Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the passion and the articulate response of my colleague. I have had the honor to serve with him, and we agree on the vulnerability of veterans. In fact, a year-plus ago, we tried to move the IMPROVE Act through the Committee on Veterans' Affairs to try to look at different ways to provide opportunities to bring veterans into the VA healthcare system so we could identify them and treat their addiction. It wasn't necessarily about the research of the product. It was the research of the veteran as a whole, the veteran's vulnerability. Mr. Speaker, it was painful in the committee setting to have the IMPROVE Act disapproved when, at the same time, that same committee authorized equine therapy. As Dr. Phil Roe said at the time, this a first for the Committee on Veterans' Affairs. We have not allowed people to treat veterans, but we are allowing horses to treat veterans. The point is, we are looking to do something here via this amendment that does not solve an existing problem. We need to have the outreach, the research, but we also need to have the human side to make sure that we connect all the dots for the betterment of the veterans' mental health. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.”