Traumatic Brain Injury Health Enhancement And Long-Term Support Act Of 2007
Floor Speech
TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY HEALTH ENHANCEMENT AND LONG-TERM SUPPORT ACT OF 2007 -- (House of Representatives - May 23, 2007)
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Mr. WELCH of Vermont. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the Veterans' Affairs Committee, the openness of that committee, to let anyone with a good idea to help veterans to come in and have an opportunity to do that. Mr. Filner, Mr. Michaud, and, of course, Mr. Buyer and Mr. Miller, thank you.
Rural Americans have always served the Nation's armed services, National Guard and Reserves in very great numbers. In fact, though only 19 percent of the Nation lives in rural America, 44 percent of the current U.S. military recruits come from rural areas, and nearly one-third of those who died in Iraq are from small towns and communities across the Nation, Vermont very much among them.
And unfortunately, access to health care for many of our veterans in rural areas is limited by mileage, distance and just the difficulty of transportation. Especially true, the provision of mental health care in rural settings has historically been a challenge for all health care systems and providers, including the VA. And therefore, what we recognize in this legislation is that we need to help the VA develop innovative solutions to address the need for mental health services in remote areas, TBI being the big injury that's been discussed by my colleagues.
This legislation takes a significant step towards improving the mental health services available to geographically isolated veterans. It creates a pilot program where at least two mobile vet centers will provide readjustment counseling and mental health services to veterans in at least five Veterans Integrated Service Networks that have the highest concentration of rural veterans.
One of these covers New England and my home State of Vermont. These mobile vet centers will also provide information and outreach concerning veterans benefits and, when practicable, assistance with claims for benefits.
Rural individuals and their families have strong bonds and ties to their communities. These mobile vet centers will allow veterans to stay in their communities and prevent endless hours of car rides for the care they receive.
I urge support and passage of this legislation and thank the committee for its indulgence.
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