Women Veterans Cancer Care Coordination Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. GARCIA of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from California for yielding, along with subcommittee ranking member and the co-lead of this bill, Ms. Brownley, and Chairman Bost.

Mr. Speaker, today I rise in support of my bill, the Women Veterans Cancer Care Coordinator Act of 2025. Women veterans are the fastest growing group using VA healthcare services today, and I am proud to say more of them call Texas home than any other State in the Nation.

As this population ages--keep in mind the average woman veteran is 54--they become more likely to develop cancers. The average age of women veterans diagnosed with breast cancer is 58, and the average age for reproductive cancers is 55.

For many of these veterans, the road ahead is not as clear as it should be. Many VA centers are still building out their services, so often women are connected with community care.

However, when they move outside the VA network, problems start to pile up. Records don't transfer and systems don't update with the latest data. That means more phone calls, more waiting, more back and forth, more frustrations.

Women veterans and their families could be using this energy and time on their treatment and their journey to recovery. A cancer diagnosis shakes your sense of stability. These women need a care system that works for them, not one that makes them fight to get the care that they need.

By connecting them with dedicated coordinators at VA to guide them on their path to remission, we can help these mothers, sisters, and heroes stay in the fight. We made a commitment to these women veterans. Now we must do everything in our power to keep that promise and to save their lives.

This is a commonsense bill. It passed out of committee on voice vote, and I trust the same will happen here. I urge my colleagues to support its passage.

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