Media Center

Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the VA Marriage and Family Therapists Equity Act, legislation authored by Congresswoman Julia Brownley, Ranking Member of the House Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Health.

The move is drawing condemnation from some Democrats in Congress – and praise from some Republicans. Rep. Julia Brownley, a California Democrat and member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, has introduced a bill that would add abortion and abortion counseling as services provided under law.

Today, Congresswoman Julia Brownley, Ranking Member of the House Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Health, introduced a joint resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act (CRA), to formally overturn the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) recently finalized abortion rule.  

Rep. Julia Brownley, D-Calif., said that the VA is becoming a payer, rather than a provider, of health services. “VA is not shutting down facilities, but it does not require important oversight for veterans to receive care in the community,” Brownley said. “It seems competition is the oversight piece in the contract.”

Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Veterans Law Judge Experience Act, a bill authored by Congresswoman Julia Brownley to give hiring preference to Veterans Law Judges who have three or more years of experience. Hiring judges with experience in veterans’ law will increase the number of cases decided, improve case accuracy, and incentivize experienced judges to remain in the field.

Rep. Julia Brownley, D-Calif., has introduced legislation to overturn the new restrictions. The Reproductive Freedom for Veterans Act would guarantee veterans and their eligible family members “a protected legal right” to receive abortion services from the VA. The bill has collected 118 co-sponsors and was referred to the House Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Health.

“The Trump administration’s dangerous decision to roll back VA’s already limited abortion access is clearly driven by politics, not patient care,” said Congresswoman Julia Brownley (CA-26), Ranking Member of the House Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Health. 

Congresswoman Julia Brownley announced the reintroduction of the Gold Star Siblings Educational Benefits Act, legislation that would extend educational benefits to the surviving siblings of fallen or permanently disabled servicemembers and veterans who are unmarried and without children.

Congresswoman Julia Brownley announced the reintroduction of the Supporting Military Families Exposed to Toxic Substances Act, legislation to extend U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care benefits to eligible military and veteran family members exposed to toxic substances. Specifically, the bill would provide VA health care to family members and other individuals who lived or worked at certain military facilities and have been diagnosed with a presumptive service-connected disability resulting from toxic exposure.

On this day and every day, I extend my heartfelt gratitude to our veterans and their families for their extraordinary courage, sacrifice, and service to our country. More than 40,000 veterans and their loved ones call Ventura County and the Conejo Valley home, and I am proud to work on their behalf in Congress. Honoring our veterans is a responsibility that never ends, and neither does the work to ensure they receive the care, benefits, and support they have earned.

Democrats have raised concerns that broadening access to community care will effectively lead eventually to the privatization of the VA by depriving the Veterans Health Administration of funds needed to support the department’s own medical facilities and to provide quality care. “Under this administration, we are seeing a chaotic approach to delivering veterans’ health care that undercuts VA’s internal capacity, shifts more and more care to the community, and leaves veterans and VA employees in the lurch,” said Rep. Julia Brownley, D-Calif., ranking member of the House Veterans Affairs Health Subcommittee during a July 15 hearing on community care.

Rep. Julia Brownley, D-Calif., questioned why VA supervisors were asked to sign nondisclosure statements and why spyware was installed on some staff computers. Collins said it is necessary to monitor office communications to ‘‘keep sensitive information internal” as he develops a reorganization plan for the agency.

For 25 years, between 1951 and 1976, women service members were involuntarily separated from the military due to motherhood, leaving without separation benefits, counseling or assistance. In 2023, Congress recognized the injustice in its annual defense policy bill, acknowledging the harm it caused to women troops. Now, Rep. Julia Brownley, D-Calif., is leading legislation that aims to make financial and symbolic amends.

Rep. Julia Brownley, D-Calif., authored several provisions featured in the bill and called long-term care “one of the biggest challenges facing our aging population and their families.” She praised the House vote as setting the stage for “the single largest expansion of long-term care services at VA in decades.”

The VEO bill introduced by Budzinski and Rep. Julia Brownley, D-Calif., requires the office to report data continuously to lawmakers and calls for a Government Accountability Office review of the efficacy of the VEO’s 1–800–MyVA411 hotline. The hotline offers information on VA benefits and can connect callers with experts.

Rep. Julia Brownley (D-Calif.) introduced the Women Involuntary Separated Earnings Remittance (WISER) Act last week to “rectify a wrong perpetuated against women servicemembers” who were discharged due to an executive order by former President Harry Truman.

The drive for the award started in 2005 and hit snags that included bureaucracy and missing paperwork. Ligato and others kept pushing. U.S. Rep. Julia Brownley, D-Westlake Village, led the drive in Congress, authoring a bill waiving the five-year deadline for the award. In 2018, Canley put on his Marine blues and received the award as his Marines and others yelled “Ooorah.”

“VA isn’t going to solve this problem by itself,” said Rep. Julia Brownley, D-Calif. “This program could be wildly successful, but it could be a financial failure as well. We have to approach this in a data-driven, continuous improvement model, to make sure every grantee is continually improving that program. And I don’t know if VA has the capability to do that.”