough treatments for veterans battling PTSD, depression, and substance abuse disorders.

President Trump's first administration took a bold and necessary step by granting breakthrough therapy status to MDMA and psilocybin acknowledging their potential to transform mental health care.

Last December, the VA followed suit funding its first psychedelic- assisted therapy study in over 60 years. That was a critical milestone, but research alone is not enough.

Without a plan to turn findings into frontline care, we risk failing the very people this research is meant to help: our veterans.

We know the stakes. Too many servicemembers come home bearing invisible wounds. While traditional treatments work for some, far too many are left cycling through ineffective medications, suffering in silence, or worse, giving up entirely.

Emerging VA studies involving MDMA and psilocybin show remarkable potential not just for improvement but for truly lasting healing. They offer hope, but hope alone doesn't heal.

Washington has a bad habit of funding studies without ever building the systems needed to implement the results. We cannot afford to repeat that cycle here.

This amendment sends a clear message to the VA: Don't just study. Prepare. Prepare to implement new therapies and newfound ways to improve the lives of veterans now, not 5 or 10 years from now.

That means identifying the clinical infrastructure needed to deliver these treatments, training and certifying providers, and launching pilot programs to bring these therapies from the lab into real world care settings. Again, we can't wait 5 or 10 years while veterans continue to suffer.

Every day we delay is a day someone loses hope or their life.

If there is a treatment that works, we have a responsibility to be ready to deliver it. This isn't about politics. It is about promises kept. We owe our veterans more than research. We owe them results. We owe them implementation. This amendment moves us one step closer to delivering.

I urge all of my colleagues to support this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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