United States · Bill · HR
H.R. 3972 (104th)
Women Veterans' Health Act of 1996
Introduced
2 August 1996
Last action
—
Status
Referred to the Subcommittee on Hospitals and Health Care.
Sponsors
—
Subjects
Discovery layer
Source updated
21 August 2025
Summary
Women Veterans' Health Act of 1996 - Specifies the services to be included as women's health services in the Department of Veterans Affairs. Allows those services provided on an ambulatory or outpatient basis to be procured by contract when Department facilities are not capable of furnishing economical hospital care or medical services because of geographical inaccessibility or otherwise. (Sec. 3) Makes permanent (currently terminates on December 31, 1998) a Department program providing sexual trauma counseling and treatment to women veterans. (Sec. 4) Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to report to the veterans' committees on the provision of health care services and the conduct of research carried out by the Department relating to women veterans. Requires such report to be prepared through the Center for Women Veterans. (Sec. 5) Authorizes the Secretary to waive a requirement that women and other minority veterans be included as subjects in Department clinical health research. Directs the Secretary to foster and encourage research on specified gender-specific matters relating to women (breast cancer, gynecological and reproductive health, and sexual trauma), as well as non-gender-specific matters (HIV and AIDS, substance abuse, aging, and cardiac care). Requires certain Department personnel to be involved in such research. (Sec. 6) Directs the Secretary to study and report to the veterans' committees concerning the needs of women veterans for health care services. Requires a representative sampling of all categories of women veterans in such study. Authorizes appropriations. (Sec. 7) Directs the Secretary to ensure that: (1) homeless women veterans are included in homeless veterans' outreach programs and services; and (2) women veterans who receive Department psychiatric treatment, especially for sexual trauma, receive such treatment in a safe and effective manner that recognizes their privacy needs. (Sec. 9) Makes applicable to Department mammography services and facilities the mammography quality standards promulgated under the Public Health Service Act. Extends the deadline for meeting such requirements. (Sec. 10) Requires, with respect to the Center for Women Veterans: (1) adequate clerical support to carry out the functions of the Director of the Center; and (2) an Associate Director.
This text is taken from the official record. PoliticalRepo does not editorialize.
Timeline
No timeline events have been ingested for this record yet.
Votes
No vote records are attached yet.
Versions
No version snapshots stored. Document URLs remain at the source.
Documents
3 official files
Introduced in House (text)
Introduced in House (text)
Introduced in House · EN · 2 August 1996
Introduced in House (PDF)
Introduced in House · EN · 2 August 1996
Introduced in House
summary · EN · 2 August 1996
Sponsors
No sponsors or actors listed by the source.
Related records
No cross-record relationships stored yet.
Sources
PoliticalRepo is an index and interpretation layer, not the authoritative legal source.
- Official source: https://www.congress.gov/bill/104th-congress/house-bill/3972
- Open data entity: https://api.congress.gov/v3/bill/104/hr/3972