Congressman
Henry E. Brown, Jr.

During this week’s Veteran’s Subcommittee on Health, Ranking Republican, Congressman Henry E. Brown Jr. (R-SC) made the following statement on Veteran mental healthcare:

“Thank you Mr. Chairman.  I appreciate your holding this hearing today.

Mental health is a critical component of a person’s well-being.  And, essential to the mission of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to care for those who have borne the battle is to effectively intervene and care for the invisible wounds of war. 

The psychological toll of war is not always apparent and sadly has not always received the attention it should.  However, I think we can all agree that the VA has come a long way, especially in the past few years, to improve mental health services and encourage veterans in need of care to get help. 

Even though significant progress has been made, there is no doubt that we must still do more.  As we continue to hear about veterans facing barriers and service gaps.  We must ensure that if a veteran seeks help, that veteran gets the right care at the right time.    

In the past decade, we have made a substantial investment in VA mental health, increasing funding by eighty-one percent, from $2.1 billion in fiscal year 2001 to no less than $3.8 billion in fiscal year 2009.  That is why it was very disturbing when the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported in November of 2006 that the VA had not allocated all the available funding for the mental health initiative.  It is our responsibility to see that funding we provide is spent as intended – to support a complete array of mental health prevention, early intervention and rehabilitation programs for our nation’s veterans. 

I look forward to hearing from our witness and this opportunity to take a good look at where we stand in taking care of the mental health needs of our veterans.
With that, Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.”  

Posted by Brown Staff (04-30-2009, 01:39 PM) filed under Veterans

 

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