IIA

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3013

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JUNE 14 (legislative day, JUNE 7), 1994

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs

AN ACT

To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish a Center

for Women Veterans in the Department of Veterans Affairs.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. CENTER FOR WOMEN VETERANS.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—(1) Chapter 3 of title 38, United

5 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the follow6 ing new section:
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1 ‘‘§ 318. Center for Women Veterans

2 ‘‘(a) There is in the Department a Center for Women

3 Veterans. There is at the head of the Center a Director.

4 ‘‘(b) The Director shall be a noncareer appointee in

5 the Senior Executive Service. The Director shall be ap6 pointed for a term of six years.

7 ‘‘(c) The Director reports directly to the Secretary

8 or the Deputy Secretary concerning the activities of the

9 Center.

10 ‘‘(d) The Director shall perform the following func11 tions with respect to veterans who are women:

12 ‘‘(1) Serve as principal adviser to the Secretary

13 on the adoption and implementation of policies and

14 programs affecting veterans who are women.

15 ‘‘(2) Make recommendations to the Secretary,

16 the Under Secretary for Health, the Under Sec17 retary for Benefits, and other Department officials

18 for the establishment or improvement of programs in

19 the Department for which veterans who are women

20 are eligible.

21 ‘‘(3) Promote the use of benefits authorized by

22 this title by veterans who are women and the con23 duct of outreach activities to veterans who are

24 women, in conjunction with outreach activities car25 ried out under chapter 77 of this title.
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1 ‘‘(4) Disseminate information and serve as a re2 source center for the exchange of information re3 garding innovative and successful programs which

4 improve the services available to veterans who are

5 women.

6 ‘‘(5) Conduct and sponsor appropriate social

7 and demographic research on the needs of veterans

8 who are women and the extent to which programs

9 authorized under this title meet the needs of those

10 veterans, without regard to any law concerning the

11 collection of information from the public.

12 ‘‘(6) Analyze and evaluate complaints made by

13 or on behalf of veterans who are women about the

14 adequacy and timeliness of services provided by the

15 Department and advise the appropriate official of

16 the Department of the results of such analysis or

17 evaluation.

18 ‘‘(7) Consult with, and provide assistance and

19 information to, officials responsible for administering

20 Federal, State, local, and private programs that as21 sist veterans, to encourage those officials to adopt

22 policies which promote the use of those programs by

23 veterans who are women.
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1 ‘‘(8) Advise the Secretary when laws or policies

2 have the effect of discouraging the use of benefits by

3 veterans who are women.

4 ‘‘(9) Publicize the results of medical research

5 which are of particular significance to veterans who

6 are women.

7 ‘‘(10) Advise the Secretary and other appro8 priate officials on the effectiveness of the Depart9 ment’s efforts to accomplish the goals of section

10 492B of the Public Health Service Act (relating to

11 the inclusion of women and minorities in clinical re12 search) and of particular health conditions affecting

13 womens’ health which should be studied as part of

14 the Department’s medical research program and

15 promote cooperation between the Department and

16 other sponsors of medical research of potential bene17 fit to veterans who are women.

18 ‘‘(11) Provide support and administrative serv19 ices to the Advisory Committee on Women Veterans

20 established under section 542 of this title.

21 ‘‘(12) Perform such other duties consistent with

22 this section as the Secretary shall prescribe.

23 ‘‘(e) The Secretary shall ensure that the Director is

24 furnished sufficient resources to enable the Director to

25 carry out the functions of the Center in a timely manner.
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1 ‘‘(f) The Secretary shall include in documents sub2 mitted to Congress by the Secretary in support of the

3 President’s budget for each fiscal year—

4 ‘‘(1) detailed information on the budget for the

5 Center;

6 ‘‘(2) the Secretary’s opinion as to whether the

7 resources (including the number of employees) pro8 posed in the budget for that fiscal year are adequate

9 to enable the Center to comply with its statutory

10 and regulatory duties; and

11 ‘‘(3) a report on the activities and significant

12 accomplishments of the Center during the preceding

13 fiscal year.’’.

14 (2) The table of sections at the beginning of such

15 chapter is amended by adding at the end the following

16 new item:

‘‘318. Center for Women Veterans.’’.

17 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 317(c) of

18 such title is amended—

19 (1) by striking out ‘‘who is—’’ and inserting in

20 lieu thereof ‘‘who is any of the following:’’;

21 (2) by striking out the semicolon at the end of

22 paragraphs (1) through (4) and inserting in lieu

23 thereof a period;

24 (3) by striking out ‘‘; or’’ at the end of para25 graph (5) and inserting in lieu thereof a period; and
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1 (4) by striking out paragraph (6).

2 SEC. 2. MEETINGS OF ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON WOMEN

3 VETERANS.

4 Section 542(a) of title 38, United States Code, is

5 amended by adding at the end the following:

6 ‘‘(4) The Committee shall meet as often as the Sec7 retary considers necessary or appropriate, but not less

8 often than twice each fiscal year.’’.

Passed the House of Representatives June 13, 1994.

Attest: DONNALD K. ANDERSON,

Clerk.