In The News

By Brendan McGarry and Amy Bushatz Originally Appeared on Millitary.com Days after a news organization reported the Defense Department is forcing National Guardsmen from California to pay back bonuses received in error, lawmakers and advocates are calling on officials to forgive their debt. Rep. Julia Brownley, a Democrat from the state, is among a growing […]

By Editorial Board Originally Appeared in The Ventura County Star It’s not easy these days trying to get anything done if you’re a Democrat in the fractious, Republican-controlled House of Representatives, especially if your eyes are set on major national issues and broad reforms. But the representative’s job can be much more than that — […]

By Staff Appeared Originally in The Camarillo Acorn U.S. Rep. Julia Brownley has announced that the Coast Guard will make its operating base at Naval Base Ventura County permanent. The guard had moved to NBVC due to the closure of the Air Station Los Angeles facility at Los Angeles International Airport. The new facility, now […]

By Kelsey Gerckens Originally Appeared on KEYT.com OJAI, Calif. – The Matilija Dam in Ojai will soon become a thing of the past.  The main reason why officials plan on tearing the Matilija Dam down is because it is no longer useful. Plans to tear down the Matilija Dam have been in the works since […]

A bill that would establish a national memorial to honor the victims of the St. Francis Dam disaster was endorsed Tuesday by the Ventura County Board of Supervisors. The bill has passed the House and is pending in the U.S. Senate. Rep. Julia Brownley, who appeared before supervisors to seek their support, said afterward that […]

Zachary Walker had his doubts about seeing a Department of Veterans Affairs doctor in Sepulveda through a two-way camera and television screen. The Navy veteran from Ventura wondered how she would check him over or listen to his heart. But his concerns about telemedicine were trumped by the frustrating alternative: It would take two months […]

Military veterans in Ventura County needing specialty medical care are increasingly seeing their providers through a Skype-like app. The Department of Veterans Affairs calls it “telehealth.” Traffic on the highways between the V.A. outpatient clinic in Oxnard and the veterans hospital in Westwood is a big reason for the change. It simply took too long […]

Rep. Julia Brownley got a firsthand look at the operations of Oxnard's outpatient facility for veterans on Tuesday, greeting patients and speaking with staff about their needs. The outpatient clinic on Universe Circle has been identified as having one of the worst backlogs for patient appointments. Compared to other Department of Veterans Affairs outpatient clinics, […]

WASHINGTON — House Democrats, including at least nine from California, staged an ongoing sit-in in the House Chamber Wednesday to demand that Speaker Paul Ryan permit a vote on gun safety legislation. They vowed not to allow a scheduled House break for Independence Day and to occupy the floor until the vote is allowed. “No bill, no break,” they […]

WASHINGTON — The House passed a measure Tuesday evening aimed at finding and implementing the best ways to prevent suicide by female military veterans. It is now headed to President Barack Obama to be signed into law. The House version of the measure was introduced last June by U.S. Rep. Julia Brownley, D-Westlake Village. The […]

WASHINGTON — An alarm that should have notified a Plains All American Pipeline operator of a rupture had been turned off, delaying the response to a devastating oil spill a year ago at Refugio State Beach, officials with the federal pipeline safety agency said Thursday. The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Administration released its final investigative […]

With hundreds of students looking on, Buena High School social studies teacher Emmet S. Cullen received a Bronze Star with Valor on Thursday for his heroic actions 10 years ago during the Iraq War, when he was a sergeant in the U.S. Army. U.S. Rep. Julia Brownley came to the short midday ceremony in the […]

At the front of a room filled with Vietnam veterans, a blue banner offered this message Tuesday: “A grateful nation thanks and honors you.” Bill Rowley, wearing his Army 1st Calvary Division cap, remembered people glaring at him as he walked through a San Francisco airport on his way back from the Vietnam War in 1970. […]

FINDING COMMON GROUND—Shawn Terris of Ventura, left, a veteran and former motor transport officer in the Marine Corps, expresses her concerns about sexual assaults in the military at U.S. Rep. Julia Brownley’s roundtable discussion March 10 at the Camarillo Library. Below, Connie Hanson, who is retired from the U.S. Air National Guard, discusses the transition […]

JUAN CARLO/THE STAR Shawn Terris of Ventura speaks to U.S. Rep. Julia Brownley in a roundtable event for women veterans in Camarillo. Terris served in the Marine Corps. Posted: March 10, 2016 JUAN CARLO/THE STAR U.S. Rep. Julia Brownley walks into a roundtable event for women veterans at the Camarillo Public Library. JUAN CARLO/THE STAR Mary […]

Rep. Julia Brownley has won unanimous House approval of her first solo piece of legislation. It will come as no surprise to those who have followed her career in Washington that it is focused on veterans. The Westlake Village Democrat introduced a House resolution about the growing problem of women veterans' suicides. It was passed […]

The Veterans Affairs Department needs to better understand the problem of suicide among female veterans and determine how best to treat at-risk women, according to a bill passed by the House of Representatives on Tuesday. The Female Veterans Suicide Prevention bill, HR 2915, would require VA to identify mental health and suicide prevention programs that […]

The U.S. House passed the measure, authored by Rep. Julia Brownley, D-Calif., by voice vote. Female veterans are six times more likely to commit suicide than non-veteran females. The Ventura County Star: Brownley Bill Aims To Reduce Suicides Among Female Military Veterans Seeking to implement the most effective methods of preventing suicide by female military […]