Julia Brownley: “Again, I thank the gentleman from Minnesota for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4334, the…”

“Again, I thank the gentleman from Minnesota for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4334, the Improving Oversight of Women Veterans' Care Act. I want to thank my colleague on the committee, the gentleman from California, for introducing this important legislation to improve the care we deliver for women veterans. During my time on this committee, I have made it a special priority to ensure women veterans have access to high-quality, gender-specific care in a safe and welcoming environment. This bill will advance that goal in two important ways. First, it requires the VA to practice additional oversight on the community care providers that the VA contracts with and report on the access women veterans have to gender-specific medical care in the community. This is especially timely, as the House recently passed a bipartisan update to the VA's community care programs. As we stand up the new community care program, we need to do a better job tracking the quality of care provided to women veterans. Second, this bill requires the VA to report to Congress on their compliance with environment of care standards for women veterans. Too often, we have heard reports of women veterans who experience issues at VA clinics. A VA Inspector General's report last year found that up to 20 percent of VA clinics did not meet the VA's own requirements for protecting the privacy of women veterans. This is unacceptable.…”