{"id":29306,"date":"2018-11-08T20:58:37","date_gmt":"2018-11-08T20:58:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/11\/08\/as-more-female-vets-head-to-congress-lawmakers-update-efforts-to-change-vas-motto\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T08:47:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T08:47:16","slug":"as-more-female-vets-head-to-congress-lawmakers-update-efforts-to-change-vas-motto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/congress\/2018\/11\/08\/as-more-female-vets-head-to-congress-lawmakers-update-efforts-to-change-vas-motto\/","title":{"rendered":"As more female vets head to Congress, there\u2019s a new push to change VA\u2019s male-focused motto"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 After <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/2018\/11\/07\/the-number-of-vets-in-congress-appears-headed-down-again\/\" target=\"_blank\">three new female veterans won election<\/a> in Tuesday\u2019s midterms, two female Democratic lawmakers are again pushing the Department of Veterans Affairs to change its motto to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2018\/09\/07\/secretary-promises-va-will-be-more-welcoming-to-women\/\" target=\"_blank\">\u201cbe more inclusive to women.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Rep. Kathleen Rice, both from New York, introduced new legislation Thursday for VA to update <a href=\"https:\/\/www.armytimes.com\/veterans\/2017\/11\/02\/va-unfazed-by-criticism-of-sexist-motto\/\" target=_blank>the current mission statement<\/a> from \u201cTo care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan\u201d to a less gender-specific phrase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The current motto comes from President Abraham Lincoln\u2019s second inaugural address, as a charge for the country to look after the veterans of the Civil War.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rice and Gillibrand charge the current language \u201cfails to recognize the service and sacrifice of the thousands of women in uniform.\u201d They are proposing changing the language to \u201cTo fulfill President Lincoln\u2019s promise to care for those \u2018who shall have borne the battle\u2019 and for their families, caregivers, and survivors.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/veterans\/2017\/11\/02\/va-unfazed-by-criticism-of-sexist-motto\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/636005034607321664-3h4a6825-1-jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">VA unfazed by criticism of \u2018sexist\u2019 motto<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">IAVA officials say the current department motto ignores women veterans and needs to be updated.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">VA officials in the past have strongly objected to the idea, arguing in favor of preserving the historical accuracy of Lincoln\u2019s quote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The lawmakers called that opposition disappointing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAs women continue to play an increasingly vital role in our armed forces, they\u2019ve become a larger and more prominent part of our veteran community,\u201d Rice said in a statement. \u201cBut unfortunately, the Department of Veterans Affairs mission statement simply does not reflect that reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe brave women who have worn our nation&#8217;s uniform and their families deserve to be equally embraced by the motto of the very agency meant to support them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"apester-media\" data-media-id=\"5be5c91defb8b83f26f9f393\"\nheight=\"416\"><\/div>\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/static.apester.com\/js\/sdk\/latest\/apester-sdk.js\"><\/script>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Officials from Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America have made the motto change a key focus in recent years, working with lawmakers like Rice to find ways around VA\u2019s opposition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Allison Jaslow, former executive director of IAVA, said the motto change is needed to send a message throughout the department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWith its motto, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is telling women veterans and survivors of fallen women service members that they aren\u2019t seen, that they don\u2019t matter,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cModernizing the VA&#8217;s motto isn&#8217;t a matter of political correctness, but respect for the over 2 million women veterans in America today.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">An estimated 345,000 women have deployed overseas since 2001. About 16 percent of the active-duty force are women.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/2018\/11\/08\/for-todays-va-its-the-best-of-times-and-the-worst-of-times\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/VA-photo-marine.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">For today\u2019s VA, it\u2019s the best of times and the worst of times<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">In the last year, the Department of Veterans Affairs has seen big successes and even bigger controversies.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Four female veterans are currently serving in Congress: Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, and Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., in the Senate; Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, and Martha McSally, R-Ariz., in the House. All four served overseas In Iraq or Afghanistan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">McSally\u2019s bid for Arizona\u2019s open Senate seat is still being tallied. If she wins, the number of female veterans will jump to at least seven next session, with Democrats Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey, Elaine Luria of Virginia and Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania winning contests this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The legislation faces long odds of passage given the short schedule remaining for Congress this year, but its introduction now could build additional attention on the topic for next session, when a Democratic-led House may be more receptive to the change.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Critics argue that the current department motto ignores the contributions of women in the military.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":90871,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":38,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[38,106,31,33,9],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3294],"class_list":["post-29306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-congress","category-daily-brief","category-home","category-newsletters","category-federal-oversight"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"RLWPNBDQZBAT3PZHH3CKJZ5HUY","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2018\/11\/08\/as-more-female-vets-head-to-congress-lawmakers-update-efforts-to-change-vas-motto\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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