[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 181 (Tuesday, November 7, 2017)]
[House]
[Pages H8528-H8529]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  COMMEMORATING VETERANS DAY AND HONORING SERVICE ANIMALS FOR VETERANS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Farenthold) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. FARENTHOLD. Mr. Speaker, as the Nation celebrates Veterans Day 
this week, a day we honor those who served our country, I am happy to 
report the VA has made great strides in improving and assisting 
veterans with physical injuries. It struggled, however, to deal with 
many of the invisible injuries plaguing our veterans, like post-
traumatic stress disorder.
  These invisible injuries ravage our Nation's veteran population, with 
an average of more than 20 veterans a day committing suicide. This is 
entirely unacceptable. We must work harder to look for real solutions 
to this crisis.
  That is why I am here today urging my colleagues to support the 
Puppies Assisting Wounded Servicemembers Act, also known as the PAWS 
Act. The PAWS Act will set up a 5-year pilot program in the VA to 
provide post-9/11 veterans suffering from PTSD with service dogs if 
other treatments have not been successful.
  Individuals suffering from PTSD experience emotional numbness, 
loneliness, nightmares, hypervigilance, and anxiety. However, 
traditional VA treatments are symptoms-based and often have side 
effects or fail to address the root of these issues.
  Service dogs, however, have no side effects. They can be used in 
tandem with other treatments. They can be

[[Page H8529]]

trained to wake their owners from nightmares, create a buffer zone in 
large crowds, remind their owners to take their medication, and watch 
their owners' back to provide a sense of security and more.
  I have heard from veterans suffering from PTSD that sometimes the 
hardest part of the day is just getting out of bed in the morning. The 
schedule of walking, feeding, and caring for his or her service dog 
offers veterans purpose and a sense of responsibility. Ultimately, a 
service dog and its owner better each others' lives.
  It is important that the House pass the PAWS Act and allow the VA to 
examine the efficiency and effectiveness of providing veterans with 
service dogs.
  While talking about service animals, I would also like to recognize 
Eli's Fund, an initiative at Texas A&M University created in memory of 
the late Lance Corporal Colton Rusk and Eli, his service dog, that 
provides financial support for service animals of Active-Duty 
servicemen and -women, medically retired veterans' service animals, and 
retired military animals, to help with veterinary medical bills. It is 
important that military animals continue to be cared for in retirement.


 Congratulating George Gonzales and the Corpus Christi Army Depot for 
                          Outstanding Service

  Mr. FARENTHOLD. Mr. Speaker, I am proud to represent the Corpus 
Christi Army Depot, considered as the jewel of the Army Depot system.
  CCAD is currently the largest rotary wing aircraft facility in the 
world. Instead of buying new helicopters, which cost $17 million or 
more, CCAD repairs and rehabilitates the current fleet, often at less 
than half the cost of new helicopters. CCAD saves taxpayers millions of 
dollars, while ensuring the U.S. Army maintains a superior level of 
readiness and reliability.
  This would not be possible without outstanding employees like Army 
veteran George Gonzalez, who recently received the prestigious 2017 
Donald F. Luce Depot Maintenance Artisan Award, given annually to one 
individual who makes an outstanding contribution to Army aviation in 
the area of depot maintenance.
  Gonzales leads a 31-man team that reassembles UH-60 Black Hawk 
helicopters. Under his leadership, the team has reduced the average 
build time from 42 to 17 days.
  Congratulations, George, and your team, and everyone at CCAD, who are 
doing an outstanding job ensuring our warfighters are equipped with the 
aviation assets they need to keep America safe and be a force for good 
around the world.

                              {time}  1030


       Recognizing the Accomplishments of Commander Armando Solis

  Mr. FARENTHOLD. Mr. Speaker, I am here today to recognize the career 
of recently retired Flour Bluff High School Navy Junior ROTC 
instructor, Commander Armando Solis.
  In 1993, following completion of nearly 22 years in the United States 
Navy, Commander Solis became the inaugural Navy Junior Reserve Officer 
Training Corps naval science instructor at Flour Bluff High School. 
Over the next 24 years, Commander Solis not only instilled his students 
with values of citizenship, service to the United States, personal 
responsibility, and sense of accomplishment, but he also created one of 
the most successful JROTC programs in the Nation.
  In his first year, the Navy selected the Flour Bluff program as the 
best new program in Texas and, by his fourth year, the best in the 
Nation. With 23 years as a distinguished honors program, 22 Texas Navy 
JROTC championships, a record 11 Navy national championship titles, and 
the honor of being the only Navy program to win the All-Service 
National Drill Team Championship, Commander Solis has touched the lives 
of thousands of students, instilling them with the values of 
patriotism, loyalty, and, most importantly, service.
  Thank you, Commander Solis, for your commitment to our students and 
our Nation. I wish you the best in retirement.

                          ____________________