Good afternoon Madam Chairwoman and members of the Subcommittee.  My name is Charles Huebner and I am the Chief of Paralympics, for the United States Olympic Committee (“USOC”) which is headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado.   I appreciate the opportunity to testify on our partnership with the Department of Veterans Affairs to serve those men and women rehabilitating from injuries suffered while serving their country. 

In 1998 Congress gave the United States Olympic Committee the additional responsibility of serving as the National Paralympic Committee for the United States, a responsibility that in most participating Olympic countries is undertaken by a separate organization.  Paralympic sport is athletic activity for physically disabled men and women and the Paralympic Games are a world-class competition for elite athletes conducted approximately two weeks after, and at most of the same venues as the Olympic Games. 

Over the last decade, and because of the joint efforts and programs conducted by the USOC and a variety of organizations ranging from the Department of Veterans Affairs to Disabled Sport USA, interest and participation in Paralympic sport has grown exponentially in the United States and now also involves thousands of injured military and veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.  The focus on the military is most appropriate since the Paralympic Movement began shortly after World War II utilizing sports as a form of rehabilitation for the injured warriors of the Greatest Generation.

I want to use this opportunity to thank Chairman Filner for introducing H.R. 4255, the “United States Olympic Committee Paralympic Program Act of 2007,” and Ranking Member Buyer for his bill, H.R. 1370, “The Disabled Veterans Sports and Special Events Promotion Act of 2007.”   Both legislative proposals would provide the USOC with much-needed tools and resources that would enable us to expand our existing efforts to provide services in DOD and VA medical centers and in the home communities of our injured warriors throughout their transition from active duty to veterans’ status.

The USOC began its Paralympic Military Program in 2003 and since that time over 1200 injured active duty military and veterans have participated in our “Paralympic Military Program” including Paralympic Sport Camps at USOC training facilities in Colorado Springs and Chula Vista, California, which is in Chairman Filner’s Congressional District. The Military Sports Camps provide an introduction to Paralympic Sport, but also the introduction of Paralympians that serve as mentors to injured military personnel and veterans.  While these programs have been an unqualified success, it is clear that these efforts constitute just the beginning of what is required. We are now in the process of setting up permanent Paralympic programs to serve our injured military at the four major DOD Medical Centers, and in 2008 we expect to provide services for more than 2500 injured military personnel at a combination of locations and facilities around the country that conduct programs for physically disabled men and women.

Our next objective is to provide these Paralympic services to our veterans in their communities. If either H.R. 4255 or H.R. 1370 is enacted, the USOC will be able to set up major Paralympic programs near the major VA rehabilitation hospitals and centers. We will also be able to extend our reach into the communities to which our veterans will be returning so that they will have continued access to Paralympic programs as a tool for their rehabilitation and a vehicle for their return to an active lifestyle.  Components of the Paralympic Veterans and Military Program include national training of community leaders to implement Paralympic sport programs at the community level; Paralympic clinics and mentor visits at military and VA installations, and “Paralympic Military Sports Camps,” conducted at our Olympic Training Centers.  We believe that we would not have made this much progress had the USOC not developed a very positive and productive working relationship with the Department of Veterans Affairs, which began with a Memorandum of Understanding entered into in November 2005.  Since then we have collaborated on numerous activities including providing clinic and mentor support at the National Veteran Games, Veterans Winter Sport Clinics and the development of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Clinics in Augusta, Georgia, and Tampa, Florida. 

Today there are more than 21 million Americans with a physical disability.  Less than 10% of those Americans participate in daily physical activity.  With an increase of more than 27,000 injured military personnel, the system to support our heroes needs strategic investment in infrastructure.

In the past year, the U.S. Olympic Committee has deployed a plan to address this crisis with a specific emphasis on injured military personnel and veterans.   In April of this year the USOC is hosting the inaugural Olympic University “Developing Amazing Leaders” conference to train community and military leaders on how to develop self-sustaining Paralympic community-based programs.  Our goal is to have established new Paralympic community-based programs in 75 communities by the end of 2008, and 250 communities by the end of 2012. 

This strategy in collaboration with Paralympic organizations and groups like the National Recreation and Parks Association will allow us to meet a critical need not only at the military installations, but more importantly in the hometowns of returning veterans, especially in rural areas that are currently not served.  The hometown is an essential area where that extension of rehabilitation and reintegration into community is vital.  These programs would be community extensions at various Military Medical Centers, Military Installations, and VA facilities that are identified in collaboration with our partners at the Veterans Administration.

That is why Chairman Filner’s proposed legislation, H.R. 4255, and Ranking Member Buyer’s bill, H.R. 1370, are so important. Both bills provide necessary resources that will enable us to accomplish many of these objectives and to serve our disabled veterans.  With the investment called for by these bills, along with the significant contribution by the USOC and Paralympic organizations nationwide, we will be able to better meet the growing need to serve our injured Veterans and return them to active and productive lifestyles in their communities.

I want to emphasize that we are currently and will continue to engage in these activities regardless of what happens to this legislation because injured military personnel are the soul of the Paralympic Movement.  And when I speak of the “Paralympic Movement” I am not talking about an exclusive number of persons that will make future Paralympic teams.  Rather, I am speaking of a movement and individuals with physical disabilities who are educated, employed, active in their communities, promote excellence, ability and inspire Americans to achieve and overcome obstacles.    However, it is likely that by 2008, there will be one or more former service members that will qualify to represent their country again at the Paralympic Games.  And that will be a great achievement and story for America, and the American people.

The bills proposed by Chairman Filner and Congressman Buyer are testimony to the need of veterans for activities and programs that enable them to return to a full and active life.  The United States Olympic Committee, through its Paralympic Division, wants to be an active participant in serving a most deserving segment of our population.  I would like to close with a brief video from one of our Paralympic Military Sport Camps.  Chairman and members, I believe this video illustrates the power of Paralympic sport and Paralympic mentors for our injured Veterans to not only rehabilitate physically, but also mentally and spiritually.  Thank you.

[The video presentation entitled, "Paralympic Military Summit-San Diego," dated November 2005, will be retained in the Committee files.]