[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 167 (Thursday, November 3, 2011)]
[House]
[Page H7268]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
HOMELESSNESS AMONG OUR VETERANS
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from
Pennsylvania (Mr. Fitzpatrick) for 4 minutes.
Mr. FITZPATRICK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today, as we approach Veterans
Day and we set aside time to recognize our Nation's veterans, also to
address the problem of homelessness among those who have served our
Nation.
Homelessness is a problem facing many Americans today, but it is
particularly acute in the veteran community. While less than 10 percent
of the population of the United States are veterans, they comprise 25
percent of the entire homeless population. All told, the Veterans
Administration estimates that there are 107,000 homeless veterans
nationwide. Among a population that have devoted themselves to the
service of our Nation, these numbers are unacceptable.
The National Cemetery at Washington Crossing is located in my
congressional district in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and serves as a
final resting place for many veterans. The location of the National
Cemetery is in the heart of Pennsylvania's Eighth Congressional
District and places the plight of all veterans, homeless or not,
preeminently in the collective psyche of my community.
Bucks County takes a solemn measure of pride in guarding both the
mortal remains and the honor of veterans from across the Nation. And
while Bucks County is honored and proud to provide a final resting
place or final home to our Nation's veterans, our Nation must ensure
all veterans are honored and sheltered while they are living as well.
Today I would like to share one of their stories.
This past Flag Day, I was handed a pouch containing spent shell
casings from a memorial service at the National Cemetery. The casings
were from the service of U.S. Army Veteran John Griffin, who was buried
at the National Cemetery at Washington Crossing earlier this year. John
served our Nation in Vietnam from 1968 to 1970. He passed away in
February of this year at a nursing home in Pennsylvania, and for some
period before John entered the nursing home, he was homeless.
John's service was not attended by any relatives or friends. The
National Cemetery holds monthly services for veterans who are laid to
rest without the presence of their families. At this service, the flag
that draped John's coffin was accepted by a group of women from the
community who have undertaken this role to provide a measure of respect
and recognition to those who have passed.
Despite numerous inquiries, neither I nor my staff has been able to
learn any more about the life, service, or death of John Griffin. We
know that John was honorably discharged, but beyond that, his life and
his service to our Nation have been lost for the next generation of
soldiers who will serve.
In his second inaugural address, President Lincoln, looking at the
wounds that needed to be healed as the Civil War drew to a close,
charged our Nation ``to care for him who shall have borne the battle.''
This we must do, but we must be ever mindful that homelessness, among
veterans or among the population at large, is often a symptom of a
deeper problem. Addiction, posttraumatic stress disorder, and strained
family relations can collude to leave veterans without shelter. And
while these factors may explain homelessness among veterans, they do
not excuse us, as a Nation, from remedying it.
I do not know with any certainty what, if any, root causes led to
John Griffin's homelessness, but I'm certain that our Nation owed him
better. We owed him more than a makeshift camp in a local woods. We
must rededicate ourselves to the service of those who have served our
Nation.
The story of John Griffin is not rare, but we must work to make it
so, because among the men and women who sacrificed and risked their
lives in the service of our Nation, one homeless veteran is too many.
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