I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 3013

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

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. ESTABLISHMENT OF WOMEN’S BUREAU IN THE

4 DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS’ AFFAIRS.

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

6 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the follow7 ing new section:
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1 ‘‘§ 318. Women’s Bureau

2 ‘‘(a) There shall be in the Department of Veterans

3 Affairs a bureau to be known as the ‘Women’s Bureau’.

4 ‘‘(b) The Secretary shall employ within the Bureau

5 a Director, who shall head the Bureau and shall report

6 directly to the Secretary and Deputy Secretary. The Sec7 retary shall also employ a Deputy Director and such other

8 personnel as the Bureau may require. It shall be the duty

9 of the Bureau to foster and promote standards and poli10 cies to improve the general welfare of women veterans.

11 ‘‘(c) The Director of the Bureau shall assist in the

12 development of policies providing benefits and other serv13 ices to women veterans and the dependents and bene14 ficiaries of women veterans.

15 ‘‘(d) The Director shall serve as principal advisor to

16 the Secretary with regards to the interests and concerns

17 of women veterans. The Director shall evaluate both exist18 ing and future programs of the Department and inform

19 the Secretary as to their impact on women veterans.

20 ‘‘(e) The Bureau shall have the authority to inves21 tigate and report to the Secretary upon all matters per22 taining to the welfare of women in the Department. Other

23 responsibilities of the Bureau shall include the following:

24 ‘‘(1) Providing outreach to women veterans.

25 ‘‘(2) Acting as a resource for and provide con26 sultative services to women veterans coordinators.
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1 ‘‘(3) Providing oversight of all women’s pro2 grams of the Department (that is, well women clin3 ics, sexual trauma programs, women veterans coordi4 nator program, etc.).

5 ‘‘(f) The Director shall be briefed on a regular basis,

6 and at least annually, by the Assistant Secretaries and

7 Under Secretaries of the Department on these matters

8 within their respective jurisdiction that may affect women

9 veterans.

10 ‘‘(g) The Director, with the consent of the Secretary,

11 shall—

12 ‘‘(1) prescribe the qualification and training re13 quirements for employees of the Bureau and women

14 veteran coordinators within the Department;

15 ‘‘(2) develop minimum training requirements on

16 the needs of women veterans for all personnel having

17 direct programmatic contact with women veterans;

18 ‘‘(3) advise departmental heads as to the im19 pact of significant existing and future programs and

20 policies on women veterans;

21 ‘‘(4) evaluate research protocols to ensure con22 sideration of the unique attributes and needs of

23 women veterans; and
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1 ‘‘(5) perform such additional responsibilities as

2 the Secretary may prescribe that are consistent with

3 the intent of this section.

4 ‘‘(h) The Secretary shall ensure the full participation

5 of the Women’s Bureau in policymaking, program direc6 tion, legislative and regulatory action, research, and eval7 uation.

8 ‘‘(i) The Secretary shall ensure that the Director is

9 furnished sufficient resources to enable the Director to

10 carry out the functions of the Bureau in a timely manner.

11 ‘‘(j) The Secretary shall include in documents submit12 ted to Congress by the Secretary in support of the Presi13 dent’s budget for each fiscal year—

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

15 Bureau;

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

17 resources (including the number of employees) pro18 posed in the budget for that fiscal year are adequate

19 to enable the Bureau to comply with its statutory

20 and regulatory obligations; and

21 ‘‘(3) a report on the activities of the Bureau

22 and significant decisions affecting the work of the

23 Bureau during the preceding fiscal year.’’.
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1 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections

2 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by adding

3 at the end the following new item:

‘‘318. Women’s Bureau.’’.

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