[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 6]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 8555]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




    INTRODUCTION OF LEGISLATION EXPANDING THE YELLOW RIBBON PROGRAM

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                           HON. CORRINE BROWN

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, June 10, 2016

  Ms. BROWN of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the 
Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program. For too long, through too many 
wars and too many deployments, we have treated our active duty 
servicemembers and their families as expendable once their usefulness 
on the battlefield has ended.
  We hear too many stories of members of the military who do not have 
the right tools to adapt back into civilian life. The Yellow Ribbon 
Reintegration Program was aimed at helping address the unique 
challenges facing the National Guard and Reserve Component community 
during this transition.
  The Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program has helped these Guard and 
Reserve servicemembers with: accessing benefits, geographic isolation, 
lack of access to military family support groups in local communities, 
continued and repeated deployments, and unemployment and 
underemployment.
  The Yellow Ribbon program has also helped to educate servicemembers 
on the rigors of deployment, implement reintegration curriculum 
throughout the deployment cycle, and inform servicemembers and their 
families about the resources available and connect members to service 
providers who can assist them in overcoming the challenges of 
reintegration.
  The Yellow Ribbon program has been successful in making sure the 
backbone of our society, those men and women who pursue their chosen 
profession, but also choose the military as an obligation to secure the 
liberties and freedoms we hold most dear.
  It is only right that we help speed the transition of those active 
duty servicemembers who have essentially put their lives on hold while 
they serve in the military full time. They need to have the same access 
to services and information.
  My legislation will expand this successful program to all active-duty 
servicemembers and their families. This will give these young men and 
women the ability and information to transition successfully to 
civilian life after protecting of our freedoms for so long.
  Once they leave the military and are the responsibility of the VA, it 
is too late. We need to speed the transition to civilian life and in 
the process, reduce suicide, and get these soon-to-be veterans in to 
the VA system for their health and claims benefits.
  Many of these men and women, when they leave the military, do not 
have the support structures they need to successfully reintegrate into 
civilian society. One young man I know of was homeless and could not 
have custody of his child and go to school on the GI Bill because he 
had stayed in the service on the first day of the month. He was 
ineligible for his housing stipend due to his service and was homeless.
  This is unacceptable and it is obvious that these men and women are 
being sent out into society unprepared for the decisions they must 
make: when to wake up, what clothes to buy, how to get housing.
  The Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program has been successful in what 
it was designed to do. We need to expand it to make sure all those who 
serve get the benefit of the lessons learned from this program.
  I am pleased to introduce this legislation to expand the Yellow 
Ribbon Reintegration Program to all servicemembers. With this, we can 
take the next step to ensuring that the young men and women who protect 
those of us here at home will have a home to return to.

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