IB 

Union Calendar No. 546 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5578 

[Report No. 114–707, Part I] 

To establish certain rights for sexual assault survivors, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 24, 2016 

Mrs. MIMI WALTERS of California (for herself, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. GOODLATTE, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. GOWDY, Mr. COSTELLO of Pennsylvania, Ms. 

JACKSON LEE, Mr. NADLER, Mr. SMITH of Texas, Mrs. BROOKS of Indiana, Mr. MEEKS, Mr. RICHMOND, Ms. NORTON, Mrs. COMSTOCK, Ms. 

STEFANIK, Ms. HERRERA BEUTLER, Mr. COHEN, Mr. KEATING, Mr. 

BEYER, Mr. JEFFRIES, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. TSONGAS, Mr. 

LOWENTHAL, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Ms. SPEIER, Ms. DELBENE, 

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

Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Energy 

and Commerce, 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 

SEPTEMBER 6, 2016 

Additional sponsors: Mrs. WAGNER, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. TED LIEU of California, Mr. POSEY, Mr. ISSA, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. 

PETERS, Mr. TAKANO, Ms. KUSTER, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. BRENDAN F. 

BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. MEEHAN, and Mr. LOEBSACK

SEPTEMBER 6, 2016 

Reported from the Committee on the Judiciary 

SEPTEMBER 6, 2016 

The Committee on Energy and Commerce discharged; committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be 

printed 


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•HR 5578 RH

A BILL 

To establish certain rights for sexual assault survivors, and 

for other purposes. 


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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’ Bill of 

5 Rights Act of 2016’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SEXUAL ASSAULT SURVIVORS’ RIGHTS. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part II of title 18, United States 

8 Code, is amended by adding after chapter 237 the fol9 lowing: 

10 ‘‘CHAPTER 238—SEXUAL ASSAULT 

11 SURVIVORS’ RIGHTS 

‘‘Sec. 

‘‘3772. Sexual assault survivors’ rights. 

12 ‘‘§ 3772. Sexual assault survivors’ rights 

13 ‘‘(a) RIGHTS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT SURVIVORS.—In 

14 addition to those rights provided in section 3771, a sexual 

15 assault survivor has the following rights: 

16 ‘‘(1) The right not to be prevented from, or 

17 charged for, receiving a medical forensic examina18 tion. 

19 ‘‘(2) The right to— 

20 ‘‘(A) subject to paragraph (3), have a sex21 ual assault evidence collection kit or its pro22 bative contents preserved, without charge, for 

23 the duration of the maximum applicable statute 

24 of limitations or 20 years, whichever is shorter; 


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1 ‘‘(B) be informed of any result of a sexual 

2 assault evidence collection kit, including a DNA 

3 profile match, toxicology report, or other infor4 mation collected as part of a medical forensic 

5 examination, if such disclosure would not im6 pede or compromise an ongoing investigation; 

7 and 

8 ‘‘(C) be informed in writing of policies gov9 erning the collection and preservation of a sex10 ual assault evidence collection kit. 

11 ‘‘(3) The right to— 

12 ‘‘(A) upon written request, receive written 

13 notification from the appropriate official with 

14 custody not later than 60 days before the date 

15 of the intended destruction or disposal; and 

16 ‘‘(B) upon written request, be granted fur17 ther preservation of the kit or its probative con18 tents. 

19 ‘‘(4) The right to be informed of the rights 

20 under this subsection. 

21 ‘‘(b) APPLICABILITY.—Subsections (b) through (f) of 

22 section 3771 shall apply to sexual assault survivors. 

23 ‘‘(c) DEFINITION OF SEXUAL ASSAULT.—In this sec24 tion, the term ‘sexual assault’ means any nonconsensual 


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1 sexual act proscribed by Federal, tribal, or State law, in2 cluding when the victim lacks capacity to consent. 

3 ‘‘(d) FUNDING.—This section, other than paragraphs 

4 (2)(A) and (3)(B) of subsection (a), shall be carried out 

5 using funds made available under section 1402(d)(3)(A)(i) 

6 of the Victims of Crime Act of 1984 (42 U.S.C. 

7 10601(d)(3)(A)(i)). No additional funds are authorized to 

8 be appropriated to carry out this section.’’. 

9 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.— 

10 The table of chapters for part II of title 18, United States 

11 Code, is amended by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘238. Sexual assault survivors’ rights ....................................... 3772’’. 

12 (c) AMENDMENT TO VICTIMS OF CRIME ACT OF

13 1984.—Section 1402(d)(3)(A)(i) of the Victims of Crime 

14 Act of 1984 (42 U.S.C. 10601(d)(3)(A)(i)) is amended by 

15 inserting after ‘‘section 3771’’ the following: ‘‘or section 

16 3772, as it relates to direct services,’’. 

17 SEC. 3. SEXUAL ASSAULT SURVIVORS’ NOTIFICATION 

18 GRANTS. 

19 The Victims of Crime Act of 1984 is amended by 

20 adding after section 1404E (42 U.S.C. 10603e) the fol21 lowing: 

22 ‘‘SEC. 1404F. SEXUAL ASSAULT SURVIVORS’ NOTIFICATION 

23 GRANTS. 

24 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General may make 

25 grants as provided in section 1404(c)(1)(A) to States to 


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1 develop and disseminate to entities described in subsection 

2 (c)(1) of this section written notice of applicable rights 

3 and policies for sexual assault survivors. 

4 ‘‘(b) NOTIFICATION OF RIGHTS.—Each recipient of 

5 a grant awarded under subsection (a) shall make its best 

6 effort to ensure that each entity described in subsection 

7 (c)(1) provides individuals who identify as a survivor of 

8 a sexual assault, and who consent to receiving such infor9 mation, with written notice of applicable rights and poli10 cies regarding— 

11 ‘‘(1) the right not to be charged fees for or oth12 erwise prevented from pursuing a sexual assault evi13 dence collection kit; 

14 ‘‘(2) the right to have a sexual assault medical 

15 forensic examination regardless of whether the sur16 vivor reports to or cooperates with law enforcement; 

17 ‘‘(3) the availability of a sexual assault advo18 cate; 

19 ‘‘(4) the availability of protective orders and 

20 policies related to their enforcement; 

21 ‘‘(5) policies regarding the storage, preserva22 tion, and disposal of sexual assault evidence collec23 tion kits; 


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1 ‘‘(6) the process, if any, to request preservation 

2 of sexual assault evidence collection kits or the pro3 bative evidence from such kits; and 

4 ‘‘(7) the availability of victim compensation and 

5 restitution. 

6 ‘‘(c) DISSEMINATION OF WRITTEN NOTICE.—Each 

7 recipient of a grant awarded under subsection (a) shall— 

8 ‘‘(1) provide the written notice described in sub9 section (b) to medical centers, hospitals, forensic ex10 aminers, sexual assault service providers, State and 

11 local law enforcement agencies, and any other State 

12 agency or department reasonably likely to serve sex13 ual assault survivors; and 

14 ‘‘(2) make the written notice described in sub15 section (b) publicly available on the Internet website 

16 of the attorney general of the State. 

17 ‘‘(d) PROVISION TO PROMOTE COMPLIANCE.—The 

18 Attorney General may provide such technical assistance 

19 and guidance as necessary to help recipients meet the re20 quirements of this section. 

21 ‘‘(e) INTEGRATION OF SYSTEMS.—Any system devel22 oped and implemented under this section may be inte23 grated with an existing case management system operated 

24 by the recipient of the grant if the system meets the re25 quirements listed in this section.’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. WORKING GROUP. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Attorney General, in con3 sultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Serv4 ices (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Secretary’’), shall 

5 establish a joint working group (referred to in this section 

6 as the ‘‘Working Group’’) to develop, coordinate, and dis7 seminate best practices regarding the care and treatment 

8 of sexual assault survivors and the preservation of forensic 

9 evidence. 

10 (b) CONSULTATION WITH STAKEHOLDERS.—The 

11 Working Group shall consult with— 

12 (1) stakeholders in law enforcement, prosecu13 tion, forensic laboratory, counseling, forensic exam14 iner, medical facility, and medical provider commu15 nities; and 

16 (2) representatives of not less than 3 entities 

17 with demonstrated expertise in sexual assault pre18 vention, sexual assault advocacy, or representation 

19 of sexual assault victims, of which not less than 1 

20 representative shall be a sexual assault victim. 

21 (c) MEMBERSHIP.—The Working Group shall be 

22 composed of governmental or nongovernmental agency 

23 heads at the discretion of the Attorney General, in con24 sultation with the Secretary. 

25 (d) DUTIES.—The Working Group shall— 


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1 (1) develop recommendations for improving the 

2 coordination of the dissemination and implementa3 tion of best practices and protocols regarding the 

4 care and treatment of sexual assault survivors and 

5 the preservation of evidence to hospital administra6 tors, physicians, forensic examiners, and other med7 ical associations and leaders in the medical commu8 nity; 

9 (2) encourage, where appropriate, the adoption 

10 and implementation of best practices and protocols 

11 regarding the care and treatment of sexual assault 

12 survivors and the preservation of evidence among 

13 hospital administrators, physicians, forensic exam14 iners, and other medical associations and leaders in 

15 the medical community; 

16 (3) develop recommendations to promote the co17 ordination of the dissemination and implementation 

18 of best practices regarding the care and treatment of 

19 sexual assault survivors and the preservation of evi20 dence to State attorneys general, United States at21 torneys, heads of State law enforcement agencies, fo22 rensic laboratory directors and managers, and other 

23 leaders in the law enforcement community; 

24 (4) develop and implement, where practicable, 

25 incentives to encourage the adoption or implementaVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:41 Sep 07, 2016 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5578.RH H5578

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1 tion of best practices regarding the care and treat2 ment of sexual assault survivors and the preserva3 tion of evidence among State attorneys general, 

4 United States attorneys, heads of State law enforce5 ment agencies, forensic laboratory directors and 

6 managers, and other leaders in the law enforcement 

7 community; 

8 (5) collect feedback from stakeholders, practi9 tioners, and leadership throughout the Federal and 

10 State law enforcement, victim services, forensic 

11 science practitioner, and health care communities to 

12 inform development of future best practices or clin13 ical guidelines regarding the care and treatment of 

14 sexual assault survivors; and 

15 (6) perform other activities, such as activities 

16 relating to development, dissemination, outreach, en17 gagement, or training associated with advancing vic18 tim-centered care for sexual assault survivors. 

19 (e) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the date 

20 of enactment of this Act, the Working Group shall submit 

21 to the Attorney General, the Secretary, and Congress a 

22 report containing the findings and recommended actions 

23 of the Working Group. 


smartinez on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS

smartinez on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS
Union Calendar No. 546 

114TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5578 

[Report No. 114–707, Part I] 

A BILL 

To establish certain rights for sexual assault 

survivors, and for other purposes. 

SEPTEMBER 6, 2016 

Reported from the Committee on the Judiciary 

SEPTEMBER 6, 2016 

The Committee on Energy and Commerce discharged; 

the State of the Union and ordered to be printed committed to the Committee of the Whole House on 


smartinez on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS