As the Representative for Ohio's 15th District, and as a Brigadier General in the Ohio Army National Guard, I’ve heard from many brave men and women who struggle to overcome invisible wounds from service. We owe it to them to find comprehensive, creative solutions to help them win their battles with mental health.

Thankfully, a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers came together last week to pass my legislation, the Puppies Assisting Wounded Servicemembers (PAWS) for Veterans Therapy Act, unanimously.

Now, we’ll send it to the Senate where it already has a bipartisan team working to get it signed into law. The PAWS for Veterans Therapy Act will implement policies that have proven to transform veterans' lives.

This bill is about giving veterans a new mission - training a dog for service. It would create a pilot program where local dog training organizations partner with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to create work-therapy programs. It then goes one step further, by allowing the veterans to adopt their canine partners after they graduate from training together. This allows the service dog to continue providing relief for the veteran coping with post-traumatic stress (PTS).

Just recently, Mr. Walter Parker joined me for the State of the Union and shared how these policies have helped him get his life back. Because of his service dog, Jackson, Walter was able to go see a movie with his wife for the first time in over twenty years, improve relationships with his family, and depend on less medication.

The results are not just anecdotal, studies by Kaiser Permanente and Purdue University have shown that veterans working with dogs show fewer symptoms of depression and PTS, a lowered risk of substance abuse, and better overall mental health.

Work-therapy programs have proven incredibly beneficial time and time again, and I am thrilled this bill is one step closer to expanding this creative treatment to more veterans. I'm confident my colleagues in the Senate will act soon to send this to the President's desk to become law.

These men and women have served us, it is time that we serve them. If you would like to learn more about this legislation or other efforts to improve mental health, please call my Washington, D.C. office at (202) 225-2015.