I 

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. 

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

3 SECTION 1. DISPLAY OF WOMEN VETERANS BILL OF 

4 RIGHTS. 

5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Veterans 

6 Affairs shall ensure that the Women Veterans Bill of 

7 Rights described in subsection (b) is— 

8 (1) displayed prominently in each facility of the 

9 Department of Veterans Affairs; and 

10 (2) distributed widely to women veterans. 


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1 (b) WOMEN VETERANS BILL OF RIGHTS.—The 

2 Women Veterans Bill of Rights described in this sub3 section is a sign stating that women veterans should have 

4 the following rights: 

5 (1) The right to a coordinated, comprehensive, 

6 primary women’s health care, at every Department 

7 of Veterans Affairs medical facility, including the 

8 recognized models of best practices, systems, and 

9 structures for care delivery that ensure that every 

10 woman veteran has access to a Department of Vet11 erans Affairs primary care provider who can meet all 

12 her primary care needs, including gender-specific, 

13 acute and chronic illness, preventive, and mental 

14 health care. 

15 (2) The right to be treated with dignity and re16 spect at all Department of Veterans Affairs facili17 ties. 

18 (3) The right to innovation in care delivery pro19 moted and incentivized by the Veterans Health Ad20 ministration to support local best practices fitted to 

21 the particular configuration and women veteran pop22 ulation. 

23 (4) The right to request and get treatment by 

24 clinicians with specific training and experience in 

25 women’s health issues. 


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1 (5) The right to enhanced capabilities of med2 ical providers, clinical support, non-clinical, and ad3 ministrative, to meet the comprehensive health care 

4 needs of women veterans. 

5 (6) The right to request and expect gender eq6 uity in provision of clinical health care services. 

7 (7) The right to equal access to health care 

8 services as that of their male counterparts. 

9 (8) The right to parity to their male veteran 

10 counterpart regarding the outcome of performance 

11 measures of health care services. 

12 (9) The right to be informed, through outreach 

13 campaigns, of benefits under laws administered by 

14 the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and to be included 

15 in Department outreach materials for any benefits 

16 and service to which they are entitled. 

17 (10) The right to be featured proportionately, 

18 including by age and ethnicity, in Department out19 reach materials, including electronic and print media 

20 that clearly depict them as being the recipient of the 

21 benefits and services provided by the Department. 

22 (11) The right to be recognized as an important 

23 separate population in new strategic plans for serv24 ice delivery within the health care system of the De25 partment of Veterans Affairs. 


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1 (12) The right to equal consideration in hiring 

2 and employment for any job to which they apply. 

3 (13) The right to equal consideration in secur4 ing Federal contracts. 

5 (14) The right to equal access and accommoda6 tions in homeless programs that will meet their 

7 unique family needs. 

8 (15) The right to have their claims adjudicated 

9 equally, fairly, and accurately without bias or dis10 parate treatment. 

11 (16) The right to have their military sexual 

12 trauma and other injuries compensated in a way 

13 that reflects the level of trauma sustained. 

14 (17) The right to expect that all veteran service 

15 officers, especially those who are trained by the De16 partment of Veterans Affairs Training Responsibility 

17 Involvement Preparation program for claims proc18 essing, are required to receive training to be aware 

19 of and sensitive to the signs of military sexual trau20 ma, domestic violence, and personal assault. 

21 (18) The right to the availability of female per22 sonnel to assist them in the disability claims applica23 tion and appellate processes of the Department. 

24 (19) The right to the availability of female com25 pensation and pension examiners. 


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1 (20) The right to expect specialized training be 

2 provided to disability rating personnel regarding 

3 military sexual trauma and gender-specific illnesses 

4 so that these claims can be adjudicated more accu5 rately. 

6 (21) The right to expect the collection of gen7 der-specific data on disability ratings, for the per8 formance of longitudinal and trend analyses, and for 

9 other applicable purposes. 

10 (22) The right to a method to identify and 

11 track outcomes for all claims involving personal as12 sault trauma, regardless of the resulting disability. 

13 (23) The right for women veterans’ programs 

14 and women veteran coordinators to be measured and 

15 evaluated for performance, consistency, and account16 ability. 

17 (24) The right to burial benefits under the laws 

18 administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. 

Æ 


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