[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 174 (Friday, November 9, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2386]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               VETERANS DAY: A GRATEFUL NATION REMEMBERS

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                       HON. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, November 9, 2007

  Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas. Madam Speaker, I rise today in 
tribute to this Nation's veterans, a distinguished group of Americans 
which I am so proud to be associated with.
  Prior to my election to public office, it was my privilege to work on 
behalf of veterans for more than 15 years as a chief psychiatric nurse 
at the Dallas VA Hospital, Day Treatment Center, as well as the Day 
Hospital in Dallas, TX.
  Our 25 million living veterans need Congress' continued support for 
health care and compensation for those with service-connected 
disabilities. Educational support, counseling, and employment-
assistance programs for those readjusting to civilian life also must be 
sustained. These programs and others to assist the survivors of those 
who made the ultimate sacrifice, help acknowledge a debt we can never 
truly repay.
  We cannot hide from the truth that close to 25 percent of our 
Nation's homeless are veterans, many of whom suffer from chronic mental 
illness. We also cannot ignore that unemployment rates among service-
connected disabled and recently discharged veterans remain unacceptably 
high, and that it is estimated that over 10,000 Iraq and Afghan 
veterans suffer symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.
  I will proudly join millions of North Texans to honor our veterans on 
November 11th--many of those just returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, 
others who long ago returned from Europe, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm, 
and all those brave men and women who served elsewhere during the years 
between these conflicts.

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