Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2521, as amended, the DOULA for VA Act of 2022. This bill, authored and long championed by Congresswoman Brenda Lawrence, would bring VA closer to providing the full scope of reproductive healthcare that our veterans and their newborns deserve. This bill would require VA conduct a feasibility and advisability study to determine whether to provide pregnant veterans access to doula support services. The United States has a maternal mortality crisis, and our veterans are not protected from it. In fact, they are disproportionately more likely to experience severe maternal mental health outcomes than their civilian counterparts. There is a growing body of research that shows that doula care is an effective tool in mitigating pre and postpartum mental health crises and can be a factor in reducing childbirth complications. The VA must investigate the ability to provide such holistic and effective care. Mr. Speaker, I wholeheartedly support this bill. I encourage all my colleagues to join me in supporting Mrs. Lawrence's critical and commonsense legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.”