1Honoring women veterans who honorably and courageously served
2our country as members of the armed forces and encouraging
3women veterans to discuss their specific needs and concerns
4with State agency officials so that the General Assembly and
5agency officials may work together to consider policy
6solutions that will improve the quality of life of women
7veterans in this Commonwealth.

8WHEREAS, Women have served honorably and with courage in all
9of America's wars and conflicts since the American Revolution;
10and

11WHEREAS, The United States military has evolved from a
12predominantly male force to a force increasingly consisting of
13women; and

14WHEREAS, Women make up more than 14% of those serving on
15active duty and nearly 17% of those serving in the reserves or
16National Guard; and

1WHEREAS, The population of women veterans is increasing
2exponentially from 1.1 million in 1980 to a projected 2 million
3by 2020 and will comprise more than 10% of the veteran
4population as a whole; and

5WHEREAS, The number of women veterans has increased over the
6last decade due to an increasing number and proportion of women
7who are entering and leaving the military and because women
8veterans are living longer and have a younger age distribution
9than male veterans; and

10WHEREAS, Given that an unprecedented number of women are
11serving in the military and participating in Operation Enduring
12Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom, the United States
13Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is working to provide
14consistent, comprehensive and quality health care and benefits
15to women veterans of all eras; and

16WHEREAS, Even though the VA has been at the forefront of
17health care and lifestyle solutions for an aging male veteran
18population, there is now a growing need to improve health care
19services for women veterans, to ensure that clinicians are
20properly trained to provide primary care and gender-specific
21care to women of all ages and to identify innovative courses of
22treatment and solutions to obstacles that are unique to women
23veterans; and

24WHEREAS, With a rapidly increasing number of women serving in
25the military and returning from deployments as seasoned veterans
26and with some women having combat exposure, VA facilities and
27veterans service organizations are working to ensure that the
28postdeployment mental and physical health needs unique to women
29veterans are also met; and

30WHEREAS, As the roles of women in the military have changed

1over time and continue to evolve, women veterans deserve to be
2acknowledged for their military service and treated with equal
3respect as male veterans; therefore be it

4RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives honor women
5veterans who honorably and courageously served our country as
6members of the armed forces; and be it further

7RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives encourage women
8veterans to discuss their specific needs and concerns with State
9agency officials so that the General Assembly and agency
10officials may work together to consider policy solutions that
11will improve the quality of life of women veterans in this
12Commonwealth.