Captain Rosemary Bryant Mariner Outpatient Clinic

Floor Speech

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Ms. BROWNLEY. Madam Speaker, I thank the chairman of the committee and the ranking member for being so supportive of this bill. I also thank Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Hoyer, and every member of the California delegation, for their support.

As the chair and ranking member mentioned, my bill, H.R. 7698, will name the new VA outpatient clinic in Ventura County after Captain Rosemary Bryant Mariner.

This new VA clinic has been a long time in the making. Since I was elected to Congress, I have been working to expand VA services in Ventura County to ensure that our veterans have access to the timely and quality care that they have earned and deserve.

When I first came to Congress, it was clear that Ventura County veterans were being deeply underserved by the undersized and understaffed local VA clinic, so I immediately set out to work to correct the situation.

While I was able to secure improvements to the facility that existed, it was clear that the large veteran population in our region needed a much larger facility and one run by VA personnel, personnel that understood them and understood their experiences. That was critically important.

Although the road to passing legislation to authorize a new facility was long, in 2017, my legislation was signed into law. This new clinic will be better equipped to deliver high-quality healthcare to a growing community of veterans living in Ventura County and in the area.

Importantly, the new clinic will have VA personnel and will offer expanded services and more specialty care, like dental care, physical therapy, rehabilitation services, optometry, audiology, podiatry, cardiology, and other services.

Getting the new facility open has been my highest priority in Congress, and I am very, very excited that it will be opening next Tuesday, September 27.

I am very grateful for the work of all the dedicated VA personnel in our region, who have been laser focused on getting this new facility opened and hiring all the necessary staff it needs.

Already, the reviews from local veterans who have toured the new facility have been very positive. I am hopeful that as veterans begin to get care at the facility, it will be truly transformative in their lives.

As chair of the Women Veterans Task Force, I am also especially pleased that the new clinic will be one of the first VA clinics in the country, and the very first in the greater Los Angeles area, with a women-only entrance.

Since the Revolutionary War, millions of women have served in the Armed Forces of the United States. However, when they leave the military, they are often invisible, and far too many women leave military service with the scars of military sexual trauma. The women- only entrance will ensure that our women veterans can feel safe and welcomed and, hopefully, never feel discouraged from seeking the care they need.

While opening this clinic has been my highest priority, I also believe that naming the clinic will provide us with yet another opportunity to recognize the service and sacrifice of our women veterans.

Women comprise the fastest growing and most diverse demographic in both the military and veteran populations.

Through my work in Congress, I am constantly reminded that women are the most visible while serving and the most invisible when they return to civilian life. This is symbolized, sadly, by the lack of VA facilities named after women veterans. In fact, of the 1,255 VA healthcare facilities, only two facilities have been named in honor of women veterans--only two.

To address this, I convened a local citizens advisory panel comprised of veterans and community leaders to select a woman veteran for whom we could name the new clinic, and they selected Captain Rosemary Bryant Mariner.

Captain Mariner, a former resident of Ventura County, joined the Navy in 1973, where she became a member of the Navy's first flight training class for women. In 1974, she was one of six women to earn her wings and, the following year, became the first female naval aviator to fly a jet attack aircraft.

Captain Mariner was named commander of the Naval Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 34 at Naval Air Station Point Mugu in Ventura County, California. The unit was 30 percent female and made Captain Mariner the first woman to command an operational air squadron.

Throughout her career, Captain Mariner was a passionate advocate for women in the military, leading the Women Military Aviators and working with Congress and the Department of Defense to lift restrictions barring women from flying in combat.

I could not be more pleased that the House is taking up my bill to honor Captain Rosemary Bryant Mariner.

This bill and this clinic send a critically important message to our women veterans, and that is: We see you.

Madam Speaker, for these reasons, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on the bill.

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