Improve Data on Sexual Violence Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1432 To direct the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to establish an interagency working group to study Federal efforts to collect data on sexual violence and to make recommendations on the harmonization of those efforts, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 13, 2019 Mr. JOHNSON (for himself and Ms. ERNST) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Secu- rity and Governmental Affairs A BILL To direct the Director of the Office of Management and Budget to establish an interagency working group to study Federal efforts to collect data on sexual violence and to make recommendations on the harmonization of those efforts, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Improve Data on Sex- 4 ual Violence Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:38 May 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1432.IS S1432 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 1432 IS SEC. 2. INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP TO STUDY FED- 1 ERAL EFFORTS TO COLLECT DATA ON SEX- 2 UAL VIOLENCE. 3 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act— 4 (1) the term ‘‘harmonize’’ includes coordinating 5 the collection of data on sexual violence by Federal 6 agencies to produce complementary information, as 7 appropriate, without compromising programmatic 8 needs; 9 (2) the term ‘‘sexual violence’’ includes any un- 10 wanted sexual act, regardless of whether the act in- 11 volves physical contact, about which the Federal 12 Government collects data; and 13 (3) the term ‘‘Working Group’’ means the 14 interagency working group established by the Direc- 15 tor of the Office of Management and Budget under 16 subsection (b). 17 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 days after 18 the date of enactment of this Act, the Director of the Of- 19 fice of Management and Budget shall establish an inter- 20 agency working group to— 21 (1) study Federal efforts to collect data on sex- 22 ual violence; and 23 (2) make recommendations on the harmoni- 24 zation of Federal efforts to collect data on sexual vi- 25 olence. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:38 May 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1432.IS S1432 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 1432 IS (c) COMPOSITION.—The Working Group shall be 1 composed of not less than 1 representative, who shall be 2 selected by the head of the Federal agency of which the 3 representative is a representative, from each of the fol- 4 lowing Federal agencies: 5 (1) The Centers for Disease Control and Pre- 6 vention. 7 (2) The Department of Defense. 8 (3) The Department of Education. 9 (4) The Department of Health and Human 10 Services. 11 (5) The Department of Justice. 12 (d) DUTIES.—In carrying out the purposes of the 13 Working Group described in subsection (b), the Working 14 Group shall— 15 (1) consider— 16 (A) what acts constitute different acts of 17 sexual violence; 18 (B) whether Federal reports that use the 19 same terms for acts of sexual violence are col- 20 lecting the same data on those acts; 21 (C) whether the context in which an act of 22 sexual violence occurs should impact how that 23 act is accounted for in a Federal report; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:38 May 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1432.IS S1432 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 1432 IS (D) whether the data collected is presented 1 in a way that allows the general public to un- 2 derstand what acts of sexual violence are in- 3 cluded in each measurement; 4 (E) steps that Federal agencies that collect 5 data on or compile Federal reports relating to 6 sexual violence can take to avoid double count- 7 ing any incident of sexual violence in a single 8 Federal report; 9 (F) best practices for collecting data on 10 acts of sexual violence; 11 (G) the extent to which Federal efforts to 12 collect data on sexual violence incorporate the 13 best practices described in subparagraph (F); 14 (H) steps that Federal agencies that col- 15 lect data on sexual violence can take to ensure 16 that Federal reports on sexual violence are able 17 to provide comparisons to data contained in 18 Federal reports on sexual violence for prior 19 years if changes are made to the methodology 20 used to prepare those Federal reports; and 21 (I) steps that Federal agencies that collect 22 data on sexual violence can take to harmonize 23 Federal efforts to collect data on sexual vio- 24 lence; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:38 May 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1432.IS S1432 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 1432 IS (2) consult with stakeholders that have— 1 (A) expertise in the study of sexual vio- 2 lence; or 3 (B) experience working with victims of sex- 4 ual violence. 5 (e) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 2 years 6 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Working 7 Group shall publish and submit to Congress a report that 8 contains— 9 (1) a description of the activities of the Work- 10 ing Group; 11 (2) the findings and recommendations of the 12 Working Group with respect to each of the topics 13 described in subsection (d)(1), including the findings 14 and recommendations of the Working Group relating 15 to harmonizing Federal efforts to collect data on 16 sexual violence; and 17 (3) the recommendations of the Working Group 18 relating to actions that Federal agencies and Con- 19 gress can take to implement the recommendations 20 described in paragraph (2). 21 (f) TERMINATION.—The Working Group shall termi- 22 nate 30 days after the date on which the Working Group 23 submits the report under subsection (e). 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:38 May 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1432.IS S1432 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS