Veteran Treatment Court Coordination Act of 2019
Floor Speech
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. CRIST. Mr. Speaker, after 9/11, thousands of America's best had to offer to sign up for our freedom. They served their country with honor to keep all of us here and our loved ones save. Many of these heroes suffered greatly with wounds that you can see and, in many cases, wounds that you cannot.
Too many veterans face mental and physical disabilities. Too many veterans come home without support structures. Too many veterans lack opportunities. And too many veterans self-medicate, find themselves in the criminal justice system, and are forgotten.
In 2008, the first veteran treatment court was established in Buffalo, New York. The idea is that veterans face unique challenges that require veteran-specific care.
While the VA can be an option for a veteran in crisis, including at the C.W. Bill Young Medical Center in my district, not every veteran in crisis goes to the VA, and if they do, they may not have somebody to check on them and make sure they are okay.
Veterans treatment courts are diversion programs. Working with justice outreach specialists at their local VA medical centers, social workers and counselors at the local level, and veterans service organizations, vet courts get nonviolent veterans who qualify into treatment and counseling instead of just locking them up.
After they complete the requirements, the veteran can even have their record expunged, preserving housing and employment opportunities.
Just over 10 years after the first court, there are now hundreds all around the country, including one in my home of Pinellas County, Florida.
Each vet court is different, starting in the community from scratch and coordinating the people and organizations that will help rehabilitate veterans in their program.
Congress, recognizing the importance of these courts in our districts, has provided funding for vet courts for a few years now, including a record $25 million in the House-passed Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill.
However, unlike other justice grant programs, like juvenile justice programs, there is still not adequate coordination at the Department of Justice to provide best practices, support, as well as technical assistance to communities that have vet court or want to start one.
The Veteran Treatment Court Coordination Act fixes this, establishing the Veteran Treatment Court Program in the Office of Justice Programs.
I am thankful to my colleagues on the Committee on Appropriations, of which I am a member, particularly the gentlewoman from New York, Chairwoman Lowey, and the gentleman from New York, Chairman Serrano, for their steadfast support of the veteran treatment court funding.
However, the Department of Justice, which administers the grants, needs an office dedicated to helping and guiding communities that want to access grants or want to set up their own veterans court.
I thank the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Stefanik) for her work over this past year, as well as the gentleman from New York, Chairman Nadler, and the gentlewoman from California, Chairwoman Bass, for their leadership on the Committee on the Judiciary, fighting for criminal justice reforms as well as diversion programs.
Lastly, I thank all the organizations, both veterans service organizations and criminal justice professionals, that have helped build support for this over the past 2 years and that have worked tirelessly in our districts to make veterans treatment courts so successful.
This includes the National Military and Veterans Alliance, the National Veterans Court Alliance, and the National District Attorneys Association, all of which have endorsed the legislation, along with 19 veteran groups total.
When a veteran suffering because of their service makes a mistake, we have a duty as a country to do all we can to give them the very best possible outcome. We have a duty to fight for those who fought for our freedoms.
Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to support this legislation.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source