The Official Voice of Vietnam Veterans of America, Inc. ®
An organization chartered by the U.S. Congress
July 2004
Women Veterans Committee Report
A Veteran's Thing
BY MARSHA FOUR As the committee moved from the great events of Veterans Day 2003 surrounding the tenth anniversary of the Vietnam Women’s Memorial, we pressed forward on several other issues: attention to the sunset date of December 31, 2004, on the VA authority to provide military sexual trauma (MST) counseling and treatment; our presence on the Mall during the Memorial Day weekend dedication of the World War II Memorial; the VVA Leadership Conference; providing committee activity documents to the national office; contacting non-renewed women veteran VVA members; and working to compile a comprehensive history of the committee.
I am VVA’s representative on the VA Advisory Committee on Women Veterans. As chair of the committee, I was asked to provide testimony before the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee’s Subcommittee on Health about the renewal of the VA MST authority. Our stand is and has been for years that the authority should be made permanent. HR3849, introduced by Rep. Ciro D. Rodriguez (D-Tex.), includes this provision.
In early June, the VA Advisory Committee on Women Veterans submitted recommendations in its biennial Report 2004 to the Secretary. In mid-June the VA Women Veterans Summit took place. A report on this event will follow.
From a list provided by the Membership Department, one of our committee members, Judy McCombs, contacted the non-renewed members encouraging them to renew membership.
An adviser to the committee, Sara McVicker, is delving into the writings and annals of the organization to provide the committee and VVA with a record of the history of women veterans in VVA. This effort will secure a solid chapter on women veterans, their presence, their accomplishments, and their contributions. It will provide a clear understanding of our mark upon history.
The State Council Presidents were given their semiannual packets for the State Women Veterans Committee chairs. If you are a state chair or the state contact for the women veterans, please send me your e-mail address so I can update my list. Be sure to put this in the subject line of the e-mail so I don’t overlook your message. My address: mfour@vva.orgThank you for the support you give women veterans and their issues in your chapters and states. It’s a veteran thing.
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