Veterans' Access to Child Care Act

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. GOLDEN. Mr. Chair, I want to start, first of all, by thanking the chair and ranking member of the committee, Chairman Takano and Ranking Member Roe. I appreciate their work on this bill and the committee bringing this forward so early on in the year.

I also want to thank Congresswoman Ann Kuster for cosponsoring this amendment.

I offer this as one of many veterans who has depended on VA mental health services. Like so many other veterans, I was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress after my service in Afghanistan and Iraq.

When I returned home to Maine after completing my service, I struggled a bit. It took me over a year to accept that I actually needed help of any kind, but when I did finally get to that point, one thing that helped me was readjustment counseling at a local vet center.

Readjustment counseling is another term for mental health services that help veterans and their families transition from the battlefield to civilian life. Readjustment counseling helped me to better understand that the physical and emotional reactions I had returning from Iraq were, in fact, normal. Once I understood this, it became easier for me to deal with these reactions head-on.

I know firsthand how easy it is for real life to get in the way of seeking the mental healthcare that a veteran needs. You will make almost any excuse that might come your way--or reasonable excuse, sometimes--to avoid seeking these services, so I think it is important to knock down those barriers and make it as easy as possible for veterans to access the ability to go to an appointment.

Knowing how difficult it can be sometimes when life gets in the way, I am not surprised that 10 percent of veterans have had to cancel a necessary VA appointment because they didn't have childcare. When you consider that number, it is clear that veterans and their families sometimes need access to childcare so they can get to their mental healthcare appointment.

This bill, the Veterans' Access to Childcare Act, makes that childcare available to vets and their families when they need it.

None of my fellow veterans should have to choose between caring for their children and getting the mental healthcare that they need; and, just like I did, many veterans need readjustment counseling. My amendment makes sure that readjustment counseling services are covered under this bill.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. GOLDEN. Mr. Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. Takano).

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. GOLDEN. Mr. Chair, I also want, in closing, to urge all of our colleagues to support this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. GOLDEN. Mr. Chair, I also want to thank Congressman Roe for his service as well, and I appreciate the gentleman recognizing that for me as well.

Having already thanked, with the previous amendment, the chairman and ranking member, I want to thank Congressman Brindisi for cosponsoring this amendment. The gentleman comes from a place similar to mine, a very rural area, which leads me to the subject of the amendment.

Too often in this country, I think that Congress can make laws that benefit cities and urban areas without understanding fully how those laws impact rural communities. I represent Maine. It is one of our country's most rural States.

Almost a quarter of all veterans in the United States, about 4.7 million, return from active military careers to reside in a rural community where they experience the many rural healthcare challenges that are only intensified by combat-related injuries and illnesses.

According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, 58 percent of rural veterans are enrolled in the VA healthcare system, significantly higher than the 37 percent enrollment rate of urban veterans. In rural areas, basic levels of healthcare or preventive care may not be available to support residents' long-term health and well-being.

Compared to urban areas, rural communities tend to have higher poverty rates, more elderly residents, and fewer physician practices, hospitals, and other health delivery services.

The Veterans' Access to Child Care Act would help our veterans and their families get the care that they need, but the program has to work just as well for veterans in rural areas as it does for veterans in urban regions. I offer a second amendment today that would help ensure this new program works for veterans living in rural areas.

The amendment would require the VA to study whether the VA childcare program is as effective and accessible for veterans in rural and very rural areas so that the program can later be improved upon if it falls short in helping rural veterans.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. GOLDEN. Mr. Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. Takano).

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. GOLDEN. Mr. Chair, I would like to end, again, by urging all of my colleagues to support this amendment as well, and I want to thank the chairman, the ranking member, and the entire committee and Rules Committee for entertaining these two very important amendments.

Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source