It is an honor to be here today on behalf of the entire Space Coast Delegation.  This is truly wonderful day for the many Veterans in our community.  Here on the Space Coast, Military personnel and their families are better known as neighbors and friends. And Veterans play an important role in our communities - in fact the Space Coast has one of the highest Veteran populations in all of Florida.

Our Nation will be forever indebted to the men and women who sacrifice and bravely serve in the United States Armed Forces.  But too often, and for too long, when we think of ways to help care for Veterans we instantly think of Healthcare in the traditional form – a hospital or clinic and doctors to treat the physical ailments.

But as the family and friends of any Veteran can tell you – many return to us here changed.  Stressed.  Scared. Depressed. Lonely in a world that will never know what they have experienced, or angry at a world that doesn’t appreciate it.  And to be fair, the world changes too – their family and home lives as they remember them often change a lot while they spend months and years in training and serving.

This center is here to serve those Veterans and their families who have endured the hell of combat, separation, and are now struggling to gain some footing back in the civilian world.  The Veterans who suffer from substance abuse and those who have fallen on the hardest and loneliest of times. 

While programs such as counseling, substance abuse programs, and even employment counseling & placement could be provided by other agencies or organizations – they often don’t meet the full needs of a mind tormented by the stresses of combat. 

You know, it is an amazing thing to find understanding when you think no one understands you.  And this Center will provide just that to the over 75,000 veterans in this area. 

It is not required that anyone agree with the foreign policy of our country.  No one in our country likes or wants war, but common decency demands respect and support for the soldiers who allow us all to enjoy living in a free society.

I commend Lt. Colonel Maloney and the entire staff for having the hearts of servants and being the hands to help guide others through readjustment.  I promise you this, we, your legislators and your community, are here to support you and your efforts as you serve the many men and women who have risked their lives for us.

God bless you
God bless them
God bless America