I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1954 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to expand health care and benefits 

from the Department of Veterans Affairs for military sexual trauma, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 5, 2017 

Ms. PINGREE (for herself, Ms. DELAURO, Ms. TSONGAS, Ms. BROWNLEY of 

California, Ms. TITUS, Mr. RUSH, Mr. TAKANO, Ms. ESTY, Mr. PETERS, 

and Mr. SABLAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on 

Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to expand health 

care and benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs for military sexual trauma, 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 ‘‘Servicemembers and 

5 Veterans Empowerment and Support Act of 2017’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. EXPANSION OF COVERAGE BY THE DEPARTMENT 

2 OF VETERANS AFFAIRS OF COUNSELING AND 

3 TREATMENT FOR SEXUAL TRAUMA. 

4 (a) COVERAGE OF CYBER HARASSMENT OF A SEX5 UAL NATURE.—Paragraph (1) of section 1720D(a) of title 

6 38, United States Code, is amended by inserting ‘‘cyber 

7 harassment of a sexual nature,’’ after ‘‘battery of a sexual 

8 nature,’’. 

9 (b) EXPANSION OF AVAILABILITY FOR MEMBERS OF

10 THE ARMED FORCES.—Paragraph (2)(A) of such section 

11 is amended— 

12 (1) by striking ‘‘on active duty’’; and 

13 (2) by inserting ‘‘that was suffered by the mem14 ber while serving on active duty, active duty for 

15 training, or inactive duty training’’ before the period 

16 at the end. 

17 SEC. 3. STANDARD OF PROOF FOR SERVICE-CONNECTION 

18 OF MENTAL HEALTH CONDITIONS RELATED 

19 TO MILITARY SEXUAL TRAUMA. 

20 (a) STANDARD OF PROOF.—Section 1154 of title 38, 

21 United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 

22 following new subsection: 

23 ‘‘(c)(1) In the case of any veteran who claims that 

24 a covered mental health condition was incurred in or ag25 gravated by military sexual trauma during active military, 

26 naval, or air service, the Secretary shall accept as suffiVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:13 Apr 13, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1954.IH H1954

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1 cient proof of service-connection a diagnosis of such men2 tal health condition by a mental health professional to3 gether with satisfactory lay or other evidence of such trau4 ma and an opinion by the mental health professional that 

5 such covered mental health condition is related to such 

6 military sexual trauma, if consistent with the cir7 cumstances, conditions, or hardships of such service, not8 withstanding the fact that there is no official record of 

9 such incurrence or aggravation in such service, and, to 

10 that end, shall resolve every reasonable doubt in favor of 

11 the veteran. Service-connection of such covered mental 

12 health condition may be rebutted by clear and convincing 

13 evidence to the contrary. The reasons for granting or de14 nying service-connection in each case shall be recorded in 

15 full. 

16 ‘‘(2) In this subsection: 

17 ‘‘(A) The term ‘covered mental health condi18 tion’ means post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, 

19 depression, or other mental health diagnosis de20 scribed in the current version of the Diagnostic and 

21 Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders published by 

22 the American Psychiatric Association that the Sec23 retary determines to be related to military sexual 

24 trauma. 


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1 ‘‘(B) The term ‘military sexual trauma’ means, 

2 with respect to a veteran, a physical assault of a sex3 ual nature, battery of a sexual nature, cyber harass4 ment of a sexual nature, or sexual harassment which 

5 occurred during active military, naval, or air serv6 ice.’’. 

7 (b) USE OF EVIDENCE IN EVALUATING DISABILITY

8 CLAIMS INVOLVING MILITARY SEXUAL TRAUMA.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter VI of chapter 11 

10 of such title is amended by adding at the end the 

11 following new section: 

12 ‘‘§ 1164. Evaluation of claims involving military sex13 ual trauma 

14 ‘‘(a) NONMILITARY SOURCES OF EVIDENCE.—(1) In 

15 carrying out section 1154(c) of this title, the Secretary 

16 shall ensure that if a claim for compensation under this 

17 chapter is received by the Secretary for post-traumatic 

18 stress disorder based on a physical assault of a sexual na19 ture, battery of a sexual nature, cyber harassment of a 

20 sexual nature, or sexual harassment experienced by a vet21 eran during active military, naval, or air service, evidence 

22 from sources other than official records of the Department 

23 of Defense regarding the veteran’s service may corroborate 

24 the veteran’s account of the assault, battery, or harass25 ment. 


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1 ‘‘(2) Examples of evidence described in paragraph (1) 

2 include the following: 

3 ‘‘(A) Records from law enforcement authorities, 

4 rape crisis centers, mental health counseling centers, 

5 hospitals, and physicians. 

6 ‘‘(B) Pregnancy tests and tests for sexually 

7 transmitted diseases. 

8 ‘‘(C) Statements from family members, room9 mates, other members of the Armed Forces or vet10 erans, and clergy. 

11 ‘‘(b) BEHAVIOR CHANGES CORROBORATING EVI12 DENCE.—(1) In carrying out section 1154(c) of this title, 

13 the Secretary shall ensure that evidence of a behavior 

14 change following an assault, battery, or harassment de15 scribed in subsection (a)(1) is one type of relevant evi16 dence that may be found in sources described in such sub17 section. 

18 ‘‘(2) Examples of behavior changes that may be rel19 evant evidence of an assault, battery, or harassment de20 scribed in subsection (a)(1) include the following: 

21 ‘‘(A) A request for a transfer to another mili22 tary duty assignment. 

23 ‘‘(B) Deterioration in work performance. 

24 ‘‘(C) Substance abuse. 


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1 ‘‘(D) Episodes of depression, panic attacks, or 

2 anxiety without an identifiable cause. 

3 ‘‘(E) Unexplained economic or social behavior 

4 changes. 

5 ‘‘(c) NOTICE AND OPPORTUNITY TO SUPPLY EVI6 DENCE.—The Secretary may not deny a claim of a veteran 

7 for compensation under this chapter for a post-traumatic 

8 stress disorder that is based on an assault, battery, or har9 assment described in subsection (a)(1) without first— 

10 ‘‘(1) advising the veteran that evidence de11 scribed in subsections (a) and (b) may constitute 

12 credible corroborating evidence of the assault, bat13 tery, or harassment; and 

14 ‘‘(2) allowing the veteran an opportunity to fur15 nish such corroborating evidence or advise the Sec16 retary of potential sources of such evidence. 

17 ‘‘(d) REVIEW OF EVIDENCE.—In reviewing a claim 

18 for compensation described in subsection (a)(1), for any 

19 evidence received with such claim that is described in sub20 section (a) or (b), the Secretary may submit such evidence 

21 to such medical or mental health professional as the Sec22 retary considers appropriate, including clinical and coun23 seling experts employed by the Department, to obtain a 

24 credible opinion as to whether the evidence indicates that 


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1 an assault, battery, or harassment described in subsection 

2 (a)(1) occurred. 

3 ‘‘(e) POINT OF CONTACT.—The Secretary shall en4 sure that each document provided to a veteran relating 

5 to a claim for compensation described in subsection (a)(1) 

6 includes contact information for an appropriate point of 

7 contact with the Department.’’. 

8 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec9 tions at the beginning of such chapter is amended 

10 by adding at the end the following new item: 

‘‘1164. Evaluation of claims involving military sexual trauma.’’. 

11 (c) ANNUAL REPORTS.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter VI of chapter 11 

13 of title 38, United States Code, as amended by sub14 section (b), is further amended by adding at the end 

15 the following new section: 

16 ‘‘§ 1165. Annual reports on claims for disabilities in17 curred or aggravated by military sexual 

18 trauma 

19 ‘‘(a) REPORTS.—Not later than March 1, 2018, and 

20 not less frequently than once each year thereafter through 

21 2027, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report on 

22 covered claims submitted during the previous fiscal year 

23 to identify and track the consistency of decisions across 

24 regional offices. 


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1 ‘‘(b) ELEMENTS.—Each report under subsection (a) 

2 shall include the following: 

3 ‘‘(1) The number of covered claims submitted 

4 to or considered by the Secretary during the fiscal 

5 year covered by the report. 

6 ‘‘(2) Of the covered claims listed under para7 graph (1), the number and percentage of such 

8 claims— 

9 ‘‘(A) submitted by each sex; 

10 ‘‘(B) that were approved, including the 

11 number and percentage of such approved claims 

12 submitted by each sex; and 

13 ‘‘(C) that were denied, including the num14 ber and percentage of such denied claims sub15 mitted by each sex. 

16 ‘‘(3) Of the covered claims listed under para17 graph (1) that were approved, the number and per18 centage, disaggregated by sex, of claims assigned to 

19 each rating percentage. 

20 ‘‘(4) Of the covered claims listed under para21 graph (1) that were denied— 

22 ‘‘(A) the three most common reasons given 

23 by the Secretary under section 5104(b)(1) of 

24 this title for such denials; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) the number of denials that were 

2 based on the failure of a veteran to report for 

3 a medical examination. 

4 ‘‘(5) The number of covered claims that, as of 

5 the end of the fiscal year covered by the report, are 

6 pending and, separately, the number of such claims 

7 on appeal. 

8 ‘‘(6) For the fiscal year covered by the report, 

9 the average number of days that covered claims take 

10 to complete, beginning on the date on which the 

11 claim is submitted. 

12 ‘‘(7) A description of the training that the Sec13 retary provides to employees of the Veterans Bene14 fits Administration specifically with respect to cov15 ered claims, including the frequency, length, and 

16 content of such training. 

17 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

18 ‘‘(1) The term ‘covered claims’ means claims 

19 for disability compensation submitted to the Sec20 retary based on a covered mental health condition 

21 alleged to have been incurred or aggravated by mili22 tary sexual trauma. 

23 ‘‘(2) The terms ‘covered mental health condi24 tion’ and ‘military sexual trauma’ have the meanings 

25 given such terms in section 1154(c)(3) of this title.’’. 


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1 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec2 tions at the beginning of such chapter, as amended 

3 by subsection (b), is further amended by adding at 

4 the end the following new item: 

‘‘1165. Annual reports on claims for disabilities incurred or aggravated by military sexual trauma.’’. 

5 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Subsection (c) of section 

6 1154 of title 38, United States Code, as added by sub7 section (a), shall apply with respect to any claim for dis8 ability compensation under laws administered by the Sec9 retary of Veterans Affairs for which no final decision has 

10 been made before the date of the enactment of this Act. 

11 SEC. 4. INFORMATION FOR MEMBERS OF THE ARMED 

12 FORCES REGARDING AVAILABILITY OF SERV13 ICES AT VET CENTERS. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense shall in15 form members of the Armed Forces, using mechanisms 

16 available to the Secretary, of the eligibility of such mem17 bers for services at Vet Centers. 

18 (b) INFORMATION FROM SEXUAL ASSAULT RE19 SPONSE COORDINATORS.—The Secretary shall ensure that 

20 Sexual Assault Response Coordinators of the Department 

21 of Defense advise members of the Armed Forces who re22 port instances of military sexual trauma regarding the eli23 gibility of such members for services at Vet Centers. 

24 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 (1) MILITARY SEXUAL TRAUMA.—The term 

2 ‘‘military sexual trauma’’ means psychological trau3 ma described in section 1720D(a)(1) of title 38, 

4 United States Code. 

5 (2) VET CENTER.—The term ‘‘Vet Center’’ has 

6 the meaning given that term in section 1712A(h) of 

7 such title. 

Æ 


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