[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 121 (Monday, July 12, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4815-S4816]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                                Veterans

  Mr. TUBERVILLE. Madam President, last week, when we were all back 
home, we all got to celebrate the Fourth of July. Cooking out, spending 
time with our family and friends, watching fireworks is always special.
  Sitting there with my family, I thought about how blessed we are to 
live in the United States of America. We get to live in the most free 
and prosperous country in the history of the world. We owe that freedom 
and prosperity to the people who declared their independence on July 4, 
245 years ago.
  They fought and won their freedom for an idea called America. That 
American idea lives on two-and-a-half centuries later, thanks to the 
generations of men and women who, like many before them, put on the 
uniform to defend this great country. Many gave their lives, the 
ultimate sacrifice, to defend the United States. But many more are 
still with us, and future generations will continue to volunteer to 
protect the freedoms and liberties this country affords us every day.
  Today we have got almost 20 million veterans in the United States, 
and 400,000 of them call Alabama home. I have had the honor and 
pleasure to meet many Alabama veterans the past few years. I am always 
heartened to talk with them about their service to our great country, 
but what I hear over and over again is that there is more we can do for 
all of our veterans: better access to care, better opportunities to 
reenter civilian life.
  Taking care of our veterans is personal for me. My dad served in 
World War II and died on Active Duty after the war. But he taught me so 
many valuable lessons, like work ethic, perseverance, and love of 
country. When I meet with veterans, I see the same patriotism my dad 
lived out every day of his life.
  You know, I never served myself. The Vietnam war was over before I 
got out of college, but many guys I knew from back home served in 
Vietnam. I saw how badly they were treated by the media, by Hollywood, 
and even by their fellow Americans. They were just trying to serve 
their country. They watched their friends die, and when they got home, 
they weren't treated very well.
  I thank God we treat our veterans today better than we did when I was 
growing up. And veterans from the Vietnam era are still the largest of 
the veteran group in this United States that we live in today. More 
than 100,000 Vietnam vets live in Alabama.
  But there is still more we can do to give them the care and resources 
that they need and deserve. I am honored to be a member of the Senate's 
Veterans' Affairs Committee, where we can hear about the problems 
facing our veterans firsthand and work together on commonsense 
solutions.
  The biggest challenge our veterans face is the access to quality 
care. We have all seen it in the news. We have heard about it 
firsthand. Far too often, veterans can't get the care they need in a 
timely manner. One veteran who doesn't have access to care is one too 
many.
  My main priority is to get veterans the care they need and they well 
deserve by whatever means at our disposal, period. A solution to help 
address that problem is the GHAPS Act, Guaranteeing Healthcare Access 
to Personnel Who Served, introduced by my friend and committee ranking 
member Senator Moran from Kansas.
  The GHAPS Act would identify persistent gaps that veterans face and 
would help craft innovative solutions to make certain all veterans 
receive quality and timely care, especially our veterans living in 
rural areas. The bill would also direct the VA to create a telehealth 
strategic plan so that we can use modern methods to improve access to 
care.
  I am proud to cosponsor that legislation and will be working with 
Ranking Member Moran to get this bill passed.
  We also need to do more to address the scourge of veteran suicide. It 
is absolutely tragic that more than 18 veterans take their own life 
every day. I have partnered with groups like America's Warrior 
Partnership, who are gathering data on veteran suicide across the 
country to determine how we can combat this terrible epidemic, 
leveraging both the VA and community resources.

[[Page S4816]]

  At the same time, we must do more to make additional treatments 
available to veterans who haven't had success treating their traumatic 
brain injuries or post-traumatic stress disorder. One step we can take 
is to pass my bill, the HBOT Access Act. HBOT stands for hyperbaric 
oxygen therapy.
  My bill would permit HBOT as a treatment option for those veterans 
who have tried other evidence-based treatment options for TBI or PTSD 
but have not seen substantial improvement. I have heard from veterans 
and veterans service organizations that point to HBOT as a treatment 
that has produced positive results for individuals suffering from 
severe head and brain injuries. Many former football players, including 
ones who played for me, found success with HBOT in treating their head 
injuries after suffering from concussions.

  HBOT is already approved by the Food and Drug Administration as a 
treatment option for more than a dozen different conditions, including 
severe burns, infections, and decompression sickness. But the FDA does 
not recognize HBOT as an approved treatment option for TBI or PTSD, 
meaning veterans can't receive this care at the VA facilities or 
elsewhere and must pay for it out of their own pocket if they do use 
it. My bill would change that.
  If veterans are saying they have improved after using HBOT and if 
veterans service organizations have seen similar success, I say we 
listen to them. We should not leave quality options on the table while 
the veteran suicide crisis worsens.
  I want to thank my colleagues Senators Hoeven and Cramer as well as 
the American Legion and the Patriot Angels for supporting this 
important legislation. I hope my fellow colleagues will join me in 
passing this commonsense bill.
  Finally, we need to improve resources for veterans to find jobs after 
their service in the military. Too many face unnecessary hurdles in 
rejoining civilian life. They have some of the best skills you can ask 
for. Yet sometimes our veterans, like so many others, can fall prey to 
addiction, homelessness, or just be flat out down on their luck.
  Thankfully, we have got quality organizations that are doing good 
work helping veterans in need. One of these organizations is Three Hots 
and a Cot, based in Clay, AL. Three Hots is a small nonprofit 
organization founded by veterans for veterans. They get funding mostly 
through donations but also through a Veterans Affairs supportive 
housing grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban 
Development.
  Three Hots offers temporary assisted housing to 18 veterans at a 
time. They will drive the veterans to healthcare appointments at the 
VA, to grocery stores, to job interviews, and to church until they can 
get back on their feet. And the job doesn't stop once the veterans are 
settled in an apartment on their own. Three Hots will help with the 
transition by doing tasks like stocking their pantry, getting them 
furniture, and checking on them regularly.
  In their 10 years of operation, Three Hots has helped more than 1,600 
veterans and family members with an 83-percent success rate. This is 
the holistic type of approach to a tough issue that we need more of. 
They meet veterans where they are at in the community and help them 
find the resources available.
  There are more great organizations across the country offering to 
help veterans in need, but oftentimes our veterans don't know these 
resources are available. I will be working closely with my colleagues 
to better connect veterans with the resources that are out there so 
they can be equipped with the skills they need to succeed at home.
  Folks, simply, without the brave men and women who wear the uniform, 
we wouldn't have the freedoms we enjoy and sometimes take for granted 
every day. Our service men and women risked everything by joining the 
military. The least we can do is to repay their service and sacrifice 
by taking care of them when they return home to the country they gave 
so much to defend. That is what I will be doing on the Senate Veterans' 
Affairs Committee and throughout my time here in the Senate

                          ____________________