II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1365 

To require the Secretary of Defense to include victims of acts of terror 

in the evaluation and treatment of veterans and civilians at military 

treatment facilities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 15, 2017 

Ms. WARREN (for herself and Ms. COLLINS) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Defense to include victims of 

acts of terror in the evaluation and treatment of veterans 

and civilians at military treatment facilities, and for 

other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Jessica Kensky and 

5 Patrick Downes Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. INCLUSION OF VICTIMS OF ACTS OF TERROR IN 

2 EVALUATION AND TREATMENT OF VETERANS 

3 AND CIVILIANS AT MILITARY TREATMENT FA4 CILITIES. 

5 Section 717 of the National Defense Authorization 

6 Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (Public Law 114–328; 10 U.S.C. 

7 1071 note) is amended— 

8 (1) in the section heading, by inserting ‘‘, IN9 CLUDING VICTIMS OF ACTS OF TERROR,’’ after 

10 ‘‘CIVILIANS’’; 

11 (2) in subsection (a), in the matter preceding 

12 paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘, including a victim of 

13 an act of terror,’’ after ‘‘civilian’’; and 

14 (3) by striking subsection (d) and inserting the 

15 following new subsections: 

16 ‘‘(d) PROCEDURES AFTER ACTS OF TERROR.— 

17 ‘‘(1) PROCEDURES.—Not later than 270 days 

18 after the date of the enactment of the Jessica 

19 Kensky and Patrick Downes Act, the Secretary of 

20 Defense shall, in consultation with the Secretary of 

21 Homeland Security, the Secretary of Health and 

22 Human Services, and the heads of such other Fed23 eral agencies as the Secretary of Defense considers 

24 appropriate, establish procedures to implement sub25 section (a) with respect to victims of acts of terror, 

26 which shall include the following: 


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1 ‘‘(A) Procedures for the conduct of timely 

2 outreach and communication to local medical 

3 facilities after an act of terror in the United 

4 States. 

5 ‘‘(B) Procedures to promptly contact, co6 ordinate, and provide medical expertise to local 

7 medical facilities that are treating victims of an 

8 act of terror that caused blast related injuries, 

9 mass shooting related injuries, burn related in10 juries, or other serious injuries. 

11 ‘‘(C) Procedures for the provision of med12 ical evaluations for victims of an act of terror 

13 who were exposed to such injuries. 

14 ‘‘(2) RELEASE TO PRIVATE SECTOR HEALTH

15 CARE PROVIDER.—The Secretary may not release a 

16 victim of an act of terror who is receiving care under 

17 subsection (a) to a health care provider in the pri18 vate sector until a comprehensive treatment plan is 

19 communicated to the individual or a health care pro20 vider of the individual. 

21 ‘‘(3) REPORTS.—Not later than 180 days after 

22 an act of terror that results in civilians being evalu23 ated and treated at a military treatment facility 

24 under subsection (a), the Secretary of Defense shall 

25 submit to the Committees on Armed Services of the 


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1 Senate and the House of Representatives a report 

2 that includes— 

3 ‘‘(A) the number of victims of the act of 

4 terror who are receiving treatment at a military 

5 treatment facility; 

6 ‘‘(B) a list of the types of injuries being 

7 treated; and 

8 ‘‘(C) such recommendations to improve the 

9 procedures established under paragraph (1) as 

10 the Secretary considers appropriate. 

11 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

12 ‘‘(1) ACT OF TERROR.—The term ‘act of terror’ 

13 means an act of domestic terrorism or international 

14 terrorism, as those terms are defined in section 2331 

15 of title 18, United States Code. 

16 ‘‘(2) COVERED BENEFICIARY.—The term ‘cov17 ered beneficiary’ has the meaning given that term in 

18 section 1072 of title 10, United States Code. 

19 ‘‘(3) VICTIM.—The term ‘victim’, with respect 

20 to an act of terror, means an individual who suffered 

21 physical injury as a direct result of the act of ter22 ror.’’. 

Æ 


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