[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 5]
[House]
[Pages 6658-6662]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              FUTURE FORUM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 6, 2015, the gentleman from California (Mr. Swalwell) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.
  Mr. SWALWELL of California. Mr. Speaker, tonight we are back with the 
Future Forum, a group of young Members of Congress here to discuss an 
issue that is near and dear to our hearts and one that is on the minds 
of each of us on a daily basis, and that is the issue of our veterans.
  We are joined tonight by some Future Forum members. And we are going 
to start by asking everyone who is watching across the country to tweet 
at us or find us on Instagram or Facebook under #futureforum to give us 
your suggestions and your ideas about challenges facing veterans and 
what we can do here to address it--#futureforum.
  The first person we are going to hear from tonight is a veteran 
himself from the Boston area. He is a first-term Member of Congress who 
served four tours of duty in Iraq, is a Marine infantryman. So I am 
going to have Seth Moulton of the Boston area talk about his experience 
as a 9/11 veteran and what he is hearing in the Boston area and what we 
can do here in Congress.
  I yield to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Moulton).
  Mr. MOULTON. Thank you, Congressman Swalwell.
  Mr. Speaker, the veterans are coming home from our wars, and they 
want to serve again. And that is one of the most amazing things about 
today's veterans and about millennials in general is that there is a 
supreme desire to serve, to serve their country.
  You know, one of the toughest jobs to get out of college now is not a 
job in investment banking on Wall Street; it is a job serving in Teach 
For America.
  One of the amazing things that I have found about those who have 
served, both in civilian service and veterans from our military 
services, is that we get out and we actually want to serve again.
  Frankly, when I went into the military, I thought I would do my 4 
years and kind of check that box and no one would ever question for the 
rest of my life whether I wanted to serve the country again. Yet then I 
got out and found I really missed it. I missed that sense of public 
service, that sense of duty, that sense that every single day my work 
impacted the lives of other people.
  So veterans come home, and they don't just want a paycheck. They 
don't just want a retirement. They don't just want health care. They 
want to actually contribute to the country back here at home. But in 
order to do that, they have got to be able to transition into life back 
here as a civilian.

                              {time}  1930

  That is tough. That is tough today because many of the basic health 
care needs of veterans are not being taken care of. They are not given 
the opportunities to pursue jobs in the private sector. So that great 
opportunity for our Nation's veterans to serve again is squandered 
because we are not taking care of them when they get home.
  There are some fascinating statistics about how successful veterans 
are in the civilian workforce. Fortune 500 CEOs are disproportionately 
veterans. And yet veterans are also disproportionately homeless. So how 
does that happen?
  Mr. SWALWELL of California. Mr. Moulton, we asked some of our 
followers of Future Forum on Twitter to chime in with their own 
thoughts. Shawn Van Diver of the San Diego area, a veteran himself 
@ShawnJVanDiver, said, ``Let's leverage veterans toward rebuilding our 
infrastructure.'' Do you see a role for veterans as we try and repair 
and rebuild America's infrastructure?
  Mr. MOULTON. Absolutely. There is so much that veterans can do back 
here at home. The point with my story about how veterans are 
disproportionately successful and yet also disproportionately homeless, 
I think it all comes back to that transition. Because if you are a 
veteran who can come home and navigate the transition to work in the 
civilian sector successfully, because you get the health care that you 
need, if you have post-traumatic stress--which is an entirely treatable 
condition--you get it taken care of. Then you can use all those skills 
and experiences that you had in the military, that leadership training, 
that experience performing under the toughest circumstances on Earth, 
you will use that for success in the business world and back here at 
home in whatever you do.
  But if you don't make that transition successfully, if you don't get 
the health

[[Page 6659]]

care that you need to take care of whatever conditions you have from 
your service, then you can literally become homeless. And that is why 
this transition is so important.
  The point is that veterans have a lot to give back to our country. So 
I think most Americans understand that we have a moral obligation to 
take care of our veterans, that for all they have done for us overseas 
risking their lives, we ought to take care of them when they get back. 
And most Americans get that. But it is also just a smart investment. It 
is a smart investment in our economy, and it is a smart investment in 
America's future to take care of our veterans.
  Mr. SWALWELL of California. You talked a little bit about the 
leadership training that you get when you are serving your country in 
the military. In this job, I had the pleasure of going to Afghanistan. 
I went with Mr. Kilmer back in August of 2013, and just a couple of 
weeks ago, I was in Baghdad. I observed our troops in theater. What I 
observed was, of course, the military training and the leadership 
training that they are getting, but they are also using everyday 
software applications to carry out their duties.
  How do you see their knowledge and experience with the various 
technologies they are using in the field, how can that translate at 
home when they try to go into the workforce?
  Mr. MOULTON. We live in an information economy. You are from Silicon 
Valley, you represent Silicon Valley. There is so much need for tech 
savvy, technically trained employees in our workforce. You get 
extraordinary training in the military, whether you are in the 
infantry, you are on the ground in one of those toughest jobs where 
your ability to lead in the most difficult circumstances imaginable is 
critical, or even if you are sitting controlling a drone back in 
Arizona and just understanding how our most advanced technology works, 
if you are able to manage that, then you are going to be incredibly 
valuable back home.
  We have got to take care of our veterans to get there. A lot of 
veterans have post-traumatic stress, and it has kind of created this 
stigma that if you hire a veteran, you might get someone who has some 
mental issues. But the reality is that post-traumatic stress, first of 
all, is a pretty normal thing to expect after what many veterans have 
gone through overseas, but it is entirely treatable. It shouldn't be 
unusual to think that someone who went through the rigors of combat, 
the tragedy of war, would be affected by that. But we know that we can 
take care of that condition and treat it appropriately, and then 
veterans can serve again when they get back home.
  Mr. SWALWELL of California. We got a question just a moment ago from 
Lee Hawn, @LeeAhawn, and he said, ``How are the new VA Director's 
changes coming along?'' I would ask more broadly, what would you like 
to see in treating post-traumatic stress to make sure that it is not a 
stigma in the workforce, and that our veterans are able to seamlessly 
go from theater or their service to coming home and having a job?
  Right now we look at the veteran unemployment rate for those who have 
served since September 11 and the Iraq war, and it is today 6.7 
percent. Just last year it was as high as 7.2 percent. It has been as 
high as 9.9 percent in the last 2 years, always above what the national 
unemployment rate is.
  So what can we do with the VA as we fund and authorize programs there 
to treat PTSD and make sure veterans aren't losing jobs or losing 
opportunities in the workforce?
  Mr. MOULTON. First of all, we need a lot of reform at the VA, and 
this has been much publicized across the country. Of course, there are 
some VA's that are doing all right, doing fairly well. There are others 
that are completely failing our veterans. It shouldn't matter where you 
are from or where you live. You should be able to go to a VA facility 
and get the care that you need, the care that you have earned, and the 
care that you deserve. A lot of veterans just aren't seeing that.
  Some people ask me how often do I hear from fellow veterans who are 
struggling to get the care that they need at the VA. I can tell you I 
have heard from two marines in my second platoon just in the past week. 
They have asked for my help as a new Congressman just getting the 
access to care that they need. You shouldn't have to go to your 
Congressman to be able to get the care that you need at the VA.
  Some interesting statistics about the VA: the peak of claims from 
World War I, the year when the most World War I veterans sought care at 
the VA, was not 1920 or 1925. It was 1969--1969. So that tells us two 
things. First, it says that the VA as we know it today was really built 
to deal with a different generation of veterans, not Iraq and 
Afghanistan veterans, not even Vietnam veterans. The second thing it 
tells us is that if the VA can't take care of Iraq and Afghanistan 
veterans today, we haven't even begun to see the beginning of the 
problem. A lot of Vietnam veterans are just now coming to the VA 
because they realize that their cancer or Parkinson's has to do with 
the Agent Orange exposure they received some 40 years ago.
  So we have a lot of changes to make at the VA, and I think that the 
new Secretary, to the question, is doing a good job, and he is 
certainly moving in the right direction. But we need radical change, 
and it remains to be seen just how effective his work will be.
  Mr. SWALWELL of California. Thank you, Mr. Moulton.
  I am hearing right now from Duncan Neasham @DuncanN, and he said, 
#millennial vets stood up when the country needed them. We need those 
problem-solvers to run for office and change our cynical politics.
  I think he is right, and I am grateful that you are a colleague of 
ours, Mr. Moulton. Also in the Future Forum we have some other post-
September 11 veterans in Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, 
Representative Ruben Gallego of Arizona, and also yourself. So thank 
you for participating this evening.
  Mr. MOULTON. I love the question because we have never had fewer 
veterans in our Congress in our Nation's history than we do today. I 
don't think it should be a litmus test you have to be a veteran to run 
for Congress, not at all. But at a time when we face unprecedented 
challenges across the globe, when we are involved in so many challenges 
overseas, that perspective of veterans is critically important. We 
can't just have the perspective of older veterans. We need younger 
veterans too, veterans of the wars in the Middle East, veterans who 
have had to fight counterinsurgencies, veterans who faced terrorists 
across the globe. Those are the challenges that we are figuring out how 
to meet in Congress. I think it is important that we have the 
perspective of veterans.
  So I will tell you, if there are veterans out there who are listening 
to this right now, I hope you will consider running. We need you. We 
need new leaders. We need your perspective, and we would love to see 
you serve the country again.
  Mr. SWALWELL of California. I couldn't agree with you more. I know it 
is an issue that you are very passionate about, and I think this is a 
richer body because we have veterans like you serving it.
  Mr. MOULTON. I am honored to serve with you.
  Mr. SWALWELL of California. Mr. Kilmer, you and I went to Afghanistan 
back in August of 2013. I know you have a number of servicemembers in 
your district and people who were servicemembers. I am just wondering, 
you look at this number, 6.7 percent higher than what the average 
unemployment rate is, and what are you hearing out there in the Tacoma 
area in Washington, and what can we do in Congress?
  Mr. KILMER. Sure. Well, one, I thank you, Mr. Swalwell, for your 
leadership in the Future Forum and your focus on these veterans issues. 
I actually represent more veterans than any Democrat in the United 
States Congress. Actually, I think my region is a whole lot stronger as 
a result of that because we have men and women who have served our 
country who

[[Page 6660]]

choose to make the Olympic Peninsula or the Tacoma area their home.
  Mr. SWALWELL of California. Approximately how many veterans do you 
represent?
  Mr. KILMER. I don't know the exact number, but we have got a slew of 
them. Between Naval Base Kitsap and our joint base, people serve in our 
area, and it is a glorious place to live. So after their service, they 
choose to make it their home.
  Frankly, my background was working in economic development. When you 
talk to employers in our region, by and large they get it that the 
veterans bring a lot to the table, that they bring a skill set, a 
unique skill set from their prior experience, they bring a work ethic, 
they bring a sense of patriotism, and so our workforce is a stronger 
workforce because of the service of those men and women who want to 
attach into the civilian workforce.
  Certainly, there are some challenges in that regard. That means we 
ought to be focused on that. For example, embracing programs like 
Helmets to Hardhats, which you heard the reference earlier to trying to 
deploy our veterans to build up America's infrastructure.
  It means ensuring that our veterans don't face discrimination when 
they pursue employment. In fact, in my State we added military and 
veteran status to our State's nondiscrimination statute to ensure that 
when someone was seeking employment that their military status wasn't 
used against them either for the reasons that Mr. Moulton suggested 
around concerns about PTSD or something like that, but also our Guard 
members and Reservists who, when we had hearings on that legislation at 
the State level, we were told, Well, I am concerned about hiring you 
because what happens if you get called up again?
  That is not right. People who choose to serve our country, people who 
fight for our country overseas shouldn't have to fight for a job when 
they come home. I think that should be a focus of this Congress as 
well.
  It also means applauding those firms large and small who make it a 
priority to hire our veterans. We have plenty in my neck of the woods 
that have really made a strong effort to hire veterans.
  Legislatively there are also things that we could and should do to 
make sure that those who have served overseas and who have served in 
the military, period, are able to translate the experiences and the 
skills they have learned into a civilian job.
  Mr. SWALWELL of California. On that one I want to ask you if you 
could expand because I have heard, and Mr. Moulton and I were talking 
about this earlier, medics, people who serve in the military and they 
have medical training to help others who are wounded or get sick, they 
are having a hard time--and I am hearing this in the Bay Area--when 
they come home and they want to work naturally as an EMT or a 
paramedic, and they are finding by and large their training is not 
being accepted by the local schools or the State requirements.
  Are you hearing about that?
  Mr. KILMER. Absolutely. A few years back when I served in the State 
legislature, I visited Clover Park Technical College, which is in the 
10th District of Washington, Denny Heck's district. When I was in the 
legislature, I visited that college, and I was meeting with a group of 
students. One said, ``I was a battlefield medic, and I wanted to enter 
the nursing program. My prior experience didn't count towards the 
pursuit of that college credential.'' So we actually changed our State 
law requiring our State colleges and universities to acknowledge that 
prior military experience, whether that be in the medical profession or 
you talk to folks who drove a truck as part of the logistics efforts 
through the battlefields of Afghanistan and want to get a commercial 
driver's license. We also passed a law that directs our State 
Department of Licensing to acknowledge that prior military experience 
and have it count towards some of their requirements for pursuing 
either a college degree or a professional license or certification.
  That is something that I think we really have to rededicate ourselves 
to, to ensure, again, that that transition is a smooth one.
  I did want to share with you that some veterans in our area are doing 
some pretty cool stuff. I was at the University of Washington-Tacoma. 
They stood up a veterans incubator for veterans who are looking to 
start a business. One of the businesses that was started was from a 
young veteran, a guy named Steve Buchanan from my district. And I 
actually invited him to the State of the Union because Steve had a cool 
idea for a company, and he made it happen. He worked with his CFO, who 
is also a veteran, Chris Shepherd. They hit upon a simple way to 
connect veterans with flexible jobs.
  Their idea was to create an online marketplace for veterans who had 
skills on one side of the equation to people who had something that 
needed to get done, sort of an online marketplace for anything from 
remodeling their landscaping to IT work. Anyone can visit their Web 
site, and you can plug in your task of what you are looking to get 
done, and you can find a veteran with those skills and a desire to 
work. It is a great way to give veterans a chance to get some flexible 
work directly from folks who need their help, and it is a great 
platform from the community to show their support for our Nation's 
heroes.
  Mr. SWALWELL of California. You are hitting on Stephen Brown 
@StevBrown__. He asked, ``Can our government offer incentives to 
veterans who want to start small businesses?'' He just asked that on 
Twitter. What do you think about that? Can we do more?
  Mr. KILMER. Sure. I think it is always good to look at that, whether 
that be through our SBA programs and the availability of access to 
capital.

                              {time}  1945

  One of the things that we are looking at doing is focused on 
businesses who hire our veterans; already through things like our 
procurement process, there are some advantages for veteran-owned 
businesses, but one of the things we are looking at is could you create 
an incentive for those who hire a whole lot of veterans so that they 
have some incentive to do that hiring as well.
  Mr. SWALWELL of California. Thank you, Mr. Kilmer. I appreciate your 
continued participation in Future Forum. I know the veterans in your 
area are very grateful to have you standing up on the House floor 
tonight to champion their issues and getting them into the workforce.
  Mr. KILMER. We are lucky to have them. Thanks so much.
  Mr. SWALWELL of California. We are now joined by Jared Polis of 
Colorado. My question for Jared comes from Ruchit @ruchithmajmudar, and 
he says: ``Veterans took care of us. We need to take care of them.''
  What do you think about that?
  Mr. POLIS. I think that is what brings us here tonight. It is what 
brings champions of veterans issues like Derek Kilmer and yourself and 
Seth Moulton here. This is an opportunity for us to talk about what we 
as Democrats want to do to make sure that we honor and support those 
who served our country.
  I had a wilderness roundtable last week. We had Raul Grijalva in 
town. He is the ranking member of the Natural Resources Committee. We 
are working on designating some of our beautiful public lands in Summit 
and Eagle Counties as wilderness. We were having a meeting in Vail. 
Come visit Vail. I want everybody to know that Vail is a wonderful 
place to visit. We had a roundtable.
  We had one of the people at it--in addition to hikers, bikers, a lot 
of local merchants that sell equipment, we had a veteran who served in 
the Middle East.
  He got up, and he said that, when he was serving overseas in 
Afghanistan and he went to a visual display and they had the national 
anthem and what they showed--the images on the screen were not our tall 
buildings, were not our politicians or our actors; it was our beautiful 
public lands.
  It was the Grand Canyon; it was the mountains of Colorado; it was the 
great coasts of California, and that was

[[Page 6661]]

what he and his fellow servicemembers drew their pride from.
  He further expressed such an excitement about the wilderness bill we 
were working on. He said the public lands were a place of healing for 
veterans. He said: If we don't protect these beautiful lands, what the 
hell did I fight for?
  It really moved everybody at the entire table just to say, do you 
know what, that is that part of that American spirit that we derive 
from the spirit of conservation.
  It was really one of those moments where it made me and those of us 
working on some of those public land issues glad to know that we were 
helping to heal some of the veterans that had served us under difficult 
circumstances overseas.
  Mr. SWALWELL of California. This week, we are considering the 
National Defense Authorization Act. We have done VA funding in the past 
couple weeks.
  What are you hearing specifically in your congressional district 
about whether we are taking care of our veterans? Especially tonight, 
we are talking specifically about post-9/11 generation veterans who 
have just, by and large, been underemployed at a much higher rate than 
the rest of the country.
  What are you hearing at home, any stories that you can share?
  Mr. POLIS. Well, we really need to do a lot more. That is one of the 
reasons that I recently introduced a post-9/11 conservation corps bill, 
which would actually help employ some of our post-9/11 veterans to 
protect our public lands and water, so it can be part of their healing 
and part of making sure that our public lands are well maintained.
  It would help veterans restore and protect our national, State, and 
tribal forest parks; coastal areas; wildlife refuges; and cemeteries--
allowing us to attack the jobless rate among our returning veterans and 
help address the enormous maintenance backlog at our national parks.
  That is the kind of idea which I think a lot of veterans get excited 
about. They want to see something that shows that we deeply respect the 
work they did defending our country, that their work is valued here at 
home.
  It is the absolute wrong message to send when we are slashing 
veterans benefits; when we are not funding, for instance, our new VA 
hospital that needs to be built in Aurora, Colorado; when we are 
slashing the benefits that people get beyond the impact of those 
financial dues that they receive.
  It is the message they are getting that somehow, do you know what, 
instead of returning to a civilian service corps, towards helping job 
placement, towards the counseling and health support services we need, 
we are returning to a thankless America.
  I think that we Democrats want to do something about that. That is 
why we have a great package of bills to show that we do honor and 
respect, and we want to show that in word and deed to those who served 
us in post-9/11 wars.
  Mr. SWALWELL of California. I talked to a number of my veteran groups 
in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties at home, and not until I took this 
job had I heard the phrase of a ``ghost veteran.''
  It was explained to me it is the servicemember who has come back from 
Iraq or Afghanistan and has completely fallen off the radar. They are 
not associated at all with the VA. They are not signed up for any of 
the benefits that they are eligible for. They are not participating in 
the American Legion or the VFW.
  The theory is that, because we have done such a poor job of fully 
funding the VA and giving benefits and time to people who deserve it, 
having issues with the hospitals and the back claims, as well as the GI 
benefits not fully taking care of people--do you think that makes 
people pessimistic when you get out of your service and you return to 
your community? Is that going to make you more or less willing to 
participate in some of these programs that we have put out there?
  Mr. POLIS. I have not heard that term before, ``ghost veteran,'' but 
I have met so many veterans that meet that exact definition.
  I think it is a combination of things. I think you are right. It is 
part of the fact that they don't think they are going to get anything 
anyway because it has all been cut. It is also part of the need that we 
have and the VA has to adapt our veteran-serving institutions to meet 
the real-life needs of a new generation of veterans.
  The truth is the returning 9/11 veterans are not interested in piles 
of paperwork and filling it out. That is understandable. They are not 
interested in beating their head against the wall to try to get some 
benefit that they may or may not get. They have served our country. 
They have a lot of great capacity in them to do great work again.
  They want our help in enabling them to be able to live great lives, 
whether it is going back to school under GI Bill--and, of course, we 
passed the post-9/11 GI Bill--whether it is working on something like 
the veterans conservation corps that, if my bill passes, it would set 
up, whether it is making sure they have support to start their own 
small business as entrepreneurs.
  What they don't want is to wait in line down at some facility to fill 
out more forms that may or may not result in them getting something, 
someday. That is really what I hear in so many of the returning post-9/
11 veterans that in my district really meet the definition of what you 
are talking about, ghost veterans.
  Once they got out, they just didn't want to deal with what they see 
as a bureaucratic, out-of-touch apparatus that doesn't give them the 
support they need.
  Mr. SWALWELL of California. In the GI Bill, it works when we fund it 
and we give opportunity to veterans. It provides eligible veterans up 
to 36 months of education benefits. Frankly, I think you and I probably 
would like to see that greatly expanded to include a full education; 
1700 colleges and universities are supplemented by post-GI Bill 
benefits.
  Fifty-one percent of student veterans earn their degree from an 
institution of higher education. From 2009-2012, there has been an 
increase of veterans using their benefits by 67 percent. When we are 
faced with the question when it comes to veterans funding or NDAA 
considerations that we make, should we be expanding the educational 
opportunities for our veterans, or should we be reducing it?
  Mr. POLIS. I am just so excited and honored to represent a district 
that has two of our State flagship universities: Colorado State 
University in Fort Collins--go Rams--and University of Colorado 
Boulder--go Bucks.
  We have had interns in our office that were only able to attend those 
institutions because of the GI Bill, returning post-9/11 veterans who 
were able to fulfill their dream of getting a higher education at a 
time where you and I know it is increasingly costly to get that 
education.
  My goodness, you Californians pay $35,000 a year to come to CU; but 
even our instate folks are paying $9,000 a year just to go to college. 
Not a lot of families can afford that in discretionary income when you 
add in food and lodging and everything else.
  Those who have served our country are able to avail themselves of 
this tremendous opportunity, the GI Bill. We need to renew our 
commitment to those folks. We need to make sure that it is there to 
fund their education, in an increasingly costly educational 
environment, that they can have the skills they need.
  I would like to see more ways where they can get credit for some of 
the skills they learned in the military. Some of those convey over and 
appropriately should be granted credit at institutions of higher 
education, so there is a lot more we can do.
  So many veterans that I have interacted with on both campuses are 
just so grateful. I want to make sure that we defend and I know 
Democrats here are standing in the line of defense of the post-9/11 GI 
Bill.
  Mr. SWALWELL of California. Others that were in the last Congress--
and I was a big supporter of the Veteran Employment Transition Act that 
made

[[Page 6662]]

permanent the work opportunity tax credit for qualified veterans and 
also the Troop Talent Act by our colleague, a veteran herself, Tammy 
Duckworth, which would direct the Department of Defense to make 
information on civilian credentialing opportunities available to 
members of the Armed Forces at every stage of their training for 
occupational specialties.
  The Future Forum we just launched last month, we went to New York and 
Boston and San Francisco.
  Mr. POLIS. We are coming to Denver soon, right?
  Mr. SWALWELL of California. We are coming to Denver soon, yes.
  Mr. POLIS. I am looking forward to it.
  Mr. SWALWELL of California. You are going to host us out there in 
Denver. We are going to make a mile-high difference there for young 
people, and I very much look forward to that.
  At these conversations that we have had under the #futureforum, 
whether they are in the audience or they are tweeting at us, what we 
have learned is that young people today--veterans and just millennials 
alike--right now, their top issues, I believe, from what we have heard, 
are student loan debt, access to entrepreneurship, equality and making 
sure that we have equal pay for equal work, as well as climate change.
  When it comes to veterans, every audience we were in front of had a 
veteran there, and every audience thought we weren't doing enough to 
take care of our veterans.
  I think the message I want to put out there tonight--and continue the 
conversation on social media under #futureforum--is we must stand up 
and serve our veterans as well as they have stood up and served us as a 
country.
  Mr. Polis, I will leave it to you for any closing thoughts on how we 
can best serve our veterans.
  Mr. POLIS. Well, I just wanted to add, again, particularly in the 
West, in districts like mine, many veterans who have settled in Eagle 
and Summit Counties or in the Boulder area really have seen their 
experiences and interactions with the outdoors and our environment as 
an important part of their healing experience.
  That is why we see such great support for a number of nonprofits that 
help get veterans out hiking and biking; why the young veterans, in 
turn, are strong supporters of wilderness proposals; and why I think so 
many returning veterans would benefit from a veterans conservation 
corps that really got them out there working with their hands and their 
hearts, preserving some of that same natural heritage that, when they 
saw displayed on the movie screen while our national anthem played in 
Afghanistan or Iraq, gave them the inspiration that they needed to be 
able to continue to serve our country so well for another day.
  Mr. SWALWELL of California. Thank you, Mr. Polis. Thank you, Mr. 
Moulton, a veteran himself. Also, thank you to Mr. Kilmer.
  The Future Forum, we will be back in a few weeks talking about a 
variety of issues that are facing young people; but this is not us 
talking to you. As you saw tonight, I read a number of tweets live here 
on the House floor and was tweeting as we were having this 
conversation.
  Our goal is to talk about the issues, have a conversation, but really 
listen to you and what you care about as millennials. We look forward 
to being back here on the floor and out across America as the Future 
Forum, looking out for what is best for millennials and standing up 
here in Congress.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

                          ____________________