Sheila Jackson Lee: “This is an appropriate and wonderful statement of two distinguished Members of Congress, the chairman and ranking member…”

“This is an appropriate and wonderful statement of two distinguished Members of Congress, the chairman and ranking member of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, and I associate myself with their words on how crucial this legislation is, and what an important statement the Veterans' Affairs Committee is making: that there is no party affiliation when it comes to saving the lives of our men and women who put on the uniform. To the author of this bill, Mr. Walz, as I chatted with him on the floor, I indicated to him that just this weekend I met for hours with two wounded warriors, both of them having experience with PTSD, both of them being challenged about the transition into civilian life, both of them knowing of this legislation, feeling left out and deprived that it did not, despite the valiant effort of this House, pass in the last Congress. So let me congratulate all of you for recognizing that this is a crucial, lifesaving element of the men and women that we stand and admire and love. Every day, 22 veterans take their lives, but it is 8,000 a year. And if I might say, Texas walks alongside of Florida and other States in having the highest number of returning vets. Two million served in Iraq and Afghanistan across the Nation. Now, one-third, 600,000, have experienced traumatic brain injury and PTSD.…”