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Kaitlynne Yancy | December 18, 2020

Advocacy Update: Passage of Groundbreaking Women Veterans Legislation, Calls for VA Secretary Resignation, and more!

IAVA is heading into our annual Holiday break after an exceptionally busy week in DC. While many of the staff will be taking the next two weeks to spend time with their families, we would like to remind you that IAVA’s Quick Reaction Force is open 24/7, 365 days aper year to help if you or a veteran you know is in need of assistance. To get connected to a Veteran Care Manager for immediate help anytime, please call 855-91RAPID (855-917-2743) or fill out our online form. We hope that everyone has a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

After almost four years of advocacy, the cornerstone of IAVA’s #SheWhoBorneTheBattle campaign celebrated the final Congressional passage on Wednesday. The Deborah Sampson Act will significantly reduce barriers to care for women veterans while also expanding services to address issues like reintegration, homelessness, and newborn care. It also includes provisions to address sexual harassment and assault in VA facilities, establish an Office of Women’s Health directly under the Undersecretary of VA for Health, and improve access to care and benefits for survivors of Military Sexual Trauma (MST). The final Deborah Sampson Act provisions were included within a large, IAVA-supported veterans package named for two VA Committee leaders we have worked closely with over the years. The Johnny Isakson and David P. Roe, M.D. Veterans Health Care and Benefits Improvement Act (H. R. 7105) includes provisions that would provide assistance for homeless veterans, veteran job retraining assistance, and major education protections for student veterans affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The legislation now heads to President Trump for his signature. Read IAVA’s full press release on the passage HERE

The IAVA Team Held a press conference with Members of Congress to introduce the Deborah Sampson Act in March 2017

Following passage of the Deborah Sampson Act, IAVA’s EVP of Government Affairs Tom Porter, Associate of Government Affairs Kaitlynne Hetrick, and Storm the Hill veteran Corey Foster held a press conference Thursday with three Congressional Deborah Sampson Act sponsors, Sens. Jon Tester (D-MN) and John Boozman (R-AR), and Rep. Julia Brownley (D-CA). Along with celebrating the passage of this landmark bill, IAVA and legislators discussed important next steps following the Deborah Sampson Act. Watch the full press conference HERE

Last Friday, IAVA and other leading veteran service organizations (VSOs) publicly called for the removal of VA Secretary Robert Wilkie after the Office of the Inspector General released a report showcasing the Secretary’s, as well as upper-level VA staff’s, glaring unprofessionalism after a veteran was sexually assaulted at the DC VA. Read our full statement HERE. IAVA also sent a letter with 10 other VSOs to the Office of Congressional Ethics, calling for the removal of the secretary and several complicit VA staff members, and an ethics investigation into Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) who was named in the OIG report as potentially making disparaging remarks about the veteran to the secretary. Read the full letter HERE.

IAVA’s CEO Jeremy Butler and EVP of Organization Strategy and Engagement Hannah Sinoway met online with Dr. Tim Hoyt, Deputy Division Chief of the Defense Health Agency’s Psychological Health Center of Excellence, to discuss veteran mental health over the course of the pandemic and going into the holiday season. Veteran mental health and suicide prevention continues to be a top priority for IAVA. 

Earlier this year, IAVA celebrated the passage of the Commander John Scott Hannon Veterans Mental Health Care Improvement Act, which makes critical reforms in veteran suicide prevention. Additionally, IAVA also launched its 24/7 comprehensive care management program, the Quick Reaction Force, in direct response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the increasing challenges the veteran community is experiencing. Watch the full discussion HERE. 

If you are currently experiencing a crisis please contact the Veterans Crisis Line at 1.800.273.8255, and press 1. Alternatively, use the Crisis Text Line by texting “RISING” to 741741

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