{"id":17194,"date":"2022-06-09T19:00:34","date_gmt":"2022-06-09T19:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2022\/06\/09\/despite-promises-of-inclusivity-va-motto-remains-focused-on-men\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T05:36:30","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T05:36:30","slug":"despite-promises-of-inclusivity-va-motto-remains-focused-on-men","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/veterans\/2022\/06\/09\/despite-promises-of-inclusivity-va-motto-remains-focused-on-men\/","title":{"rendered":"Despite promises of inclusivity, VA motto remains focused on men"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In his first message to Veterans Affairs staff shortly after confirmation in early 2020, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2021\/02\/23\/va-secretary-promises-diverse-leadership-team-but-cant-say-when-theyll-be-in-place\/\" target=\"_blank\">Secretary Denis McDonough<\/a> promised to make the department more \u201cinclusive\u201d as an institution, and to ensure that \u201cVA welcomes\u202fall\u202fveterans, including women, veterans of color and LGBTQ veterans.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But in the 16 months since, most VA facilities still welcome veterans with a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2018\/11\/08\/as-more-female-vets-head-to-congress-lawmakers-update-efforts-to-change-vas-motto\/\" target=\"_blank\">motto emblazoned on the wall<\/a> that is focused on men only, a message that is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2020\/07\/30\/plan-to-change-va-motto-to-include-women-draws-republican-support\/\" target=\"_blank\">less-than-inviting for many veterans<\/a>, critics say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThere have already been so many good opportunities to change the motto and make it more inclusive to veterans who are women, transgender, gay,\u201d said Kaitlynne Hetrick, government affairs associate at Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. \u201cBut it feels like they\u2019re just pushing the issue aside.\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\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2020\/07\/30\/plan-to-change-va-motto-to-include-women-draws-republican-support\/\" 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=\"225\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/331954.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\">Plan to change VA motto to include women draws Republican support<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Department leaders have brushed off the effort as political correctness run amok, saying that changing Lincoln\u2019s words would amount to revising history.<\/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\">The fight centers on the the long-used department motto, which quotes President Abraham Lincoln\u2019s promise in his second inaugural address: \u201cTo care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphan.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Advocates say the motto is too specific for today\u2019s diverse veterans community and have lobbied for a change to gender-neutral language: \u201cTo care for those who shall have borne the battle, and for their families, caregivers and survivors.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The idea has gained support from Democratic lawmakers and a few Republican members of Congress, but that idea was largely sidelined during President Donald Trump administration when then-VA Secretary Robert Wilkie publicly opposed any change, claiming it was a revision of American history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Supporters had hoped that when McDonough took over, the idea could move quickly as part of Biden\u2019s promised reforms for VA. Instead, the issue has languished for months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Veterans organizations said they were surveyed about potential changes months ago, but have not heard back on the issue. When asked about it, department officials said they had no pending announcements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe frustration level over this is very high,\u201d Hetrick said. \u201cThere\u2019s no update, nothing happening.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lindsay Church, executive director of Minority Veterans of America, said the group\u2019s members are increasingly upset over VA\u2019s lack of movement on the motto and other inclusion issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe\u2019re seeing commitments and nice words, but not any actual action,\u201d Church said. \u201cThe trust with our community is eroding every day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">House lawmakers advanced legislation in 2020 to force the motto change, but the matter stalled in the Senate. One of the sponsors of that effort \u2014 Rep. Kathleen Rice, D-N.Y. \u2014 said she believes the issue is most easily handled by VA administrators now, and hopes to see action soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But she said VA officials have not offered any recent updates on the issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt is long overdue,\u201d she said of the need to change the motto. \u201cI think everyone is aware of it \u2026 but I think that other issues have taken center stage, the pandemic and other priorities.\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\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2018\/11\/08\/as-more-female-vets-head-to-congress-lawmakers-update-efforts-to-change-vas-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\/4813525.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\">As more female vets head to Congress, there\u2019s a new push to change VA\u2019s male-focused motto<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Critics argue that the current department motto ignores the contributions of women in the military.<\/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\">The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that changing the motto will cost about $1 million over five years, as plaques and displays are replaced with the new wording.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Church and Hetrick said they are still hopeful that a motto change could take place before the November elections. If Republicans regain control of Congress after that, the political fight over making a change could become more complicated, and encroach on other department legislative priorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe made so much progress on this in the past,\u201d Church said. \u201cSo this is frustrating now. Where are the results?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Efforts to update the VA motto to gender-neutral wording have stalled over the past year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":27396,"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":19,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,23,89,12,26,62,19],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3222],"class_list":["post-17194","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-home","category-middle-column","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pentagon-congress","category-veterans"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"DUM2T5OQGFCEHE7DQ333LSMGIQ","arc_canonical_url":"\/veterans\/2022\/06\/09\/despite-promises-of-inclusivity-va-motto-remains-focused-on-men\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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