Political Quotes

“I want to thank Chairman Wolf and Ranking Member Fattah and their staffs for working with me and my staff and with other Members on a bipartisan basis to support this and similar amendments. Mr. Chairman, this amendment would increase funding for Veterans Treatment Courts by $1 million. It does not cut the Census Bureau, however, to do it. With the additional funds provided by the amendment, a total of $6 million would be available for Veterans Treatment Courts in fiscal year 2015. Our Nation's heroes are returning home from more than a decade of war, including from the longest war in American history, in Afghanistan. Upon their return, they bear the visible and the invisible wounds of deployment. Substance abuse, posttraumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury--various disabilities--and various mental health disabilities can lead our returning heroes often down a difficult and lonely road in their attempts to transition to civilian life. Twenty percent of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder or from major depression. One in six battles with substance abuse. Left undiagnosed or untreated, these illnesses can result in an encounter with the justice system. Worse yet, these illnesses can also lead to suicide, which veterans commit at twice the rate of the civilian population.…”