[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 66 (Wednesday, May 24, 2006)]
[House]
[Pages H3146-H3147]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1300
                VETERANS AND CULTURALLY APPROPRIATE CARE

  (Ms. SOLIS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Ms. SOLIS. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to urge my colleagues to provide 
greater funding for our Nation's veterans. More than 24 million 
veterans and their families have sacrificed for this country, yet the 
majority continues to underfund vital mental health and bereavement 
counseling.

[[Page H3147]]

  The growing numbers of minorities in the military and their families 
is especially important to note. One in 10 soldiers in the U.S. Army 
and one in seven marines are of Latino extraction, 7 percent of the 
U.S. Navy is Asian Pacific Islander, and 3 percent of the Navy and 
Marine Corps is Native American. But only 43 percent of the VA's staff 
is trained to implement culturally and linguistically appropriate 
programs, and only 24 percent of the facilities have translated 
materials into languages that are used by our servicemen and their 
families.
  I urge my colleagues to support a bill I introduced, H.R. 5007, to 
ensure that veterans and their families receive culturally and 
linguistically competent health care, especially those suffering from 
post-traumatic stress disorder.
  As we remember Memorial Day, we should not hinder but support our 
military veterans and their families. And I send my special condolences 
to the families of the 11 soldiers who died in Iraq from my district.

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