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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives 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. 
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(b) WOMEN VETERANS BILL
OF RIGHTS.—The 
Women Veterans Bill of Rights described in this sub-
section 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 Vet-
erans 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 re-
spect at all Department of Veterans Affairs facili-
ties. 
(3) The right to innovation in care delivery pro-
moted and incentivized by the Veterans Health Ad-
ministration to support local best practices fitted to 
the particular configuration and women veteran pop-
ulation. 
(4) The right to request and get treatment by 
clinicians with specific training and experience in 
women’s health issues. 
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(5) The right to enhanced capabilities of med-
ical providers, clinical support, non-clinical, and ad-
ministrative, to meet the comprehensive health care 
needs of women veterans. 
(6) The right to request and expect gender eq-
uity 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 out-
reach 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 serv-
ice delivery within the health care system of the De-
partment of Veterans Affairs. 
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(12) The right to equal consideration in hiring 
and employment for any job to which they apply. 
(13) The right to equal consideration in secur-
ing Federal contracts. 
(14) The right to equal access and accommoda-
tions 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 dis-
parate 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 De-
partment of Veterans Affairs Training Responsibility 
Involvement Preparation program for claims proc-
essing, are required to receive training to be aware 
of and sensitive to the signs of military sexual trau-
ma, domestic violence, and personal assault. 
(18) The right to the availability of female per-
sonnel to assist them in the disability claims applica-
tion and appellate processes of the Department. 
(19) The right to the availability of female com-
pensation and pension examiners. 
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(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 accu-
rately. 
(21) The right to expect the collection of gen-
der-specific data on disability ratings, for the per-
formance 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 as-
sault 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 account-
ability. 
(24) The right to burial benefits under the laws 
administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. 
Æ 
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