Howard P. "Buck" McKeon National Defense Authorization Act For Fiscal Year 2015

Floor Speech

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Madam Chair, first of all, I want to thank Chairman McKeon for his service on this committee and in this body as a colleague; and quite frankly, on behalf of my wife Penny and I, as military parents, thank you for your service to those who serve.

I want to thank you, also, for allowing me to discuss my amendment and have it as part of this en bloc. My amendment will institute a preliminary mental health assessment for all incoming military recruits. A recent Army study found:

Nearly one in five Army soldiers enters the service with a mental disorder, and nearly half of all soldiers who have tried suicide first attempted it before enlisting.

In March, Representative Tim Ryan of Ohio, and I introduced the bipartisan H.R. 4305, the Medical Evaluation Parity for Service Members Act of 2014, which is the exact language of this amendment.

This small but subsequent change to current law will bring mental health to parity with physical health during entrance screenings. A preliminary evaluation will also have the purpose of serving as a baseline to identify changes in behavioral health, including traumatic brain injury and/or posttraumatic stress injury throughout an individual's military career.

Protecting individual privacy was taken into the utmost consideration when putting this amendment together. While the MEPS Act is not a cure-all, it will be a significant step in further understanding a well-documented gap in behavioral health information that exists among our service branches; and of equal importance, it will assist with the mental wellness of our servicemembers and veterans.

Since introduction, the MEPS Act has garnered over 35 bipartisan cosponsors and the support of over 40 major military, veteran, and health advocacy groups.

I thank all those who supported this legislation and worked with me and my staff to put this together. I ask for your support as we pass this important piece of legislation.

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