Washington news in brief

Senator backs bill to aid female vets

WASHINGTON — The Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee last week approved the Deborah Sampson Act, which seeks to eliminate barriers to health care that female veterans sometimes encounter.

U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., sponsored the bill. U.S. Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., was an original co-sponsor.

Among other things, the bill expands group counseling opportunities, increases the amount of newborn care available at VA facilities from seven days to 14 days.

It also requires that each VA medical facility employ “not fewer than one full-time or part-time women’s health primary care provider whose duties include, to the extent possible, providing training to other health care providers of the Department on the needs of women veterans.”

Today, roughly one out of every 11 veterans is a woman. By 2045, women will account for roughly one out of every six veterans, VA officials estimate.

Last week’s vote is “a first important step in ensuring that women veterans have access to care in a manner that is supportive to their needs,” Boozman said.

The lawmaker from Rogers serves on the Veterans’ Affairs Committee.

Bill would expand gun carrying law

U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., unveiled legislation last week that would expand the Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act so that current and former prosecutors, as well as federal judges, would be able to carry concealed weapons.

They had been omitted from existing legislation.

The bill, known as the Protect our Prosecutors and Judges Act, was introduced after an attack on the family of a federal judge in New Jersey.

The son of U.S. District

Judge Esther Salas was shot and killed on July 19, and her husband was seriously wounded by a New York attorney whose lawsuit Salas had handled.

The legislation, co-sponsored by U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler, R-Ga., is backed by the National District Attorneys Association and the National Sheriffs Association.

While covering most judges, it exempts those who are facing impeachment charges. The right would also be forfeited during periods when the judge is intoxicated.

Lawmaker lauds Spa City’s police

U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-Ark., entered a statement into the Congressional Record on Friday praising the Hot Springs Police Department for its “exemplary service” during the covid-19 pandemic.

“Now more than ever, we’ve seen the impact of our communities’ first responders and frontline workers, and in the 4th Congressional District, none are more appreciated than our police. Throughout this pandemic, Hot Springs officers have continued to put their own safety on the line defending our streets, homes and businesses,” the lawmaker from Hot Springs said.

The officers in his town have provided “a prime example of what it means to serve the people around you,” he said.

In another Congressional Record entry Friday, Westerman praised “the exceptional work” of Tanner Team Sports in Hot Springs.

The company, known for its baseball products, has been making “quality face masks,” as the nation endures a public health crisis, he said.

Planning to visit the nation’s capital? Know something happening in Washington, D.C.? Please contact Frank Lockwood at (202) 662-7690 or flockwood@arkansas online.com. Want the latest from the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s Washington bureau? It’s available on Twitter, @LockwoodFrank.