[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 111 (Thursday, July 24, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Page S9900]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




THIRTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS NATIONAL 
               CENTER FOR POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER

  Mr. GRAHAM of Florida. Mr. President, I rise today to point out the 
accomplishments of the Department of Veterans Affairs National Center 
for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder for fiscal year 2002. As spelled out 
in its 13th annual report, the Center for PTSD has made significant 
strides in the treatment of this trauma--steps that became particularly 
meaningful following September 11, 2001.
  Born during a time of crisis, the Center was created just months 
before the Loma Prieta, CA, earthquake in 1989. That event's aftermath 
became the Center's first real emergency-response experience. Since 
then, the Center has been called in time and time again to treat the 
mental trauma resulting from disasters, including the crisis brought on 
in my own state of Florida following Hurricane Andrew.
  Though the Center's primary focus has always been and continues to be 
theis country's veterans, the knowledge and expertise gained through 
work in the VA system has proved to be invaluable in all areas related 
to disaster mental health. This became all too clear in the weeks and 
months following September 11, 2001. The Center for PTSD's fiscal year 
actually began on October 1, 2001, just weeks after the events of 9/11. 
The year that followed proved to be the Center's greatest test of its 
13-year history, calling into play all three of the Center's main areas 
of endeavor: research, education, and consultation.
  In 2001, the Center took leadership of a 3-year project to develop 
best-practice guidelines for emergency mental health interventions, 
taking into account both criminal and natural disasters. By the time 9/
11 had taken place, staff were one year into the project, enabling them 
use the wealth of research and analysis already accumulated. During the 
recovery efforts, the Center's education materials, especially those on 
the website, proved very helpful in educating relief workers, victims, 
families and bystanders about PTSD and how to cope with it.
  In addition, Center staff were called upon to consult for several 
agencies. Its researchers used the recovery process as an opportunity 
to gather data and conduct long-term research studies on the effects of 
9/11, including a major study involving the entire Fire Department of 
New York.
  In the end, this report proves mostly to be a living history of the 
events of September 11 and the way our Nation coped with those 
tragedies. As documented in the report's pages, the lessons of that day 
will remain invaluable to the future treatment of PTSD, for both our 
Nation's veterans as well as the rest of the country.
  As Ranking Member of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, I am proud 
of the accomplishments the Center for PTSD has made in treating 
disaster-related mental health. The hard work and dedication of its 
staff proved invaluable to all those affected by September 11, 2001, 
regardless of whether they witnessed firsthand the attacks in New York 
City and Washington, DC, or simply watched the events of that terrible 
day unfold on their television.

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