[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5953 Introduced in House (IH)]
111th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 5953
To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to display in each facility
of the Department of Veterans Affairs a Women Veterans Bill of Rights.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 29, 2010
Mr. Filner introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Veterans' Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to display in each facility
of the Department of Veterans Affairs a Women Veterans Bill of Rights.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. DISPLAY OF WOMEN VETERANS BILL OF RIGHTS.
(a) Establishment.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall ensure
that the Women Veterans Bill of Rights described in subsection (b) is--
(1) displayed prominently in each facility of the
Department of Veterans Affairs; and
(2) distributed widely to women veterans.
(b) Women Veterans Bill of Rights.--The Women Veterans Bill of
Rights described in this subsection is a sign stating that women
veterans should have the following rights:
(1) The right to a coordinated, comprehensive, primary
women's health care, at every Department of Veterans Affairs
medical facility, including the recognized models of best
practices, systems, and structures for care delivery that
ensure that every woman veteran has access to a Department of
Veterans Affairs primary care provider who can meet all her
primary care needs, including gender-specific, acute and
chronic illness, preventive, and mental health care.
(2) The right to be treated with dignity and respect at all
Department of Veterans Affairs facilities.
(3) The right to innovation in care delivery promoted and
incentivized by the Veterans Health Administration to support
local best practices fitted to the particular configuration and
women veteran population.
(4) The right to request and get treatment by clinicians
with specific training and experience in women's health issues.
(5) The right to enhanced capabilities of medical
providers, clinical support, non-clinical, and administrative,
to meet the comprehensive health care needs of women veterans.
(6) The right to request and expect gender equity in
provision of clinical health care services.
(7) The right to equal access to health care services as
that of their male counterparts.
(8) The right to parity to their male veteran counterpart
regarding the outcome of performance measures of health care
services.
(9) The right to be informed, through outreach campaigns,
of benefits under laws administered by the Secretary of
Veterans Affairs and to be included in Department outreach
materials for any benefits and service to which they are
entitled.
(10) The right to be featured proportionately, including by
age and ethnicity, in Department outreach materials, including
electronic and print media that clearly depict them as being
the recipient of the benefits and services provided by the
Department.
(11) The right to be recognized as an important separate
population in new strategic plans for service delivery within
the health care system of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
(12) The right to equal consideration in hiring and
employment for any job to which they apply.
(13) The right to equal consideration in securing Federal
contracts.
(14) The right to equal access and accommodations in
homeless programs that will meet their unique family needs.
(15) The right to have their claims adjudicated equally,
fairly, and accurately without bias or disparate treatment.
(16) The right to have their military sexual trauma and
other injuries compensated in a way that reflects the level of
trauma sustained.
(17) The right to expect that all veteran service officers,
especially those who are trained by the Department of Veterans
Affairs Training Responsibility Involvement Preparation program
for claims processing, are required to receive training to be
aware of and sensitive to the signs of military sexual trauma,
domestic violence, and personal assault.
(18) The right to the availability of female personnel to
assist them in the disability claims application and appellate
processes of the Department.
(19) The right to the availability of female compensation
and pension examiners.
(20) The right to expect specialized training be provided
to disability rating personnel regarding military sexual trauma
and gender-specific illnesses so that these claims can be
adjudicated more accurately.
(21) The right to expect the collection of gender-specific
data on disability ratings, for the performance of longitudinal
and trend analyses, and for other applicable purposes.
(22) The right to a method to identify and track outcomes
for all claims involving personal assault trauma, regardless of
the resulting disability.
(23) The right for women veterans' programs and women
veteran coordinators to be measured and evaluated for
performance, consistency, and accountability.
(24) The right to burial benefits under the laws
administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
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