Wilson Opening Statement for Hearing on the Effects of Deployment on Military Children

March 9, 2010

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Congressman Joe Wilson (R-SC), Ranking Member of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Military Personnel, today released the following opening statement for the subcommittee's hearing on the effects of deployments on children of military personnel:

"Thank you Chairwoman Davis and thank you for holding this hearing. Today's hearing continues our commitment to military families who share the burden of the ongoing wars alongside their military service member. I believe our children are the future of this great Nation. We must take care that in our efforts to mitigate the effects of combat on our service members, we are mindful that families experience the challenges of deployment together, but each in their own way.

"I am encouraged by the studies we will hear about today, which seem to suggest our military children are more resilient than we could expect. With that said, it is also clear the well-being of our children is affected by the stability of their family and the emotional strength of the non-deployed parent among other factors.

"I remain concerned that although the Department of Defense and the military services have implemented numerous programs to address the mental health needs of our service members and their families, these programs remain under resourced and pose challenges to families who need help. I encouraged the Department and the Services to look closely at the results of these studies to determine where their programs may fall short in providing the necessary support to military family programs.

"I also recognize this research is only the first step in understanding how the war on terror is affecting our military children. I would like to hear from our witnesses today their recommendations for future study. I am also interested to hear if they found gaps in programs available to assist military families, and if the effects of deployments on children would be mitigated if these gaps are addressed.

"Finally, I would like to know how else we can help these incredible children who so often have to be strong beyond their years while their military parent is away. We owe it to this nation to ensure this generation of military children is able to transition to adulthood with the skills and emotional strength to successfully lead us into the future.

"I welcome our witnesses and thank them for participating in the hearing today. I look forward to your testimony."

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