On the recordNovember 7, 2017
As the Nation celebrates Veterans Day this week, a day we honor those who served our country, I am happy to report the VA has made great strides in improving and assisting veterans with physical injuries. It struggled, however, to deal with many of the invisible injuries plaguing our veterans, like post- traumatic stress disorder. These invisible injuries ravage our Nation's veteran population, with an average of more than 20 veterans a day committing suicide. This is entirely unacceptable. We must work harder to look for real solutions to this crisis. That is why I am here today urging my colleagues to support the Puppies Assisting Wounded Servicemembers Act, also known as the PAWS Act. The PAWS Act will set up a 5-year pilot program in the VA to provide post-9/11 veterans suffering from PTSD with service dogs if other treatments have not been successful. Individuals suffering from PTSD experience emotional numbness, loneliness, nightmares, hypervigilance, and anxiety. However, traditional VA treatments are symptoms-based and often have side effects or fail to address the root of these issues. Service dogs, however, have no side effects. They can be used in tandem with other treatments. They can be trained to wake their owners from nightmares, create a buffer zone in large crowds, remind their owners to take their medication, and watch their owners' back to provide a sense of security and more.…
