Steve Stivers: “I thank the chairman and the folks on the committee for their great work on this bill. I stand today to support the bill…”

“I thank the chairman and the folks on the committee for their great work on this bill. I stand today to support the bill and also to recognize one of the sections is the Veterans Dog Therapy Act, which was rolled into H.R. 3016. We lose 22 of our former servicemembers every day to suicide. This legislation will create a pilot program at three to five of our VA facilities, which is modeled on the Warrior Canine Connection program for getting access to service dogs for our veterans. Veterans enrolled in this program with service dogs have seen improvements in their PTSD and TBI-related symptoms. Additionally, it is shown that veterans who own service dogs have fewer symptoms of depression, better interpersonal skills, a lowered risk of substance abuse, and better overall mental health. While no one thing can help cure our suicide epidemic among veterans, this is a good start. I want to thank Tim Walz for being my cosponsor on this bill. I am glad it is rolled in. I urge my colleagues to support this provision as well as the entire bill.”