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WASHINGTON NEWS IN BRIEF: Westerman backs dyslexia month; Cotton recognizes '50s MIA Arkansan; Senator at briefing on vets' suicides

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
10/27/19

Westerman backs dyslexia month

WASHINGTON -- An Arkansas Republican, U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman of Hot Springs, introduced a resolution last week designating October as National Dyslexia Awareness Month. A fellow Arkansas Republican, U.S. Rep. French Hill of Little Rock, was an original co-sponsor.

Westerman's wife has been a special-education teacher, and he served, for a time, as president of the Fountain Lake School Board.

Since entering Congress, Westerman has highlighted the challenges dyslexia poses. Along with U.S. Rep. Julyia Brownley, D-Calif., he serves as co-chairman of the Congressional Dyslexia Caucus.

In July, Westerman helped organize a briefing at the Library of Congress titled: "The Science of Reading: Understanding Dyslexia." He was joined by Hill, as well as former National Hockey League defenseman Brent Sopel, a member of the 2010 Stanley Cup-winning Chicago Blackhawks.

In 2016, Westerman hosted a Congressional Dyslexia Forum in Hot Springs that featured Sally Shaywitz, co-director of the Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity.

Cotton recognizes '50s MIA Arkansan

U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., paid tribute to the late U.S. Army Cpl. Jerry Garrison during a speech last week on the Senate floor.

Nearly seven decades after Garrison went missing in action in North Korea, his remains were returned to Arkansas and buried in Lamar, his hometown.

Garrison was reported missing on Dec. 2, 1950. He perished during the Battle of Chosin Reservoir, a brutal and bitterly cold campaign that pitted U.S. forces against Chinese troops.

With temperatures plunging well below zero at times, American servicemen were imperiled by frostbite, as well as bullets.

Cotton, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, honored Garrison, saying he "fought on that frozen ground to protect his fellow soldiers and the independence of the Korean people against the communist hordes."

Garrison was just 21 years old when he died.

His remains and the remains of other soldiers were located by North Korean officials, who turned them over to U.S. officials last year after President Donald Trump's summit with Kim Jong-un, the country's communist dictator.

In August, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced that Garrison's remains had been identified with the help of DNA analysis and "anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial and material evidence."

Garrison's funeral, the lawmaker from Dardanelle said, was a "long-overdue moment of honor for a brave soldier, and a long-anticipated moment of mourning and remembrance for his loved ones."

As of August, there were still 7,609 Korean War veterans who remain unaccounted for, military officials said.

Senator at briefing on vets' suicides

U.S. Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., attended a White House briefing on veterans suicide prevention Wednesday along with other lawmakers and Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie.

Nationwide, 6,139 veterans took their own lives in 2017, according to the 2019 National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report. The rate of suicides among veterans is 1.5 times the rate among adult non-veterans, the report stated.

Across the country, suicide rates have been rising. In 2005, 31,610 Americans took their own lives. By 2017, that figure had climbed to 45,390.

In March, President Donald Trump said veterans' suicide prevention must be a top priority. He signed the National Roadmap to Empower Veterans and End Suicide, an executive order that established a Veteran Wellness, Empowerment, and Suicide Prevention Task Force to examine the problem and seek solutions.

Boozman, who serves on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, is the sponsor of the Improve Well-Being for Veterans Act.

The legislation, introduced earlier this year, would require the VA secretary to provide grants to community-based, suicide-prevention programs that focus on veterans.

The measure has the backing of various officials and organizations, including American Veterans (AMVETS).