NEWS FROM….

CONGRESSMAN LANE EVANS

RANKING DEMOCRATIC MEMBER

COMMITTEE ON VETERANS AFFAIRS

    U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FOR RELEASE: November 4, 1999

Washington, DC – Lane Evans of Illinois, Democratic Leader of the House Veterans Affairs Committee released a letter he sent today to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Togo D. West, Jr., scoring the secretary’s refusal to meet with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Advisory Committee on Women Veterans.  The panel was created in 1983 to represent America’s 1.2 million women veterans.

"I am extremely disappointed by your continuing unwillingness to meet with the Chair of the Department’s Advisory Committee on Women Veterans, Ms. Linda Schwartz," said Evans. He added, "Your reported unwillingness to agree to meet with Ms. Schwartz will be considered by some as dereliction of duty on your part."

Evans, a Vietnam-era Marine veteran, is a leading congressional advocate for the concerns of women veterans. He has authored and led the enactment of significant legislation to provide for women’s health care needs in VA facilities, and to help women veterans with service-connected disabilities to receive the VA benefits they deserve.

During this past decade, VA has made significant improvements in the access and quality of care it provides women veterans. Nonetheless, Congressman Evans cautioned, these hard-fought successes should not be taken for granted given current disparities and when much remains to be done.

Dear Secretary West:

I am extremely disappointed by your continuing unwillingness to meet with Dr. Linda Schwartz, Chair of the Department’s Advisory Committee on Women Veterans.

Last week I met with Dr. Schwartz and other members of the Advisory Committee on Women Veterans. During this meeting it was noted that Dr. Schwartz, acting in her official capacity as Chair of the Department’s Advisory Committee on Women Veterans, has attempted to meet with you on several occasions. None of these efforts have been successful. Dr. Schwartz has met with Deputy Secretary Hershel Gober, but it is inexcusable to me that you have failed to respond to her repeated requests for a meeting.

Congress established the Advisory Committee on Women Veterans under P.L. 102-83. As you should be aware, Congress directed the Secretary to "consult with and seek the advice of the Committee with respect to the administration of benefits by the Department for women veterans, reports and studies pertaining to women veterans and the needs of women veterans with respect to compensation, health care, rehabilitation, outreach, and other benefits and programs administered by the Department, including the Center for Women Veterans." These several enumerated duties connote the importance Congress gives to the Secretary’s close scrutiny of programs that serve America’s 1.2 million women veterans. Your reported unwillingness to meet with the Chair of the Department’s Advisory Committee on Women Veterans will be considered by some as dereliction of duty on your part.

According to a recent report from the Center for Women Veterans, "The Assessment of the Use of Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Services by Women Veterans, 1998", there is a strong need for you to seek advice and counsel from this Committee and to provide systemwide guidance on the priority of women’s programs in the VA. This report indicates that while numbers of women veterans treated in VA has increased by 33% since 1992, VA has eliminated 25 (21%) of its primary care and treatment teams for women since 1994.

Additionally, there are wide disparities in the utilization of VA health care by female veterans across networks. VISN 22, which has the largest women veterans’ population, has one of the lowest rates of women’s utilization. Conversely, VISN 9, which has one of the smallest women’s population, has the highest rate of utilization by women. Clearly, central guidance is necessary to redress these wide discrepancies.

Mr. Secretary, during this past decade, VA has made significant improvements in the access and quality of care it provides women veterans. Nonetheless, these hard-fought successes should not be taken for granted, given current disparities, and when much remains to be done.

As Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, you are expected to be the principal advocate for veterans including women veterans. Your effectiveness as their advocate is in part dependent on your understanding of the concerns of women veterans. Congress has expressed this conviction by creating the Advisory Committee on Women Veterans. In the strongest terms, I encourage you to seek the advice and counsel these experts have to share to redress the problems that remain in the system.

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