Miller-Meeks Joins Letter of All Women Veterans in Congress to Preserve DACOWITS

Press Release

Today, July 5th, 2021, Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (IA-02), a retired Army Lt. Colonel, joined a bipartisan and bicameral letter signed by all women veterans serving in Congress calling on Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to restore the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services (DACOWITS). The letter is also signed by Sens. Joni Ernst (R-IA) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Reps. Elaine Luria (VA-02), Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11), and Chrissy Houlahan (PA-06).

"We are the faces of what DACOWITS has meant for women in the military," the letter states. "As women veterans in Congress, we know the value of expanding opportunities within the services for women and the value that, in turn, has brought to our Armed Forces. Eliminating DACOWITS or subsuming it within another organization is contrary to its intent, history, and success. We do not believe its work is complete, as evidenced by so many issues we are currently addressing as a nation and a military."

To read the full letter, click HERE.

Background:

The letter comes in the wake of reports that the Secretary of Defense has disbanded DACOWITS, and all 42 Department of Defense Advisory committees, pending a cost and efficiency review.

Established in 1951, DACOWITS provides advice and recommendations to the Secretary of Defense on matters and policies relating to the recruitment, retention, employment, integration, well-being, and treatment of servicewomen in the Armed Forces. Roughly 97 percent of its more than 1,000 recommendations have been fully or partially adopted.

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