In a better day torches and pitchforks would be in use.
A pair of House lawmakers introduced legislation Friday to alter the Department of Veterans Affairs motto to be more inclusive of veterans’ families and women who have served.
The VA motto, which has been the same for nearly 60 years, is a quote from President Abraham Lincoln’s second inaugural address in 1865: “To care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow, and his orphan.”
Reps. Kathleen Rice, D-N.Y., and Brian Mast, R-Fla., want to change the motto to read: “To fulfill President Lincoln’s promise to care for those ‘who shall have borne the battle’ and for their families, caregivers, and survivors.”
A staffer for Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., said the senator intends to introduced a similar bill in the upper chamber in the coming weeks.
The lawmakers contend the current VA motto isn’t representative of a growing population of women veterans. According to VA statistics, women make up nearly 12 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.
“The brave women who have worn our nation’s uniform and their families deserve to be equally embraced by the motto of the very agency meant to support them,” Rice said in a statement. “This bill will finally give women veterans the recognition they deserve for their service and sacrifice – it’s long overdue and anything less is unacceptable.”[…]
The new legislation would require VA Secretary Robert Wilkie to update agency websites with the new motto within 30 days. Wilkie would then have to submit a timeline to Congress for when the change would be taken system-wide.
Two House lawmakers launch new effort to make VA motto gender inclusive
A pair of House lawmakers introduced legislation Friday to alter the Department of Veterans Affairs motto to be more inclusive of veterans’ families and women who have served.
The VA motto, which has been the same for nearly 60 years, is a quote from President Abraham Lincoln’s second inaugural address in 1865: “To care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow, and his orphan.”
Reps. Kathleen Rice, D-N.Y., and Brian Mast, R-Fla., want to change the motto to read: “To fulfill President Lincoln’s promise to care for those ‘who shall have borne the battle’ and for their families, caregivers, and survivors.”
A staffer for Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., said the senator intends to introduced a similar bill in the upper chamber in the coming weeks.
The lawmakers contend the current VA motto isn’t representative of a growing population of women veterans. According to VA statistics, women make up nearly 12 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.
“The brave women who have worn our nation’s uniform and their families deserve to be equally embraced by the motto of the very agency meant to support them,” Rice said in a statement. “This bill will finally give women veterans the recognition they deserve for their service and sacrifice – it’s long overdue and anything less is unacceptable.”[…]
The new legislation would require VA Secretary Robert Wilkie to update agency websites with the new motto within 30 days. Wilkie would then have to submit a timeline to Congress for when the change would be taken system-wide.
Two House lawmakers launch new effort to make VA motto gender inclusive
