Lee Zeldin: “I remember when I first got here to the House, and there was somebody with a national veterans service office who was…”

“I remember when I first got here to the House, and there was somebody with a national veterans service office who was advocating for peer-to-peer support. I asked this national commander what he had in mind, what he envisioned, what his model was for how to provide peer-to-peer support. I wasn't trying to ask it as some type of a trick question, a gotcha question, but I realized, in his answer, he didn't really know. He knew that he was supposed to advocate for peer-to-peer support, but he didn't know exactly what that model was going to look like. Then, over the course of these last few years, more of these national veterans service organizations have been looking at what is going on in New York. Now they come to the Halls of Congress and are testifying in front of the Veterans' Affairs Committee. They talk about peer support, and they specifically are citing the Dwyer program as that model. I saw, at a place called the Warrior Ranch in Suffolk County, a veteran who is struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder be placed in this area with a wild horse that was just rescued. He had never interacted with horses before. Within minutes--he had some training as to how to understand what the horse is thinking, how to take charge, realizing that the horse is going to be testing you out a little bit as to who is in charge. He took charge of that situation, and he immediately developed this bond with this horse.…”