Randy Fine Demands 'A Better Understanding' Of PTSD And Pushes Grant Funding For Research

During a House Rules Committee hearing on Monday, Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL) introduced an amendment that would support PTSD funding.

Transcript

00:00Mr. Fine, you're recognized.

00:04Thank you, Madam Chair. It's an honor to be here for the first time before all of you.

00:07I will try to be brief. I'm sure there's many things you'd like to do other than listen to me talk.

00:11So I'm here to speak about Amendment 779, which deals with PTSD.

00:16The Department of Veterans Affairs believes that 29% of veterans who serve in Operation Iraqi Freedom

00:22and Operation Enduring Freedom have PTSD, which causes all sorts of problems at home,

00:28as families struggle to help their loved ones adjust to normal life.

00:31A better understanding of the disorder, as well as how to deal with it,

00:35can help us better recognize, diagnose, and treat those suffering from PTSD.

00:40No other country in the world is dealing with as much PTSD other than us as Israel is,

00:45which has been fighting a terrible war for the past two years on seven fronts,

00:49and we even saw signs of that today.

00:52Because so much of their population is involved in war fighting,

00:56several leading Israeli hospitals, universities, and nonprofits

00:59have actually dedicated their efforts to researching and treating PTSD.

01:03What my amendment would do is authorize the Secretary of Defense to establish a grant

01:07which would be awarded to U.S. academic institutions or nonprofits

01:11who conduct joint research on PTSD with their Israeli counterparts.

01:16The amendment does not appropriate any money for the grant.

01:18It lays the framework for the grant. Money would have to be requested by the DoD

01:23and appropriated in next year's defense appropriations for the grant to be funded.

01:28This has been included in the NDAA the last two years,

01:32so hopefully the third time is the charm.

01:34And with that, I'll yield back the balance of my time.

01:37Thank you very much.