On November 30, the House passed, by voice vote, H.R. 5953, a bill to direct the secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to display in each VA facility a Women Veterans Bill of Rights. Before passage, the bill was amended to require the display of a bill of rights for injured and amputee veterans.
The legislation, sponsored by Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA) would enumerate the rights of women veterans, including their rights pertaining to medical care, military sexual trauma, disabilities, employment, federal contracting, housing, and burials. Specifically, the Bill of Rights includes, among other provisions:
Speaking on behalf of the measure, Rep. Filner said, “Through hearings and roundtable discussions that we have held during this year, women veterans have come forward to share their personal stories. From their accounts, it is clear that while the VA has made some strides in caring for women veterans, significant gaps remain. The veterans testifying before the committee have shared stories of feeling unwelcomed, alienated, and disrespected in some of our VA medical centers so that they are now reluctant to pursue the benefits and services that they have earned with service to their country. We have heard about women veterans walking into the lobby of a medical center and having catcalls come from all corners of that lobby. We have heard that a woman who had her arm amputated from battle in Fallujah, when she appeared before a doctor at her VA, the doctor thought she had cancer. He couldn’t imagine her as having lost an arm due to combat conditions. We have had single women who have had to bring their children because they could not get child care, and doctors refusing to see them. We have got to change this institution to meet the needs, the real needs, of the women veterans of our nation.”