Kendrick Meek: “During the break, I took the privilege of going out to Camp Pendleton in California. As you go through the gate off of…”

“During the break, I took the privilege of going out to Camp Pendleton in California. As you go through the gate off of I-5, there is a billboard that is there, like you would see out in front of a drugstore or something, but it is an electronic billboard and it talks about if you need counseling. They have folks coming back every 4 months or so, some folks who have gone on their third and fourth tour. Think about it. You have families that live on that base. You have individuals the age of 18 or 19 years old, just single, that are living there. I had an opportunity to go through a simulator there at Camp Pendleton like you are in an Iraqi village or in a city, in Baghdad, in Fallujah. I have walked the streets of Fallujah. Mr. Altmire and I have done it. Mr. Ryan and I have been to Iraq on another trip. The ground, the structure, the folks dressed as though you are in Baghdad, it is a true simulation, and they have gunfire and IEDs and all of these things kind of going off in this simulator. Just walking through that was an experience for me, and that was just an enactment of what could happen or what should happen and giving our troops, our Marines, units going through there, a real flavor of what is going on. I can imagine being in the situation. I knew that I could walk out, the sun will be shining, it will be California weather.”