[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3013 Introduced in House (IH)]

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. 
Velazquez, Ms. Roybal-Allard, Mrs. Maloney, Mrs. Clayton, Mrs. Thurman, 
 Mr. Bishop, Ms. McKinney, Mr. Clyburn, Mrs. Mink, Ms. Snowe, and Ms. 
Margolies-Mezvinsky) 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.

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

SECTION 1. ESTABLISHMENT OF WOMEN'S BUREAU IN THE DEPARTMENT OF 
              VETERANS' AFFAIRS.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 3 of title 38, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following new section:
``Sec. 318. Women's Bureau
    ``(a) There shall be in the Department of Veterans Affairs a bureau 
to be known as the `Women's Bureau'.
    ``(b) The Secretary shall employ within the Bureau a Director, who 
shall head the Bureau and shall report directly to the Secretary and 
Deputy Secretary. The Secretary shall also employ a Deputy Director and 
such other personnel as the Bureau may require. It shall be the duty of 
the Bureau to foster and promote standards and policies to improve the 
general welfare of women veterans.
    ``(c) The Director of the Bureau shall assist in the development of 
policies providing benefits and other services to women veterans and 
the dependents and beneficiaries of women veterans.
    ``(d) The Director shall serve as principal advisor to the 
Secretary with regards to the interests and concerns of women veterans. 
The Director shall evaluate both existing and future programs of the 
Department and inform the Secretary as to their impact on women 
veterans.
    ``(e) The Bureau shall have the authority to investigate and report 
to the Secretary upon all matters pertaining to the welfare of women in 
the Department. Other responsibilities of the Bureau shall include the 
following:
            ``(1) Providing outreach to women veterans.
            ``(2) Acting as a resource for and provide consultative 
        services to women veterans coordinators.
            ``(3) Providing oversight of all women's programs of the 
        Department (that is, well women clinics, sexual trauma 
        programs, women veterans coordinator program, etc.).
    ``(f) The Director shall be briefed on a regular basis, and at 
least annually, by the Assistant Secretaries and Under Secretaries of 
the Department on these matters within their respective jurisdiction 
that may affect women veterans.
    ``(g) The Director, with the consent of the Secretary, shall--
            ``(1) prescribe the qualification and training requirements 
        for employees of the Bureau and women veteran coordinators 
        within the Department;
            ``(2) develop minimum training requirements on the needs of 
        women veterans for all personnel having direct programmatic 
        contact with women veterans;
            ``(3) advise departmental heads as to the impact of 
        significant existing and future programs and policies on women 
        veterans;
            ``(4) evaluate research protocols to ensure consideration 
        of the unique attributes and needs of women veterans; and
            ``(5) perform such additional responsibilities as the 
        Secretary may prescribe that are consistent with the intent of 
        this section.
    ``(h) The Secretary shall ensure the full participation of the 
Women's Bureau in policymaking, program direction, legislative and 
regulatory action, research, and evaluation.
    ``(i) The Secretary shall ensure that the Director is furnished 
sufficient resources to enable the Director to carry out the functions 
of the Bureau in a timely manner.
    ``(j) The Secretary shall include in documents submitted to 
Congress by the Secretary in support of the President's budget for each 
fiscal year--
            ``(1) detailed information on the budget for the Bureau;
            ``(2) the Secretary's opinion as to whether the resources 
        (including the number of employees) proposed in the budget for 
        that fiscal year are adequate to enable the Bureau to comply 
        with its statutory and regulatory obligations; and
            ``(3) a report on the activities of the Bureau and 
        significant decisions affecting the work of the Bureau during 
        the preceding fiscal year.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the beginning of 
such chapter is amended by adding at the end the following new item:

``318. Women's Bureau.''.

                                 <all>