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Union Calendar No. 297

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3013

[Report No. 103–538]

To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish a Women’s Bureau

in the Department of Veterans Affairs.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

AUGUST 6, 1993

Ms. WATERS (for herself, Mr. KENNEDY, Mrs. MEEK, Mr. EVANS, Ms.

BROWN of Florida, Mrs. SCHROEDER, Mr. GUTIERREZ, Mr. FILNER,

Mrs. MORELLA, Mrs. UNSOELD, Ms. WOOLSEY, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mrs.

LLOYD, Mr. SLATTERY, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mrs.

MALONEY, Mrs. CLAYTON, Mrs. THURMAN, Mr. BISHOP, Ms. MCKINNEY,

Mr. CLYBURN, Mrs. MINK, Ms. SNOWE, and Ms. MARGOLIESMEZVINSKY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs

JUNE 9, 1994

Additional sponsors: Mr. MONTGOMERY, Mr. JACOBS, Mr. PASTOR, Mr.

BONIOR, Mr. DELLUMS, Mrs. KENNELLY, Ms. DELAURO, Ms. HARMAN,

Ms. NORTON, Mr. HEFNER, Mr. RICHARDSON, Mr. STENHOLM, Mr.

PAYNE of Virginia, and Mr. PARKER

JUNE 9, 1994

Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee of the Whole House

on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic]

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on August 6, 1993]
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A BILL

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

Women’s Bureau 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 following

6 new section:

7 ‘‘§ 318. Center for Women Veterans

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

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

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

11 the Senior Executive Service. The Director shall be ap12 pointed for a term of six years.

13 ‘‘(c) The Director reports directly to the Secretary or

14 the Deputy Secretary concerning the activities of the Center.

15 ‘‘(d) The Director shall perform the following functions

16 with respect to veterans who are women:

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

18 on the adoption and implementation of policies and

19 programs affecting veterans who are women.

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

21 Under Secretary for Health, the Under Secretary for

22 Benefits, and other Department officials for the estab-
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1 lishment or improvement of programs in the Depart2 ment for which veterans who are women are eligible.

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

4 this title by veterans who are women and the conduct

5 of outreach activities to veterans who are women, in

6 conjunction with outreach activities carried out under

7 chapter 77 of this title.

8 ‘‘(4) Disseminate information and serve as a re9 source center for the exchange of information regard10 ing innovative and successful programs which im11 prove the services available to veterans who are

12 women.

13 ‘‘(5) Conduct and sponsor appropriate social

14 and demographic research on the needs of veterans

15 who are women and the extent to which programs au16 thorized under this title meet the needs of those veter17 ans, without regard to any law concerning the collec18 tion of information from the public.

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

20 or on behalf of veterans who are women about the

21 adequacy and timeliness of services provided by the

22 Department and advise the appropriate official of the

23 Department of the results of such analysis or evalua24 tion.
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1 ‘‘(7) Consult with, and provide assistance and

2 information to, officials responsible for administering

3 Federal, State, local, and private programs that assist

4 veterans, to encourage those officials to adopt policies

5 which promote the use of those programs by veterans

6 who are women.

7 ‘‘(8) Advise the Secretary when laws or policies

8 have the effect of discouraging the use of benefits by

9 veterans who are women.

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

11 which are of particular significance to veterans who

12 are women.

13 ‘‘(10) Advise the Secretary and other appro14 priate officials on the effectiveness of the Department’s

15 efforts to accomplish the goals of section 492B of the

16 Public Health Service Act (relating to the inclusion

17 of women and minorities in clinical research) and of

18 particular health conditions affecting womens’ health

19 which should be studied as part of the Department’s

20 medical research program and promote cooperation

21 between the Department and other sponsors of medi22 cal research of potential benefit to veterans who are

23 women.
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1 ‘‘(11) Provide support and administrative serv2 ices to the Advisory Committee on Women Veterans

3 established under section 542 of this title.

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

5 this section as the Secretary shall prescribe.

6 ‘‘(e) The Secretary shall ensure that the Director is fur7 nished sufficient resources to enable the Director to carry

8 out the functions of the Center in a timely manner.

9 ‘‘(f) The Secretary shall include in documents submit10 ted to Congress by the Secretary in support of the Presi11 dent’s budget for each fiscal year—

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

13 Center;

14 ‘‘(2) the Secretary’s opinion as to whether the re15 sources (including the number of employees) proposed

16 in the budget for that fiscal year are adequate to en17 able the Center to comply with its statutory and regu18 latory duties; and

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

20 accomplishments of the Center during the preceding

21 fiscal year.’’.

22 (2) The table of sections at the beginning of such chap23 ter is amended by adding at the end the following new item:

‘‘318. Center for Women Veterans.’’.

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

25 such title is amended—
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1 (1) by striking out ‘‘who is—’’ and inserting in

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

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

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

5 thereof a period;

6 (3) by striking out ‘‘; or’’ at the end of para7 graph (5) and inserting in lieu thereof a period; and

8 (4) by striking out paragraph (6).

9 SEC. 2. MEETINGS OF ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON WOMEN

10 VETERANS.

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

12 amended by adding at the end the following:

13 ‘‘(4) The Committee shall meet as often as the Sec14 retary considers necessary or appropriate, but not less often

15 than twice each fiscal year.’’.

Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘A bill to amend title

38, United States Code, to establish a Center for Women

Veterans in the Department of Veterans Affairs.’’.

Union Calendar No. 297

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3013

[Report No. 103–538]

A BILL

To amend title 38, United States Code, to establish

ans Affairs.a Women’s Bureau in the Department of VeterJUNE 9, 1994

Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee

dered to be printedof the Whole House on the State of the Union, and or-