Supporting Survivors of Military Sexual Trauma Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6125 To direct the Secretaries of Defense and Veterans Affairs to coordinate support for survivors of sexual trauma. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 5, 2020 Ms. SPEIER (for herself, Ms. BROWNLEY of California, Mr. PAPPAS, Mr. COHEN, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. DEFAZIO, and Ms. NORTON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committee on Vet- erans’ Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the juris- diction of the committee concerned A BILL To direct the Secretaries of Defense and Veterans Affairs to coordinate support for survivors of sexual trauma. 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 ‘‘Supporting Survivors 4 of Military Sexual Trauma Act of 2020’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:21 Mar 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6125.IH H6125 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6125 IH SEC. 2. COORDINATION OF SUPPORT FOR SURVIVORS OF 1 SEXUAL TRAUMA. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 3 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretaries of De- 4 fense and Veterans Affairs shall jointly develop, imple- 5 ment, and maintain a standard of coordinated care for 6 members of the Armed Forces who are survivors of sexual 7 trauma. Such standard shall include the following: 8 (b) MINIMUM ELEMENTS.—The standard developed 9 and implemented under subsection (a) by the Secretaries 10 of Defense and Veterans Affairs shall include the fol- 11 lowing: 12 (1) INFORMATION FOR MEMBERS OF THE 13 ARMED FORCES.—The Secretary of Defense shall en- 14 sure that— 15 (A) information is posted in each facility of 16 the Department of Defense regarding services 17 furnished by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 18 to survivors of sexual trauma; and 19 (B) Sexual Assault Response Coordinators 20 and Uniformed Victim Advocates receive annual 21 training on resources of the Department of Vet- 22 erans Affairs regarding sexual trauma. 23 (2) COORDINATION BETWEEN STAFF OF THE 24 DEPARTMENTS.—The Secretaries shall ensure that a 25 Sexual Assault Response Coordinator or Uniformed 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:21 Mar 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6125.IH H6125 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6125 IH Victim Advocate of the Department of Defense who 1 receives a report of an instance of sexual trauma 2 connects each survivor to the Military Sexual Trau- 3 ma Coordinator of the Department of Veterans Af- 4 fairs at the facility of that Department nearest to 5 the residence of that survivor. 6 (c) REPORTS.— 7 (1) REPORT ON RESIDENTIAL TREATMENT.— 8 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact- 9 ment of this Act, the Secretaries of Defense and 10 Veterans Affairs shall provide a report to the appro- 11 priate committees of Congress regarding the avail- 12 ability of residential treatment programs for sur- 13 vivors of sexual trauma, including— 14 (A) barriers to access for such programs; 15 and 16 (B) resources required to reduce such bar- 17 riers. 18 (2) INITIAL REPORT.—Upon implementation of 19 the standard under subsection (a), the Secretaries of 20 Defense and Veterans Affairs shall jointly submit to 21 the appropriate committees of Congress a report on 22 the standard. 23 (3) PROGRESS REPORTS.—Not later than 180 24 days after submitting the initial report under para- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:21 Mar 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6125.IH H6125 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6125 IH graph (2), and on December 1 of each subsequent 1 year, the Secretaries of Defense and Veterans Af- 2 fairs shall jointly submit to the appropriate commit- 3 tees of Congress a report on the progress of the Sec- 4 retaries in implementing and improving the stand- 5 ard. 6 (4) UPDATES.—Whenever the Secretaries of 7 Defense and Veterans Affairs update the standard 8 developed under subsection (a), the Secretaries shall 9 jointly submit to the appropriate committees of Con- 10 gress a report on such update, including a com- 11 prehensive and detailed description of such update 12 and the reasons for such update. 13 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 14 (1) The term ‘‘sexual trauma’’ means psycho- 15 logical trauma described in section 1720D(a)(1) of 16 title 38, United States Code. 17 (2) The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con- 18 gress’’ means— 19 (A) the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of 20 the House of Representatives and the Senate; 21 and 22 (B) the Committees on Armed Services of 23 the House of Representatives and the Senate. 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:21 Mar 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H6125.IH H6125 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS