[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 153 (Thursday, September 25, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1975-E1976]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            INTRODUCTION OF THE HELPING THOSE WHO SERVE ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. GWEN MOORE

                              of wisconsin

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 24, 2008

  Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin. Madam Speaker, I don't have to remind anyone 
about the serious need to address service and treatment gaps that our 
men and women in uniform are experiencing regarding Post Traumatic 
Stress Disorder.
  My colleagues also know--either through efforts to help their own 
constituents who have served or from media reports--of the numerous 
barriers to access encountered by soldiers in need of services to deal 
with PTSD.
  The RAND Corporation's Invisible Wounds of War report found that, 
despite the efforts of the Defense Department and Department of 
Veterans Affairs, a ``substantial unmet need for treatment of PTSD and 
major depression'' exists among our soldiers.
  As many as 300,000 of the 1.64 million men and women who have served 
in Iraq or Afghanistan currently suffer from PTSD, depression, or other 
conditions.
  The American Psychiatric Association reported this year that while 6 
in 10 soldiers said their deployment in a war zone caused them to 
suffer from negative experiences associated with stress, only 10 
percent had sought treatment, 60 percent said they avoided seeking help 
because they fear doing so would impact negatively on their career.
  I am concerned that without continued active leadership and the 
willingness to try new approaches to meet escalating needs and make 
improvements to help our soldiers receive care when they need it, we 
will be committing a great disservice to the men and women of our Armed 
Services and their families. We would be, in effect, turning our backs 
on them.
  The bill I am introducing today would attempt to attack a commonly 
identified barrier to seeking care for PTSD among members of our 
military: stigma. According to the Defense Department's Mental Health 
Task Force's July 2007 report, ``Evidence of stigma in the military is 
overwhelming.''
  As a result, too many servicemembers are reluctant to seek counseling 
and other services for fear of negative career repercussions. Our 
soldiers are worried that seeking treatment for PTSD won't be 
confidential and will affect future job assignments and military-career 
advancement rather than focusing on getting help.
  A number of experts have called on the Defense Department to consider 
changing its policies to ensure that there are no perceived or real 
adverse career consequences for those who may seek treatment.
  Defense Secretary Gates recognized this problem earlier this summer 
when he made changes to the Department's security clearance process to 
ensure that the act of simply seeing a counselor does not become a 
black mark against those seeking a security clearance or advancing into 
a position in which such a clearance is needed.
  As a result of this common sense move, military members and civilian 
defense employees will no longer have to identify that they received 
mental health services when they fill out security clearance forms, 
unless the treatment was court-ordered or involved violence.
  While this is a welcomed step, the Defense Department can go further 
to help reduce perceived fears that seeking mental health treatment 
will negatively affect one's career.
  It is time that DoD policies reflect the reality that receiving 
treatment is not itself a sign of dysfunction or poor job performance 
and may have no impact on a person's ability to do their job or deploy 
with their units.
  My bill would require the DoD to go further to address other policies 
that intentionally or unintentionally promote fears that seeking health 
care will damage career prospects.
  It would require DoD to set up a demonstration project at multiple 
sites to explore options to ensure members can have access to DoD-
funded off-the-record, off-base counseling services which protect the 
confidentiality of those receiving treatment.
  The bill would also establish a special working group, heading by the 
Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, to review all 
current and relevant DoD policies regarding disclosure of mental health 
visits by service members whether on their military records or to 
commanders and to identify changes that would help protect member 
confidentiality.
  It would also include an evaluation component to allow us to see 
whether these changes are effective in increasing access, increasing 
quality of care, and reducing stigma while not compromising the ability 
of military commanders to be aware of the deployablity of their 
soldiers.
  The goal is simple: to promote early intervention and access to 
health care for those who, because of fears about how such visits are 
perceived by the military, would otherwise not seek care.
  Increasing access to confidential treatment has the potential to 
increase the use of mental health services and to increase total-force 
readiness by encouraging individuals to seek needed health care before 
problems deteriorate to a critical level.
  This demonstration project would help us to show, whether with the 
right policy flexibility, we can help to break down more of the 
institutional barriers that act to promote stigma. It leaves it up to 
the DoD to try and find that right balance within established 
guidelines.
  Army Lt. Colonel Thomas Languirand, the head of the Army's efforts to 
combat rising suicide rates, recently noted in a fax to all of our 
offices that ``one key thing that will help soldiers seek the care they 
need is changing the stigma associated with seeking behavioral health 
care. It is critical for soldiers, family members, and Army civilians 
to know that seeking help during times of stress is a sign of strength, 
not weakness.''
  We know that effective treatment is available, that soldiers are in 
need and the need is growing. This amendment simply attempts to try and 
remove barriers to care--while providing important safeguards--that 
have been identified.
  Our military mental health care system must transform from one where 
``If we build it, they

[[Page E1976]]

may come . . .'' or ``If we build it, they should come . . .'' to one 
where ``If we build it, our servicemembers feel welcomed.''
  Madam Speaker, we need a system that makes members of our Armed 
Services feel welcomed and we can begin today by supporting this 
legislation. While providing important safeguards, this bill simply 
attempts to try and remove barriers to care that have been identified.

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