Equal Access to Contraception for Veterans Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. BROWNLEY of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 3798, the Equal Access to Contraception for Veterans Act, my bill to ensure that women veterans have access to the same contraception coverage as women currently serving in the military and on the same basis of women who receive private healthcare.

I thank the chairman for working with me to advance this legislation, and I am proud that my bill passed the committee with broad bipartisan support.

As you may know, because of the Affordable Care Act, all women using civilian health insurance may access basic contraceptive services, like the pill or an IUD, without a copay.

Last year, the Access to Contraception for Servicemembers and Dependents Act passed with overwhelming bipartisan support as part of the annual National Defense Authorization Act to ensure that TRICARE also provides this basic health benefit to servicemembers and their dependents. While this was an important step, women veterans currently do not receive this benefit from the VA.

Clearly, we need to make sure all women who have served our country receive the same care. My bill will fix this inequity.

The benefits of contraception are widely recognized. Choosing when or if to have a family is essential to women's health and to their economic security.

Today, there are 2 million women veterans living in the United States, and women comprise the fastest growing subpopulation of both the military and veteran populations. Yet, many of their health needs go unaddressed in a VA system that has not evolved to equitably serve a rapidly changing population.

As the chairwoman of the Women's Veterans Task Force and chair of the House Veterans' Affairs' Subcommittee on Health, members of the task force and I have worked to identify disparities in healthcare for women veterans and, where necessary, introduce, advocate for, and pass legislation that eliminates those gaps.

Mr. Speaker, our veterans have sacrificed so much for us and our country. It is way past time that we address this inequity and fix this glaring gap in care of our women veterans. I urge my colleagues to support our women veterans and vote ``yes'' on H.R. 3798.

Mr. Speaker, before I conclude, I, too, would just like to publicly acknowledge my gratitude to Dr. Roe. When the Speaker says the ``gentleman from Tennessee,'' I believe he truly is a gentleman in the eyes, I think, of all Members of Congress and, certainly, particularly mine.

He is a great storyteller that underscores the point that he is making at all times. There is no question that his leadership and his advocacy for our veterans, both men and women, are untouchable and unwavering. I would say how much I have enjoyed working with him on the Committee of Veterans' Affairs, and I know that he will be missed by the entire House, but sorely missed within the Committee of Veterans' Affairs and our daily work there.

I thank him for all that he has done. Whatever his next chapter is in his life, I hope that he and his new bride enjoy every minute of it.

Mr. DAVID P. ROE of Tennessee.

Mr. Speaker, I very, very much appreciate the incredibly kind words. Some of those stories are probably even true that I tell.

Mr. Speaker, I would take a point of personal privilege before I close. This will probably be the last time I am down here to speak on the House floor as the ranking member of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs before this Congress adjourns in January.

Mr. Speaker, what an honor and privilege it has been. And you cannot be successful--and I think the chairman will also emphasize this-- without an incredible staff. I have been so blessed with very, very, very competent people on both sides of the aisle. And it has been fun working with Ray and the gentleman's staff, and I thank him for that. They have always been respectful, and I have appreciated that.

Mr. Speaker, you know it is probably time to retire from Congress when you have delivered one of your staff members, which I have, that is on our side.

Mr. Speaker, it is not about us. It is about the veterans that we serve--all of us in this incredible body. How many times in your life do you get an opportunity to really do good for people?

I will tell you what has influenced me. I grew up in a military town, Fort Campbell, Kentucky, Clarksville, Tennessee, where the 101st Airborne is. My scoutmaster, First Sergeant Thomas E. Thayer, was killed in 1965 in Vietnam. He left four children. I saw what it did to that family. I have never forgotten that.

After my service was over--I served in Korea in 1973-1974 in the Second Infantry Division--I came back home, saw what happened to our Nation's veterans, how they were treated. That has changed.

I am thankful that this country no longer treats the veterans like they did my Vietnam brothers and sisters who served.

We had the opportunity in this committee, in a bipartisan way, as I said, to make a difference. In the last Congress, we passed the Accountability and Whistleblower Protection bill; the Appeals Modernization that has helped so many people; the Forever GI Bill, and I used the GI bill when I got out of the military, and it helped me as a young family, and I know how it transformed this country after World War II; the MISSION Act, and I could go on and on--the bills we passed yesterday and the bills we passed today, and we will pass Congresswoman Brownley's bill in just a moment here.

I got an email last week. We get these all the time. We talked about the blue water Navy for, I don't know, 10 years, I guess. I get this email from a widow, who is a veteran, whose husband died in his late forties with complications of Agent Orange. He served on a service ship outside Vietnam that offloaded Agent Orange.

Finally, after all these years and the work, Mr. Speaker, we got this passed in February, I think, of 2019. She got backpay and a stipend for her and her family for the service that her husband had done. She was a veteran who had served, too, but not there. I thank the entire body for doing that because you made a difference in this veteran's life.

Mr. Speaker, I, again, thank the body, the committee, all the people who have worked, and I certainly want to support Ms. Brownley's bill and her kind words--I much appreciate that--and I encourage all Members to vote for this.

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