Pat Ryan: “I thank the chair for yielding. I thank Congressman Lamb for his leadership on this bill. I thank Congressman Roe for…”

“I thank the chair for yielding. I thank Congressman Lamb for his leadership on this bill. I thank Congressman Roe for his leadership on this. I want to also thank Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz on our appropriations bill. We continue to invest into the whole veteran. I think it has been articulated here that we want the VA system to be the most innovative system that we have, and I believe that the Whole Veteran Act is a step in that direction. I have been researching and writing about some of these integrative health techniques around meditation, around yoga, around nutrition, around having health coaches, and to watch these vets transform after years and years and years of suffering is the most touching, the most inspirational thing we can do. I have been in yoga classes where the teacher is a vet who, just years before, was kicking down doors in Iraq. Double amputee, and he is teaching yoga to veterans, and they are healing from post-traumatic stress. This, to me, is what the government is all about. How do we get these government programs, these government facilities on the cutting edge, not just in healthcare, but all across the board? That is what this act is doing. It is going to save us money. The default position for vets should not be how many prescription drugs can we get them on. This is going to save us money. This is getting these vets their lives back.…”