Ernst talks mental health services with veterans in Cedar Rapids

By Rick Smith

Sen. Joni Ernst proved that flood control isn’t the only issue that needs to be talked about in a city that is working to find federal funding to help protect itself from a repeat of the 2008 flood.

Ernst stopped at the Veterans Memorial Building Tuesday on her three-day, 13-county swing through Eastern Iowa to meet with a group of 30 veterans to listen to their concerns and to tell them about the first piece of legislation she’s introduced in the U.S. Senate — a bill to prioritize veterans’ access to mental health care.

Some veterans who have served in areas of combat can have difficulty reintegrating into their families and the community, said Ernst, the first female veteran in the U.S. Senate and a lieutenant colonel in the Iowa National Guard who served in Kuwait.

“I know that many of you that have served as a soldier, as an airman, you are taught to be self-sufficient, you’re taught to be tough, to handle those things that come up,” Ernst said. “And it’s really hard to admit that you need help from someone else.”

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