Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Russ Feingold will participate in the grand opening of the new Vet Center in Brown County, which he helped lead the effort to create.  Vet Centers provide counseling to veterans in non-clinical settings that are more welcoming to veterans and complement the services provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) medical centers and outpatient clinics, and are critical to helping service members deal with issues like post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health issues.  In 2007, Feingold led a Wisconsin congressional delegation effort requesting two more Vet Centers for Wisconsin, including one for Brown County.  In July 2008, the VA announced it would open an additional Vet Center in Brown County.   

“Our service members returning from Iraq and Afghanistan face serious challenges and we have seen a heartbreaking rise in Army suicide rates and service members suffering from PTSD,” Feingold said.  “These Vet Centers can help reverse these trends by providing much needed counseling for the people who have sacrificed so much for their country.  With only two Vet Centers in the state, the needs of Wisconsin’s veterans were not being adequately met.  I was very pleased to work with Congressman Kagen and the entire Wisconsin congressional delegation to help open two new additional Vet Centers in Wisconsin, including this one in Brown County.  I will continue to do all I can on behalf of Wisconsin’s veterans.”

Prior to the delegation’s effort, Wisconsin only had two Vet Centers, both located in southern Wisconsin, to serve 469,000 veterans.  States with similar veteran populations have significantly more Vet Centers.  For example, when the delegation first requested the additional centers in Wisconsin, Maryland had fewer veterans than Wisconsin and is one fifth its size but had twice as many Vet Centers.

In its December 2007 letter, the delegation also requested a Vet Center be opened in La Crosse County.  Just last week, the VA announced that it would open a Vet Center in La Crosse County in 2010.  Once the La Crosse County Vet Center is established, 82 percent of Wisconsin’s veterans will be within an hour’s drive of one of these care facilities. 

The Vet Center, located at 1600 S. Ashland Ave. in Green Bay, will hold an open house today from 3:00 – 6:00 pm CT.