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Your Federal and State Legislators
Making a Real Difference is Quick and Easy—Be an Involved Advocate!
There are opportunities to bring firsthand knowledge of military and veteran experiences to the table. Your participation can contribute to passing better-informed federal and state laws as well as guide the development of policies, rules, and regulations.
For example, health care and other benefits and services for female servicemembers and veterans have very slowly evolved, lagging behind actual need, since the passing of the 1948 Women's Armed Services Integration Act.
- 1980: 32 years after the Act passed, was the first time the Census Bureau asked women if they served in the military and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) opened its doors to all women veterans.
- 1988: 40 years after the Act passed, VA began providing medical and psychosocial services to women when they represented 4.4% of all veterans. In 2016, women veterans make up more than 15% of the total U.S. veteran population.
- 1992: 44 years after the Act passed, the first bill for VA gender-specific care was enacted.
- 2005: Department of Defense Sexual Assault and Prevention Office (SAPRO) established.
- 2008: VA established the first women veterans' "Prosthetics Women's Work Group."
- 2013: First time Department of Housing and Urban Development included a question asking homeless women if they served in the military on their official survey. The survey is used during their annual national January Point-in-Time (PIT) grassroots community count of homeless persons.
- 2016: Servicewomen begin to serve in all combat occupations, further emphasizing the need for lifetime access to comprehensive health care and benefits.
Much after-the-uniform legislation is needed to ensure that women with military service--in and out of uniform, at home and abroad--receive a full-spectrum of care and benefits throughout their lifetimes. Click on the links below to follow your legislators' activities, stay current, and access helpful tools. Let your legislators know what is on your mind via e-mail, a letter, a call, and/or a visit.
U.S. Congressional Links
Contact Your U.S. House Representative
Finding Your House Representatives Congressional District
How to Write Letters to Congress
Senate and House Committee Hearings at C-SPAN (Live Audio on Web)
Senate Daily Digest of Committee Meetings/Hearings Schedule
U.S. Commission on Civil Rights
State Legislators
Find your state legislators and view legislation information for your state.