I want to thank you for the leadership you have shown on the issue of veterans' mental health care and for hosting this field hearing today.

A field hearing is an opportunity to bring Congress to Cincinnati, and I am pleased that the Subcommittee on Health will hear directly from the veterans, the family members of veterans, the service officers, and the community providers of…

If you would, everyone, I would like for us to bow our heads and let us take a moment to remember those who lost their lives in yesterday's tragic Washington Navy Yard attack.

Taking care of our troops is not just a nice thing to say and not just a nice thing to do. It is our obligation to do so.

I also would like to reiterate what the others have said about the work that you are doing to try and help our troops and subsequent veterans make the transition.

H.R. 1305 serves a simple purpose: to clarify eligibility for the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program (HVRP).

We should not let Washington bureaucracy stand in the way of assisting those who need help the most.

I appreciate your approach of servicemember for life.

I would like to go back a little bit further in the whole process of transition from being a member of the military to being enrolled in the VA.

It seems to me when I talk to veterans, and I am a veteran, that there is a wall, that when they leave the military that there is a wall and they have to start over when it comes to transitioning into the Veterans Administration.

This legislation will help homeless veterans find housing and meaningful employment and elevate themselves out of poverty into self-sufficiency.