Amendment to the Veterans' Child Care Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. HARDER of California. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of my bipartisan amendment to the Veterans' Access to Child Care Act, which I sponsored with my colleagues from New York, Antonio Delgado and Elise Stefanik.

Our amendment guarantees that if our veterans suffer a mental health crisis, such as one caused by PTSD or depression, childcare for their kids is covered during the crisis.

Let me tell you why this is so important to me and the veterans in our community.

A few weeks ago, I visited the Stanislaus County Veterans Service Office and I spoke to multiple veterans suffering with mental health problems. A veteran in my district told me PTSD was his invisible injury.

Roughly 20 percent of our veterans who served in Iraq or Afghanistan suffer from depression, PTSD, or traumatic brain injury. That is triple the national average, and it affects our communities in numerous ways. For example, in my district we struggle with veteran homelessness.

So, today, we are doing something about it. This bipartisan amendment helps ease the pain of mental health emergencies for our veterans and makes sure their kids are taken care of.

By passing this amendment, we can show our veterans, whether they are from Stanislaus County, Essex County, or Ulster County, that we can actually work together in a bipartisan manner to give them the respect and honor they have earned.

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