NEWS FROM….

CONGRESSMAN LANE EVANS

RANKING DEMOCRATIC MEMBER

COMMITTEE ON VETERANS AFFAIRS

    U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Washington, DC – At a hearing on the needs of women veterans, Lane Evans of Illinois, Democratic Leader of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, reaffirmed the value of service by women in uniform and called for increased specialized services through the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). "None of us who have served in our country’s armed forces," Evans said, "will ever doubt the importance of the service of women in the military. Like their male counterparts, they put their lives, their goals, and their dreams on hold to preserve their Nation."

Accounting for an increasing percentage of those in uniform today, women now hold positions of leadership and achievement few would have predicted as recently as World War II. "Women veterans are increasing among the ranks of all veterans, too," said Evans. "The debt we owe them for their individual and collective contributions to our Nation is significant."

When Congress adopted legislation in 1983 forming the Advisory Committee on Women Veterans, VA did not serve the basic needs of women veterans. Women who used VA facilities were offered beds on open wards with mass showers. The agency was criticized for lacking awareness or sensitivity regarding the women who had served in increasing numbers since World War II. Witness after witness offered embarrassing testimony in hearings chaired by Evans and others. But the last time the Veterans Committee held a hearing on the needs of women veterans was when Evans chaired its Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, back in 1994 before the Republicans took control of Congress.

For the most part, Congress, the Advisory Committee and the VA has made significant strides to transform the delivery of health care, in particular, and benefits for women veterans. Last fall, for instance, in the Veterans Millenium Health Care and Benefits Act, Congress extended the VA’s authority to provide sexual trauma counseling through December 31, 2004. Evans says this program needs permanent status within VA.

"We have more to do," says Evans. "The Advisory Committee’s 1998 report made 42 specific recommendations for improving VA’s delivery of services to America’s 1.2 million women veterans. By my count, VA concurred with only 21 of them, and "non-concurred" – disagreed – with another 6. The Republican majority, through its own lack of interest, has sent a signal to VA that the needs and concerns of women veterans can take a low priority. I am concerned about reports that VA is dismantling services for women veterans that have taken a long time to create, with no indication that they are unneeded."

In its testimony, VA admits there is "a difference of opinion between providers and consumers" about what it calls "the impact of mainstreaming women’s health into primary care." The statement of the Advisory Committee on Women Veterans says that services and programs for women veterans are eroding, and that these programs are considered trivial by staff at every echelon of the VA.

"VA needs to understand clearly that Congress intends it to offer the services its veterans need, whatever their gender," Evans says. "Some are specific to women. I am pleased to note the support of witnesses from both the Advisory Committee and the major veterans service organizations for two of my bills currently before the Veterans' Affairs Committee that will expand services to women veterans."

Evans and Congresswoman Shelley Berkley (D-NV) introduced H.R. 3998, legislation to provide additional compensation to women veterans who receive mastectomies for service-connected conditions, which would codify a recommendation made by the Advisory Committee. The VA provides special compensation of $76.00 per month to certain veterans who have service-connected disabilities resulting in the loss, or the loss of use, of various body parts. "A mastectomy involves a loss comparable to those covered in law," Evans said, "and should qualify for Special Monthly Compensation."

Evans has also introduced H.R. 4488, the "Women Vietnam Veterans’ Children’s Birth Defects Benefits Act." The bill would provide compensation, health care and rehabilitative services to disabled children, born with a variety of birth defects to women who served in Vietnam. This bill parallels services currently provided for the children of Vietnam veterans who suffer from spina bifida, a congenital defect of the spine. Women veterans who served in Vietnam have been more likely to give birth to children with birth defects – and particularly with severe birth defects – than their counterparts who served elsewhere, according to an October 1998 VA study. These findings were based on research involving almost 90 percent of the women who served in Vietnam and who were alive on January 1, 1992.