[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 15 (Monday, February 14, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E227-E228]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 LEGISLATION IN SUPPORT OF DESIGNATION AND GOALS OF HIRE-A-VETERAN WEEK

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                           HON. RUSH D. HOLT

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, February 14, 2005

  Mr. HOLT. Mr. Speaker, as our Nation honors and supports the ongoing 
efforts of our troops in Iraq and prays for the safety of all of our 
uniformed men and women still in the Gulf, Afghanistan, and elsewhere, 
now is also an opportune time for Congress to do more to help our 
Nation's new and old veterans in need. To this end, I am joined by my 
distinguished colleague, U.S. Representative Henry Brown, in 
introducing bipartisan legislation to urge the establishment of a 
``National Hire-A-Veteran Week.'' Our legislation also urges a 
presidential proclamation calling upon employers, labor organizations, 
veterans' service organizations, and Federal, State, and local 
governmental agencies to employ more veterans.
  In spite of the best efforts of the U.S. Departments of Defense, 
Labor, and Veterans Affairs, imposing barriers continue to impede many 
deserving veterans from securing employment and achieving self-
sufficiency. Just this week, I read a disturbing article by Alexandra 
Marks that appeared in the Christian Science Monitor and is entitled 
``Back From Iraq--And Suddenly Out On The Streets.'' It should alert 
all of us to the grim reality that veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan 
conflicts are now showing up in our Nation's homeless shelters. I 
submit this article for entry into the Congressional Record at the 
conclusion of my statement.
  Sadly, many veterans struggle to find jobs, even with some 
opportunities for increased training and education offered through 
government programs. Little more than half of our Nation's veterans are 
employed today According to the 2000 census, for example, nearly 20 
percent of Gulf War veterans are unemployed.
  Moreover, it is troubling and shameful that so many of our veterans 
who risked their own lives in support of our country can't find jobs 
and must endure homelessness and lives of poverty after they return 
home. Indeed, American veterans comprise one-third of the homeless male 
population in America; while an estimated 250,000 veterans live on our 
city streets. In fact, the number of homeless Vietnam War veterans 
today exceeds the number of service persons who died during that war.
  Mr. Speaker, even as we tend to the well-being of our men and women 
currently on active duty, we cannot forget those who have already 
served their country and deserve more assistance in moving to the next 
phase of their civilian lives. A presidential proclamation of 
``National Hire-A-Veteran Week'' would provide an effective and more 
focused way to do more to help all of our veterans find good jobs and 
ensure better living standards for themselves and their families. I 
hope that all of my colleagues will support this legislation and will 
take one more step to help repay the debt we owe to all of our Nation's 
defenders. I also hope it can be promptly enacted and signed into law 
during this session of Congress.

           [From the Christian Science Monitor, Feb. 8, 2005]

            Back From Iraq--And Suddenly Out On The Streets

                          (By Alexandra Marks)

       New York.--Veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts 
     are now showing up in the nation's homeless shelters.
       While the numbers are still small, they're steadily rising, 
     and raising alarms in both the homeless and veterans' 
     communities. The concern is that these returning veterans--
     some of whom can't find jobs after leaving the military, 
     others of whom are still struggling psychologically with the 
     war--may be just the beginning of an influx of new veterans 
     in need. Currently, there are 150,000 troops in Iraq and 
     16,000 in Afghanistan. More than 130,000 have already served 
     and returned home.
       So far, dozens of them, like Herold Noel, a married father 
     of three, have found themselves sleeping on the streets, on 
     friends' couches, or in their cars within weeks of returning 
     home. Two years ago, Black Veterans for Social Justice (BVSJ) 
     in the borough of Brooklyn, saw only a handful of recent 
     returnees. Now the group is aiding more than 100 Iraq 
     veterans, 30 of whom are homeless.
       ``It's horrible to put your life on the line and then come 
     back home to nothing, that's what I came home to: nothing. I 
     didn't know where to go or where to turn,'' says Mr. Noel.

[[Page E228]]

     ``I thought I was alone, but I found out there are a whole 
     lot of other soldiers in the same situation. Now I want 
     people to know what's really going on.''
       After the Vietnam War, tens of thousands of veterans came 
     home to a hostile culture that offered little gratitude and 
     inadequate services, particularly to deal with the stresses 
     of war. As a result, tens of thousands of Vietnam veterans 
     still struggle with homelessness and drug addiction.
       Veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are coming home 
     to a very different America. While the Iraq war remains 
     controversial, there is almost unanimous support for the 
     soldiers overseas. And in the years since Vietnam, more than 
     250 nonprofit veterans' service organizations have sprouted 
     up, many of them created by people like Peter Cameron, a 
     Vietnam veteran who is determined that what happened to his 
     fellow soldiers will not happen again.
       But he and dozens of other veterans' service providers are 
     concerned by the increasing numbers of new veterans ending up 
     on streets and in shelters.
       Part of the reason for these new veterans' struggles is 
     that housing costs have skyrocketed at the same time real 
     wages have remained relatively stable, often putting rental 
     prices out of reach. And for many, there is a gap of months, 
     sometimes years, between when military benefits end and 
     veterans benefits begin.
       ``We are very much committed to helping veterans coming 
     back from this war,'' says Mr. Cameron, executive director of 
     Vietnam Veterans of California. ``But the [Department of 
     Veterans Affairs] already has needs it can't meet and there's 
     a lot of fear out there that programs are going to be cut 
     even further.''


                       Beyond the yellow ribbons

       Both the Veterans Administration and private veterans 
     service organizations are already stretched, providing 
     services for veterans of previous conflicts. For instance, 
     while an estimated 500,000 veterans were homeless at some 
     time during 2004, the VA had the resources to tend to only 
     100,000 of them.
       ``You can have all of the yellow ribbons on cars that say 
     `Support Our Troops' that you want, but it's when they take 
     off the uniform and transition back to civilian life that 
     they need support the most,'' says Linda Boone, executive 
     director of The National Coalition for Homeless Veterans.
       After the Vietnam conflict, it was nine to 12 years before 
     veterans began showing up at homeless shelters in large 
     numbers. In part, that's because the trauma they experienced 
     during combat took time to surface, according to one Vietnam 
     veteran who's now a service provider. Doctors refer to the 
     phenomenon as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
       A recent study published by the New England Journal of 
     Medicine found that 15 to 17 percent of Iraq vets meet ``the 
     screening criteria for major depression, generalized anxiety, 
     or PTSD.'' Of those, only 23 to 40 percent are seeking help--
     in part because so many others fear the stigma of having a 
     mental disorder.
       Many veterans' service providers say they're surprised to 
     see so many Iraq veterans needing help so soon.
       ``This kind of inner city, urban guerrilla warfare that 
     these veterans are facing probably accelerates mental-health 
     problems,'' says Yogin Ricardo Singh, director of the 
     Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program at BVSJ. ``And then 
     there's the soldier's mentality: Asking for help is like 
     saying, 'I've failed a mission.' It's very hard for them to 
     do.''
       Beyond PTSD and high housing costs, many veterans also face 
     an income void, as they search for new jobs or wait for their 
     veterans benefits to kick in.
       When Mr. Noel was discharged in December of 2003, he and 
     his family had been living in base housing in Georgia. Since 
     they were no longer eligible to live there, they began the 
     search for a new home. But Noel had trouble landing a job 
     and the family moved to New York, hoping for help from a 
     family member. Eventually, they split up: Noel's wife and 
     infant child moved in with his sister-in-law, and his 
     twins were sent to relatives in Florida. Noel slept in his 
     car, on the streets, and on friend's couches.
       Last spring he was diagnosed with PTSD, and though he's 
     currently in treatment, his disability claim is still being 
     processed. Unable to keep a job so far, he's had no steady 
     income, although an anonymous donor provided money for him to 
     take an apartment last week. He expects his family to join 
     him soon.


                `Nobody understood . . . the way I was'

       Nicole Goodwin is another vet diagnosed with PTSD who has 
     yet to receive disability benefits. Unable to stay with her 
     mother, she soon found herself walking the streets of New 
     York, with a backpack full of her belongings and her 1-year-
     old daughter held close.
       ``When I first got back I just wanted to jump into a job 
     and forget about Iraq, but the culture shock from the 
     military to the civilian world hit me,'' she says. ``I was 
     depressed for months. I couldn't sleep. I couldn't eat. The 
     worst thing wasn't the war, it was coming back, because 
     nobody understood why I was the way I was.''
       Ms. Goodwin was determined not to sleep on the streets, and 
     so eventually went into the New York City shelter system 
     where, after being shuffled from shelter to shelter, she was 
     told she was ineligible for help. But media attention changed 
     that, and she was able to obtain a rent voucher. With others' 
     generosity, she also found a job. She's now attending college 
     and working with other veterans who are determined to go to 
     Washington with their stories.
       ``When soldiers get back, they should still be considered 
     military until they can get on their feet,'' she says. ``It's 
     a month-to-month process, trying to actually function again. 
     It's not easy, it takes time.''




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