Standing up for Women Veterans
Every day we hear of our troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, and it is a good day when we don’t read of casualties or fatalities.
I take a grandfather’s interest in the news reports. My grandson Ryan is a Marine and served in Afghanistan in 2004. He is currently stationed in Quantico, and I worry about Ryan being redeployed to Afghanistan.
As a Marine and former Coast Guard officer, I know it matters whose kids or grandkids are in harm’s way. They are all our kids and grand kids or someone’s mother or father, husband, wife, brother or sister. We all must honor their service, and their sacrifice.
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Modern warfare is changing. We have a different kind of enemy, and now the people we send to war are different than in many previous wars.
Today, there are about 1.4 million service men or women on active duty. Women make up just seven percent of our veterans, but are 14 percent of our active duty military. As the ranks of our veterans change, the Veterans Administration must change as well.
Assuming current enlistment and discharge rates remain the same, over the next five years the number of female veterans who use the VA system will double. Women veterans have unique mental and physical health care needs that the VA is currently unprepared to handle.
Congresswoman Jane Harman has reported that at one clinic doctors told her 41% of female veterans seen at the clinic were victims of sexual assault while in military service.
She wrote that “Women serving in the U.S. military are more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire in Iraq.” That’s a scandal and shame to the United States.
The VA needs to be modernized and authorized to deal with those exposed to military sexual trauma, and the Pentagon and chain of command must be held accountable.
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Senate Bill 2799, the Women Veterans Health Care Improvement Act of 2008 is moving through the Senate. It’s a bill to expand and improve health care services to women veterans, particularly those brave women who have served our country in Iraq and Afghanistan.
This bill aims to equip the VA for the long-term needs that will be associated with a greater number of women veterans.
The Senate Bill will fund and mandate an all-inclusive study of women veteran’s health care requirements at the VA, and make recommendations for the modernization of the VA to handle all the needs of women who have separated from service and the future needs of those still serving.
The study will cover combat trauma, military sexual trauma, and exposure to environmental agents that may affect reproductive organs or cause birth defects.
When women enlist to serve our country and wear our uniform, they shouldn’t be subjected to sexual assault by peers or superiors, or lose the ability to have children from exposure to chemicals or other environmental hazards.
These brave women are demonstrating their love for America. We should do no less in return. Congress must act, and if elected, I will.
The Women Veterans Health Care Improvement Act is not just good policy; it’s the right thing to do. It’s the kind of caring policy that we need in government again, and it’s the kind of leadership I am fighting to bring back to Washington.
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The best thing we can do for our veterans is build an America worthy of their service and sacrifice.
As a Marine and former Coast Guard officer, I have tried to do just that by building a company that provides good paying jobs and careers for Western New Yorkers. But there is still more to do.
I'm an optimist, but I know I cannot win this fight alone. I won't ask for your money, but I am asking for your vote and your ideas.
Let’s fight for a government that honors and cares for our veterans and their families.
Let’s fight to build an economy where our veterans can find good jobs at a fair wage.
And let’s fight to bring moral integrity, honesty, and ethics to Washington.
Let’s do it right, and let’s do it right now.