[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 2]
[Senate]
[Pages 1947-1948]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   PRIORITY REGISTRATION FOR VETERANS

  Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, this week we celebrate Salute to Veterans 
Week to honor all those who have served our Nation in uniform and their 
families who sacrificed so much for our country.
  This week is a particularly appropriate time for us to reflect on the 
importance of fulfilling our commitment to all veterans. Just as we 
invest in and train our men and women during their military service, we 
must make the same investments when they return to our communities, 
hang up their uniforms, and embark on the next phase of their lives. 
This institution always seems to be willing to vote for money so we can 
send people to war, but is a bit less generous in taking care of those 
veterans when they return home. That should stop.
  This morning I visited Eastern Gateway Community College in 
Youngstown and met with local veterans, including community college 
graduate Lisa Thomas. She graduated last May and is now pursuing a 4-
year degree--after getting a 2-year degree--at Franklin University 
using her GI benefits.
  Community colleges like Eastern Gateway are an important way we 
provide our veterans with the necessary skills to find decent-paying 
jobs. They serve as pipelines for veterans so they can attend 4-year 
universities.
  The GI bill's education benefits are critical to investing in 
returning servicemembers. They help the veterans who have returned from 
war to learn new skills, and as a result these men and women have 
helped to build our middle class and led to our Nation's dominance in 
the second half of the 20th century and into this century. But 
veterans, as some find out unwittingly, have a limited amount of time 
before their GI benefits expire.
  At crowded colleges, general education requirements and prerequisites 
often fill up quickly, and it can take several semesters for that 
veteran to secure a spot. Waiting for a spot in a required course is a 
luxury many veterans don't have because those veterans benefits could 
expire. If student veterans are unable to finish their degrees before 
these benefits expire, they

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may end up being forced to pay thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket 
tuition and fees. The veterans who served our Nation without delay 
should not face delays in getting their education.
  Many colleges and universities--Youngstown State, which is the same 
place where the Eastern Gateway campus in Youngstown is located, is 
where many Eastern Gateway students complete their degrees. They offer 
veterans priority registration so they can get the courses they need 
before their benefits run out.
  All of our colleges and universities--2-year, 4-year, public and 
private--need to follow Youngstown State's lead. If student athletes 
have priority registration, we can surely extend that privilege to 
those who have served our Nation. That is why in the coming months I 
will introduce legislation to ensure that all veterans, all 
servicemembers, and their qualifying dependents can use their GI 
benefits to their full potential and be guaranteed priority 
registration. Our veterans have earned these benefits, and we must 
ensure that all of our veterans, such as Lisa Thomas, are able to take 
full advantage of those benefits for themselves and for their families. 
It is our duty to ensure that when veterans return home, they have the 
education and training and access to jobs they need to fulfill their 
potential. We have a duty to ensure that those returning from service 
to our Nation get the care they need when they come home.
  As the first Ohioan to serve a full term on the Senate Veterans' 
Affairs Committee, I have worked to ease the VA backlog and put in 
place a better system. The shortage of care providers has been 
especially pressing for veterans struggling with a brain injury--the 
so-called invisible injuries.
  When our country went into Iraq a dozen years ago, our leader said 
that this will be a short war. Our country, our government, our 
administration, and our Congress failed to scale up veterans hospitals 
and veterans care and increase the capacity, and we now find it is too 
small. That is the importance of making sure we do this right.
  Nearly 300,000 veterans in this country struggle with post-traumatic 
distress. Out of an estimated 300,000 traumatic brain injuries, there 
are 25,000 cases of mild traumatic brain injuries. These cases are hard 
to diagnose and document since there is often a lack of visible 
evidence.
  Without proper care, each year some 8,000 veterans take their own 
lives--154 a week, 22 veterans a day commit suicide. What a tragedy. 
Last week I was proud to stand with my colleagues in this body in 
support of the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act. 
I look forward to President Obama signing that bill later this week. It 
is our duty to take an active role in increasing veterans' access to 
quality mental health care, and the Clay Hunt Act will help ensure that 
those who put their lives on the line for us have a lifetime of their 
own upon returning home. We have a sacred trust between our government 
and those who protect us all.
  I yield the floor.

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