To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish and implement a comprehensive anti-harassment and anti-sexual assault policy of the Department of Veterans Affairs.

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4554 To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish and implement a comprehensive anti-harassment and anti-sexual assault policy of the Department of Veterans Affairs. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 27, 2019 Ms. BROWNLEY of California introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Sec- retary of Veterans Affairs to establish and implement a comprehensive anti-harassment and anti-sexual assault policy of the Department of Veterans Affairs. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. ANTI-HARASSMENT AND ANTI-SEXUAL ASSAULT 3 POLICY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS 4 AFFAIRS. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 5 of title 6 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 7 the following new section: 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:30 Oct 02, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4554.IH H4554 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4554 IH ‘‘§ 533. Anti-harassment and anti-sexual assault pol- 1 icy 2 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Veterans 3 Affairs shall establish a comprehensive policy to end har- 4 assment and sexual assault, including sexual and gender- 5 based harassment, at all facilities of the Department of 6 Veterans Affairs. This policy shall include the following: 7 ‘‘(1) Responses to incidents of harassment and 8 sexual assault committed by any veteran or other 9 public visitor within a facility of the Department. 10 ‘‘(2) Responses to incidents of harassment and 11 sexual assault of any veteran or other public visitor 12 within a facility of the Department. 13 ‘‘(3) A process for reporting and responding to 14 harassment and sexual assault described in para- 15 graph (1). 16 ‘‘(4) A process for reporting and responding to 17 harassment and sexual assault described in para- 18 graph (2). 19 ‘‘(5) A mandatory reporting requirement appli- 20 cable to any employee or contractor of the Depart- 21 ment who witnesses harassment or sexual assault 22 within a facility of the Department. 23 ‘‘(6) Mandatory annual training for employees 24 and contractors of the Department regarding how to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:30 Oct 02, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4554.IH H4554 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4554 IH report and address harassment and sexual assault 1 described in paragraphs (1) and (2). 2 ‘‘(7) Annual distribution of anti-harassment 3 and anti-sexual assault educational materials by mail 4 or email to each individual entitled to a benefit 5 under a law administered by the Secretary. 6 ‘‘(8) The prominent display of anti-harassment 7 and anti-sexual assault messages in each facility of 8 the Department, including how to report harassment 9 and sexual assault at such facility. 10 ‘‘(9) The posting of anti-harassment and anti- 11 sexual assault banners on websites of the Depart- 12 ment, including eBenefits.va.gov and 13 myHealthEVet.va.gov. 14 ‘‘(b) POINTS OF CONTACT.—The Secretary shall des- 15 ignate, as a point of contact to receive reports of harass- 16 ment and sexual assault— 17 ‘‘(1) at least one individual at each facility of 18 the Department, with regards to that facility; 19 ‘‘(2) at least one individual employed in each 20 Veterans Integrated Service Network (‘VISN’), with 21 regards to facilities in that VISN; and 22 ‘‘(3) at least one individual employed at the 23 Central Office of the Department to track reports of 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:30 Oct 02, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4554.IH H4554 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4554 IH harassment across the Department, disaggregated 1 by facility. 2 ‘‘(c) REPORTING.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 3 shall submit to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of 4 the Senate and the House of Representatives an annual 5 report on harassment and sexual assault in facilities of 6 the Department. Each such report shall include the fol- 7 lowing: 8 ‘‘(1) Results of harassment and sexual assault 9 programming, including the End Harassment pro- 10 gram. 11 ‘‘(2) Results of studies from the Women’s 12 Health Practice Based Research Network related to 13 harassment and sexual assault. 14 ‘‘(3) Data collected on incidents of sexual har- 15 assment and sexual assault. 16 ‘‘(4) A description of any actions taken by the 17 Secretary during the year preceding the date of the 18 report to stop harassment and sexual assault at fa- 19 cilities of the Department. 20 ‘‘(5) An assessment of the implementation of 21 the training required in subsection (a)(5). 22 ‘‘(6) A list of resources the Secretary deter- 23 mines necessary to prevent harassment and sexual 24 assault at facilities of the Department.’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:30 Oct 02, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4554.IH H4554 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4554 IH (b) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 1 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by adding 2 after the item relating to section 532 the following new 3 item: 4 ‘‘533. Anti-harassment and anti-sexual assault policy.’’. (c) DEADLINE.—The Secretary shall carry out sec- 5 tion 533 of such title, as added by subsection (a), not later 6 than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act. 7 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:30 Oct 02, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4554.IH H4554 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS