Political Quotes

“I am honored to join my colleagues today in recognizing the Department of Veterans Affairs' National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, PTSD, as their month-long PTSD awareness campaign comes to a close and in reflecting on our participation in the third annual National PTSD Awareness Day. I thank Senator Conrad for introducing the resolution to honor Army National Guard SSG Joe Biel who suffered from PTSD and tragically took his own life in April 2007 after returning from his second tour in Iraq. All this month, we draw attention to PTSD which affects millions of Americans at some point in their lives. As chairman of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, I am especially concerned with the impact that PTSD has had on our Nation's servicemembers and veterans. The number of veterans treated by the Department of Veterans Affairs, VA, for PTSD or related symptoms has reached 475,000 and there are likely more cases that go unreported, undiagnosed, or untreated each year. In fact, as the drawdown of Afghanistan troops continues, we can only expect those numbers to follow the steady rise previously reported. VA and the Department of Defense, DoD, need to be ready now. This unpreparedness is a tragedy. Whether the wounds they return home with are visible or invisible, no veteran should be left to face their injuries alone, and I am committed to seeing that they never have to. Already, we have seen a change in how VA and the DoD treat PTSD.…”