U.S. Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-OH) and U.S. Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) on March 29 each sponsored a bipartisan, bicameral bill that would prohibit smoking on the premises of a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health facility.
“Those who served and sacrificed for our country deserve access to the best possible health care,” said Rep. Wenstrup. “Our veterans should receive the same considerations and treatment in the VA that they would in the private sector.”
“The focus of VA hospitals should be promoting the health and well-being of the veterans they care for,” Sen. Collins said. “By making VA facilities across the country entirely smoke-free, this bipartisan bill would further protect the health of veterans who rely on the VA for care.”
Rep. Wenstrup sponsored H.R. 2398 alongside original cosponsor U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-IL), while Sen. Collins signed on as the lead of 10 original cosponsors of S. 1040, which is sponsored by U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL). The bills would repeal a 1992 law that requires the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) to furnish and maintain designated indoor or outdoor smoking areas, including at VA hospitals and clinics.
“Requiring that VHA facilities become 100 percent smoke-free helps bring VHA standards on par with private sector facilities and better protects the health and well-being of our nation’s heroes and the healthcare workers who care for them,” Rep. Wenstrup added. “It’s time that Congress change federal law to protect veteran patients and maintain the same smoke-free standard already in place at private hospitals.”
The legislation is supported by the American Lung Association, the American Heart Association, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, and more than three dozen additional medical and public health organizations, according to the lawmakers.
“The majority of veterans treated by the VA health care system do not smoke. We shouldn’t expose them to secondhand smoke when they are attending a doctor’s appointment,” said Sen. Durbin. “I’m leading this bipartisan, bicameral effort to protect veterans from the deadly consequences of tobacco use and secondhand smoke.”