[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 213 (Wednesday, December 16, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Page S7521]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                          Deborah Sampson Act

  Mr. BOOZMAN. Mr. President, I rise today to recognize a significant 
legislative victory the Senate delivered for women veterans that will 
eliminate barriers to care and services that many women face when 
accessing the Department of Veterans Affairs.
  The VA estimates that women make up approximately 10 percent of our 
Nation's veteran population. That number is expected to increase to 
more than 16 percent within the next 25 years. As a result, the number 
of women veterans receiving healthcare from the VA has more than 
tripled since 2000.
  The changing face of our military requires us to reexamine how we can 
best serve these veterans. The VA has been slow to modernize its 
delivery of healthcare and benefits to support their needs. Women 
veterans are more likely to face homelessness, unemployment, and go 
without needed medical healthcare. They are reluctant to turn to the VA 
for help. More than 50 percent of women veterans believe they are not 
entitled to or eligible for VA care. We must do more to fulfill our 
promise.
  We need to create a culture at the VA that welcomes women veterans 
and makes them feel like they belong. It is long overdue, and we need 
to update the belief that when a women seeks care at the VA, it is 
because her husband is the veteran. So often, it is not uncommon for a 
veteran employee to pass a woman in line and ask, you know, is her 
husband around.
  Arkansans have shared with me suggestions for improvement that 
include: expanding care options women can access at the VA to reduce 
the need for referrals to community care, increasing trained medical 
professionals who specialize in women's health issues, and enhancing 
privacy in exam rooms. These are reasonable steps that the VA can 
implement to ensure equitable access to services.
  The good news is, we are one step closer to making these upgrades a 
reality, thanks to Senate passage of the Deborah Sampson Act. The 
Veterans' Affairs ranking committee member, Jon Tester, and I 
introduced this legislation, fittingly, named after a Revolutionary War 
veteran who disguised herself as a man to help defeat the British. In 
her spirit, we must do more to address the gender disparities at the 
VA.
  We used the recommendations we heard from veterans in Arkansas, 
Montana, and all across the country to develop our legislation to 
eliminate the barriers to care. The Deborah Sampson Act creates a 
dedicated Office of Women's Health at the VA, expands the reintegration 
and readjustment group, counseling retreats for women veterans and 
their families, and improves call center services.
  It increases the number of gender-specific providers and coordinators 
in VA facilities, trains clinicians, and retrofits VA facilities to 
bolster privacy and improve the environment. It provides access to 
legal services for women veterans and expands childcare for veterans 
receiving healthcare at the VA.
  These are just a few of the improvements this bill requires the VA to 
implement so we can better serve the needs of women veterans.
  I appreciate the leadership of Senator Tester and the support of 
veterans service organizations and encourage Members of Congress to 
support this legislation. I applaud the Senate for advancing the 
legislation and urge my colleagues in the House of Representatives to 
quickly approve this bill so we can ensure women who serve in uniform 
receive the care and services that they so earned.
  Also, as always, I want to thank the staffs of myself and Senator 
Tester who worked so hard in this regard, and, simply, this would not 
have become law without their tremendous efforts.
  So, with that, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Braun). The Senator from Wyoming.