Congressional Record, Volume 160 Issue 140 (Monday, November 17, 2014)

[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 140 (Monday, November 17, 2014)]
[House]
[Pages H8012-H8014]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

VETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS FEDERAL CHARTER AMENDMENT

Mr. HOLDING. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the
bill (H.R. 5441) to amend the Federal charter of the Veterans of
Foreign Wars of the United States to reflect the service of women in
the Armed Forces of the United States.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows:

H.R. 5441

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

SECTION 1. REFLECTION OF SERVICE OF WOMEN IN THE ARMED FORCES
IN THE FEDERAL CHARTER OF THE VETERANS OF
FOREIGN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES.

(a) Organization.--Section 230101(a) of title 36, United
States Code, is amended by striking ``men'' and inserting
``veterans''.
(b) Purposes.--Section 230102(3) of such title is amended
by striking ``widows'' and inserting ``surviving spouses''.

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from
North Carolina (Mr. Holding) and the gentlewoman from California (Ms.
Lofgren) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from North Carolina.

General Leave

Mr. HOLDING. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks
and to include extraneous materials on H.R. 5441, the bill currently
under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from North Carolina?
There was no objection.
Mr. HOLDING. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
The Veterans of Foreign Wars is one of our largest and most lauded
veterans organizations. It has successfully fought for veterans' rights
for over a century and its members provide millions of hours a year in
community service.
Among its goals are to ``assist worthy comrades'' and to ``perpetuate
the memory and history of our dead and to assist their widows and
orphans.'' Our veterans from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan are
in a better place because of activities of the VFW.
Membership in the VFW is open to Korean war veterans and veterans who
have ``served honorably as a member of the Armed Forces of the United
States--in a foreign war, insurrection, or expedition in service that
has been recognized as campaign-medal service; and is governed by the
authorization of the award of a campaign badge by the United States
Government or in an area which entitled the individual to receive
special pay for duty subject to hostile fire or imminent danger.''
Membership does not require that a servicemember have engaged in
actual combat, only that they served in a combat zone.
Congress provided the VFW with a Federal charter in 1936. Robert
Wallace, executive director of the VFW's Washington office, has sent a
letter to the Judiciary Committee requesting that its charter be
amended to be gender neutral. This is in recognition, Mr. Speaker, of
the many female members of the VFW and their invaluable contributions
to our military.
Mr. Wallace stated that:

Today, our military consists of both men and women who
honorably put duty and service before themselves. Consistent
with the growing number of military women who serve at all
levels, women are taking leadership roles throughout our
organization. The VFW strongly believes that combat service,
not gender, determines VFW membership eligibility. That is
why we opened our membership to women over 35 years ago.
However, our congressional charter does not reflect this
reality.
As the Congressional Research Service reported last year,
almost 300,000 ``female servicemembers have been deployed for
contingency operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.'' In
approximately 12 years of combat operations in Iraq and
Afghanistan, over 800 women have been wounded and over 130
have died. Women have been recognized for their heroism, two
earning Silver Star medals.

H.R. 5441, introduced by Congressman Jeff Miller, makes the changes
sought by the VFW and is strongly supported by the organization. I
commend Representative Miller for introducing the bill.
The VFW's current charter provides that the VFW is a ``national
association of men who as soldiers, sailors, marines, and airmen served
this Nation in wars, campaigns, and expeditions on foreign soil or in
hostile waters.''
H.R. 5441 would replace ``men'' with ``veterans.'' The current
charter provides that one of the purposes of the

[[Page H8013]]

organization is ``to perpetuate the memory and history of our dead and
to assist their widows and orphans.'' The bill would replace ``widows''
with ``surviving spouses.''
I urge my colleagues to support this meritorious bill that reflects
the valor of women in our Armed Forces.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, as has been said, this bill makes a small but important
change to the Federal charter of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the
United States. As has been mentioned, it would amend the charter to
become gender neutral by replacing ``men'' with ``veterans'' and
``widows'' with ``surviving spouses.'' I think doing this aligns the
charter with the actual makeup of the organization today, and I totally
support the change.
The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States has been serving
veterans of our Armed Forces for over 100 years and traces its roots to
the Spanish-American War. Only men were permitted to serve in the
military when the organization was chartered in 1936, and of course, we
know, since that time, things have changed a great deal.
The role of women in the military has greatly expanded. In fact, two
of our colleagues--Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii and
Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth of Illinois--both served with both
distinction and honor in our military services and now serve with us as
colleagues in the House.
Women serve in varied roles throughout the Armed Forces, and they
have made many important sacrifices for the country. Women in fact now
make up almost 10 percent of the total veterans population, and the
Department of Veterans Affairs predicts they will represent nearly 18
percent of veterans by the year 2040.
In recognition of these facts, the VFW opened its membership to women
over 35 years ago, and they certainly deserve our commendation for
doing so.
Generally, as has been said many times, it should be up to the
organization, not Congress, to decide who may and may not be a member
of that organization. That is one of the many reasons why Members on
both sides of the aisle have long supported the committee's policy
against creating new Federal charters.
Even so, there is no policy against amending existing charters, and
if such amendments are needed to align the charter to actual reality,
then there is no reason to prevent such an amendment.
In fact, I also support the reason for this change. The Veterans of
Foreign Wars seeks this change because it ``strongly believes that
combat service, not gender, determines membership eligibility.'' I
could not agree more, and I can only applaud the VFW for initiating
this change and coming to the Judiciary Committee, seeking out the
author of the bill and working with us in a bipartisan basis to get
here today.
Mr. Speaker, I thank the author of the bill, and this was unanimously
approved by the Judiciary Committee.
I urge my colleagues to support the bill, and I reserve the balance
of my time.

{time} 1530

Mr. HOLDING. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the
distinguished gentleman from Florida (Mr. Miller), a champion for
veterans' rights and chairman of the Veterans' Affairs Committee.
Mr. MILLER of Florida. I thank the gentleman from North Carolina for
yielding the time. I also want to thank Chairman Goodlatte and the
ranking member for speeding this through the Judiciary Committee.
I rise in support of this piece of legislation, which is a simple
bill, Mr. Speaker, designated to update the congressional charter of
the VFW to reflect today's active duty and veteran population by
changing, as we have already heard, the word ``men'' to ``veterans''
and the word ``widows'' to ``surviving spouses.''
Women veterans have in fact been eligible as members of the VFW since
1978, but like many things, it sometimes takes a little time for
paperwork to catch up. I think VFW Commander in Chief John Stroud said
it best in describing why they have requested this change:

We are not changing our congressional charter because it's
politically correct. We're changing it because being an
eligible veteran is what's important to our great
organization, not one's gender, and changing ``widows'' to
``surviving spouses'' is more representative of today's
military.

Women do in fact comprise over 16 percent of today's military force,
and obviously, that means that they are making up an ever-increasing
share of America's 22 million veterans as they return to civilian life.
I ask my colleagues to join Chairman Goodlatte, Ms. Lofgren, and
myself in supporting H.R. 5441.
Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Miller for his
leadership in this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. HOLDING. Mr. Speaker, I urge passage of H.R. 5441, and I yield
back the balance of my time.
Mr. BILIRAKIS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 5441,
which will amend the Federal charter of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of
the United States to reflect the service of women in the Armed Forces.
This legislation is a common-sense update of an 80-year-old charter
to better reflect the makeup of the modern military--namely, the
inclusion of women in prominent roles throughout several branches of
the military. The Veterans of Foreign Wars is a premier Veterans
Service Organization, with more than 2 million members of all ages
across our great country.
All Veterans are heroes regardless of their gender, and this
legislation reflects that equality in the formal charter of a
remarkably successful organization that exists to support all Veterans,
and their spouses.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5441, which
amends the federal charter of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) to
reflect the service of women in the Armed Forces of the United States.
As approved by Congress in 1936, the VFW charter provides that the
VFW is a ``national association of men who as soldiers, sailors,
marines, and airmen served this Nation in wars, campaigns and
expeditions on foreign soil or in hostile waters[.]''
The charter further provides that one of the purposes of the
organization is ``to perpetuate the memory and history of our dead, and
to assist their widows and orphans[.]''
By replacing the terms ``men'' with ``veterans'' and ``widows'' with
``surviving spouses,'' H.R. 5441 modifies the VFW charter to make it
gender-neutral and reflect the reality that women have and continue to
serve in combat theaters in defense of the United States.
At the time the charter was created, only men were permitted to serve
in the military. Today, both women and men are permitted to serve in
the military and over the last few years, women have become more
involved in combat operations.
For example, between September 2001 and February 28, 2013), 299,548
female service members have been deployed for contingency operations in
Iraq and Afghanistan during which time more than 800 women have been
wounded and over 130 have died.
As of February 29, 2013, 16,407 female members were currently
deployed in contingency operation according to the Department of
Defense.
Women have been tested in battle and proved their heroism, earning
numerous awards and commendations, including two Silver Star medals.
The expansion of roles for women in the armed forces has evolved over
decades.
Under a Defense Department policy promulgated in 1994 policy, women
could not be assigned to units, below the brigade level, whose primary
mission is to engage in direct combat on the ground.
The practical effect of this policy meant that women were barred from
infantry, artillery, armor, combat engineers, and special operations
units of battalion size or smaller.
On January 24, 2013, however, then-Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta
rescinded that policy, thus enabling women to serve in combat units.
The leadership and rank and file of the VFW strongly supports
changing the national charter to make it gender-neutral:

Mr. Speaker, according to the VFW practice, it is combat service, not
gender, that determines VFW membership eligibility.
Over 2 million women veterans have courageously served our country
and defended our

[[Page H8014]]

freedoms for over 100 years, and their countless contributions and
sacrifices must not be overlooked.
In the 18th Congressional District of Texas, there are 29,757
veterans, 3,219 of which are women.
Women veterans fortified the crucial role of women in the military,
and females currently serving in the military continue to break down
barriers, such as:
Admiral Michelle Howard, the Navy's first female four-star admiral;
Army General Ann E. Dunwoody, the U.S. military's first female four-
star officer; Dr. Mary E. Walker, the only woman who has been awarded
the Medal of Honor.
As Anne S. (Sosh) Brehm, 1st Lt., USA NC, a World War II veteran
said, ``Let the generations know that the women in uniform also
guaranteed their freedom.''
Each year, I participate in the Annual Women in the Military Wreath
Laying Ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery to honor all women who
have defended America throughout history.
The Women in Military Service for America Memorial serves as a
reminder of the patriotism and bravery of women who have served in the
United States Armed Services, and also tells their stories of service,
sacrifice, and achievement.
Women veterans have a passion for service and an unfathomable amount
of bravery that is truly worthy and deserving of our recognition,
admiration, and commendation.
H.R. 5441 modifies VFW's federal charter to reflect current practice
and reality and, accordingly, I support the bill and urge all members
to do so as well.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Holding) that the House suspend the
rules and pass the bill, H.R. 5441.
The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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