[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 99 (Thursday, June 28, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Page S4719]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      NATIONAL PTSD AWARENESS DAY

  Mrs. MURRAY. Mr. President, I am honored to join my colleagues today 
in recognizing the Department of Veterans Affairs' National Center for 
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, PTSD, as their month-long PTSD 
awareness campaign comes to a close and in reflecting on our 
participation in the third annual National PTSD Awareness Day. I thank 
Senator Conrad for introducing the resolution to honor Army National 
Guard SSG Joe Biel who suffered from PTSD and tragically took his own 
life in April 2007 after returning from his second tour in Iraq.
  All this month, we draw attention to PTSD which affects millions of 
Americans at some point in their lives. As chairman of the Senate 
Veterans' Affairs Committee, I am especially concerned with the impact 
that PTSD has had on our Nation's servicemembers and veterans. The 
number of veterans treated by the Department of Veterans Affairs, VA, 
for PTSD or related symptoms has reached 475,000 and there are likely 
more cases that go unreported, undiagnosed, or untreated each year. In 
fact, as the drawdown of Afghanistan troops continues, we can only 
expect those numbers to follow the steady rise previously reported. VA 
and the Department of Defense, DoD, need to be ready now.
  This unpreparedness is a tragedy. Whether the wounds they return home 
with are visible or invisible, no veteran should be left to face their 
injuries alone, and I am committed to seeing that they never have to.
  Already, we have seen a change in how VA and the DoD treat PTSD. 
Earlier this year, we learned that hundreds of servicemembers and 
veterans had their PTSD diagnoses reversed over the course of 5 years 
at Madigan Army Medical Center in my home State of Washington. In the 
wake of this shocking discovery, Secretary of the Army John McHugh 
ordered a comprehensive, Army-wide review of medical files from the 
past decade to uncover any other problems with misdiagnoses. Two weeks 
ago, Secretary Panetta announced that he would be ordering a similar 
review across all of the armed services. I applaud these actions taken 
by Secretary Panetta and Secretary McHugh, but we are a long way from 
winning the battle on mental and behavioral health conditions.
  That is why earlier this week I introduced the Mental Health ACCESS 
Act of 2012. This bill will require VA and DoD to offer a range of 
supplemental mental and behavioral health services to ensure that 
veterans, servicemembers, and their families are receiving the care 
that they need and deserve. The Mental Health ACCESS Act of 2012 
provides for comprehensive standardized suicide prevention programs, 
expanded eligibility to families for support services, improved 
training for healthcare providers, new peer-to-peer counseling 
opportunities, and reliable measures for mental health services.
  Finally, we must overcome the stigma that surrounds PTSD. As VA's 
National Center for PTSD has demonstrated, once diagnosed, PTSD and its 
symptoms can be treated and those who suffer from it can resume healthy 
and productive lives. Efforts like National PTSD Awareness Day and PTSD 
Awareness Month are critical to combating some of the most damaging 
misperceptions about PTSD.
  In closing, as we look back on our efforts to raise awareness of PTSD 
throughout the month, we must also reaffirm our commitment to those 
veterans, servicemembers, and families affected by PTSD. Our veterans 
and servicemembers have made tremendous sacrifices for us and our 
country and we owe them the support and care that they deserve.

                          ____________________