II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1581 

To authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide counseling and 

treatment for sexual trauma to members of the Armed Forces, to require 

the Secretary to screen veterans for domestic abuse, to require the 

Secretary to submit reports on military sexual trauma and domestic 

abuse, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 28, 2013 

Mr. SANDERS introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide 

counseling and treatment for sexual trauma to members 

of the Armed Forces, to require the Secretary to screen 

veterans for domestic abuse, to require the Secretary 

to submit reports on military sexual trauma and domestic abuse, 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 ‘‘Survivors of Military 

5 Sexual Assault and Domestic Abuse Act of 2013’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PROVISION OF COUNSELING AND TREATMENT FOR 

2 SEXUAL TRAUMA BY THE DEPARTMENT OF 

3 VETERANS AFFAIRS TO MEMBERS OF THE 

4 ARMED FORCES. 

5 (a) EXPANSION OF COVERAGE TO MEMBERS OF THE

6 ARMED FORCES.—Subsection (a) of section 1720D of title 

7 38, United States Code, is amended— 

8 (1) by redesignating paragraph (2) as para9 graph (3); 

10 (2) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol11 lowing new paragraph (2): 

12 ‘‘(2)(A) In operating the program required by para13 graph (1), the Secretary may, in consultation with the 

14 Secretary of Defense, provide counseling and care and 

15 services to members of the Armed Forces (including mem16 bers of the National Guard and Reserves) on active duty 

17 to overcome psychological trauma described in that para18 graph. 

19 ‘‘(B) A member described in subparagraph (A) shall 

20 not be required to obtain a referral before receiving coun21 seling and care and services under this paragraph.’’; and 

22 (3) in paragraph (3), as redesignated by para23 graph (1)— 

24 (A) by striking ‘‘a veteran’’ and inserting 

25 ‘‘an individual’’; and 


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1 (B) by striking ‘‘that veteran’’ each place 

2 it appears and inserting ‘‘that individual’’. 

3 (b) INFORMATION TO MEMBERS ON AVAILABILITY OF

4 COUNSELING AND SERVICES.—Subsection (c) of such sec5 tion is amended— 

6 (1) by striking ‘‘to veterans’’ each place it ap7 pears; and 

8 (2) in paragraph (3), by inserting ‘‘members of 

9 the Armed Forces and’’ before ‘‘individuals’’. 

10 (c) INCLUSION OF MEMBERS IN REPORTS ON COUN11 SELING AND SERVICES.—Subsection (e) of such section 

12 is amended— 

13 (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 

14 striking ‘‘to veterans’’; 

15 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

16 (A) by striking ‘‘women veterans’’ and in17 serting ‘‘individuals’’; and 

18 (B) by striking ‘‘training under subsection 

19 (d).’’ and inserting ‘‘training under subsection 

20 (d), disaggregated by— 

21 ‘‘(A) veterans; 

22 ‘‘(B) members of the Armed Forces (in23 cluding members of the National Guard and 

24 Reserves) on active duty; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) for each of subparagraphs (A) and 

2 (B)— 

3 ‘‘(i) men; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) women.’’; 

5 (3) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘veterans’’ 

6 and inserting ‘‘individuals’’; and 

7 (4) in paragraph (5)— 

8 (A) by striking ‘‘women veterans’’ and in9 serting ‘‘individuals’’; and 

10 (B) by inserting ‘‘, including specific rec11 ommendations for individuals specified in sub12 paragraphs (A), (B), and (C) of paragraph (2)’’ 

13 before the period at the end. 

14 SEC. 3. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS SCREENING 

15 MECHANISM TO DETECT INCIDENTS OF DO16 MESTIC ABUSE. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 540 days after the 

18 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Vet19 erans Affairs shall develop and implement a screening 

20 mechanism to be used when a veteran seeks healthcare 

21 services from the Department of Veterans Affairs to detect 

22 if the veteran has been a victim of domestic abuse for pur23 poses of improving the treatment of the veteran and as24 sessing the prevalence of domestic abuse in the veteran 

25 population. 


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1 (b) DOMESTIC ABUSE DEFINED.—In this section, the 

2 term ‘‘domestic abuse’’ means behavior with respect to an 

3 individual that— 

4 (1) constitutes— 

5 (A) a pattern of behavior resulting in phys6 ical or emotional abuse, economic control, or in7 terference with the personal liberty of that indi8 vidual; 

9 (B) a violation of Federal or State law in10 volving the use, attempted use, or threatened 

11 use of force or violence against that individual; 

12 or 

13 (C) a violation of a lawful order issued for 

14 the protection of that individual; and 

15 (2) is committed by a person who— 

16 (A) is a current or former spouse or do17 mestic partner of that individual; 

18 (B) shares a child in common with that in19 dividual; 

20 (C) is a current or former intimate partner 

21 of that individual that shares or has shared a 

22 common domicile with that individual; 

23 (D) is a caregiver of that individual as de24 fined in section 1720G(d) of title 38, United 

25 States Code; or 


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1 (E) is in any other type of relationship 

2 with that individual that the Secretary may 

3 specify for purposes of this section. 

4 SEC. 4. REPORTS ON MILITARY SEXUAL TRAUMA AND DO5 MESTIC ABUSE. 

6 (a) REPORT ON SERVICES AVAILABLE FOR MILITARY

7 SEXUAL TRAUMA IN THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS

8 AFFAIRS.—Not later than one year after the date of the 

9 enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

10 shall submit to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the 

11 Senate and the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of the 

12 House of Representatives a report on the treatment and 

13 services available from the Department of Veterans Af14 fairs for male veterans who experience military sexual 

15 trauma compared to such treatment and services available 

16 to female veterans who experience military sexual trauma. 

17 (b) REPORT ON DOMESTIC ABUSE AMONG VET18 ERANS.—The Secretary shall include with the report sub19 mitted under subsection (a) a report on domestic abuse 

20 among veterans that includes the following: 

21 (1) A summary of the types, outcomes, and cir22 cumstances of incidents of domestic abuse that have 

23 been reported by veterans during the two-year period 

24 preceding the submission of the report. 


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1 (2) A summary of the treatments available from 

2 the Department for veterans who experience domes3 tic abuse and an assessment of the effectiveness of 

4 those treatments. 

5 (3) Whether an incident of military sexual trau6 ma or sexual trauma experienced after the age of 18 

7 may increase the risk of domestic abuse. 

8 (4) Any other issues that the Secretary deter9 mines appropriate. 

10 (c) REPORTS ON TRANSITION OF MILITARY SEXUAL

11 TRAUMA AND DOMESTIC ABUSE TREATMENT FROM DE12 PARTMENT OF DEFENSE TO DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS

13 AFFAIRS.—Not later than one year after the date of the 

14 enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter for five 

15 years, the Department of Veterans Affairs-Department of 

16 Defense Joint Executive Committee established by section 

17 320(a) of title 38, United States Code, shall submit to 

18 the appropriate committees of Congress a report on mili19 tary sexual trauma and domestic abuse that includes the 

20 following: 

21 (1) The processes and procedures utilized by 

22 the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Depart23 ment of Defense to facilitate transition of treatment 

24 of individuals who have experienced military sexual 

25 trauma or domestic abuse from treatment provided 


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1 by the Department of Defense to treatment provided 

2 by the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

3 (2) A description and assessment of the collabo4 ration between the Department of Veterans Affairs 

5 and the Department of Defense in assisting veterans 

6 in filing claims for disabilities related to military 

7 sexual trauma or domestic abuse, including permit8 ting veterans access to information and evidence 

9 necessary to develop or support such claims. 

10 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

11 (1) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CON12 GRESS.—The term ‘‘appropriate committees of Con13 gress’’ means— 

14 (A) the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

15 and the Committee on Armed Services of the 

16 Senate; and 

17 (B) the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

18 and the Committee on Armed Services of the 

19 House of Representatives. 

20 (2) DOMESTIC ABUSE.—The term ‘‘domestic 

21 abuse’’ has the meaning given that term in section 

22 3(b) of this Act. 

23 (3) MILITARY SEXUAL TRAUMA.—The term 

24 ‘‘military sexual trauma’’ means psychological trau25 ma, which in the judgment of a mental health proVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:22 Oct 29, 2013 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1581.IS S1581

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1 fessional employed by the Department, resulted from 

2 a physical assault of a sexual nature, battery of a 

3 sexual nature, or sexual harassment which occurred 

4 while the veteran was serving on active duty or ac5 tive duty for training. 

6 (4) SEXUAL HARASSMENT.—The term ‘‘sexual 

7 harassment’’ means repeated, unsolicited verbal or 

8 physical contact of a sexual nature which is threat9 ening in character. 

10 (5) SEXUAL TRAUMA.—The term ‘‘sexual trau11 ma’’ shall have the meaning given that term by the 

12 Secretary of Veterans Affairs for purposes of this 

13 section. 

Æ 


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