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Union Calendar No. 38 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 671 

[Report No. 113–63] 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the disability compensation 

evaluation procedure of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for veterans 

with mental health conditions related to military sexual trauma, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 13, 2013 

Ms. PINGREE of Maine (for herself, Mr. MICHAUD, Ms. TSONGAS, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. 

RUSH, Mr. HONDA, Mr. LEWIS, Ms. BROWNLEY of California, and Ms. 

SHEA-PORTER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

MAY 17, 2013 

Additional sponsors: Mr. POLIS, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. TITUS, Mr. 

JONES, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. DELBENE, Mr. O’ROURKE, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mrs. NEGRETE MCLEOD, Mr. CONNOLLY, Ms. KUSTER, Mr. MURPHY of Florida, Mr. BISHOP of New York, Mr. KILMER, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. MORAN, Mr. RYAN of Ohio, Mr. SIRES, Mr. BRALEY of Iowa, 

Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. MATHESON, Mr. LIPINSKI, Ms. LOFGREN, Ms. 

BONAMICI, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. LATHAM, and Mr. TAKANO

MAY 17, 2013 

Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee of the Whole House 

on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on February 13, 2013] 


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A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the 

disability compensation evaluation procedure of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for veterans with mental 

health conditions related to military sexual trauma, 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 ‘‘Ruth Moore Act of 

5 2013’’. 

6 SEC. 2. REPORTS ON CLAIMS FOR DISABILITIES INCURRED 

7 OR AGGRAVATED BY MILITARY SEXUAL TRAU8 MA. 

9 (a) ANNUAL REPORTS.— 

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

11 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding 

12 at the end the following new section: 

13 ‘‘§ 1164. Reports on claims for disabilities incurred or 

14 aggravated by military sexual trauma 

15 ‘‘(a) REPORTS.—Not later than December 1, 2014, and 

16 each year thereafter through 2018, the Secretary shall sub17 mit to Congress a report on covered claims submitted dur18 ing the previous fiscal year. 

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

20 shall include the following: 

21 ‘‘(1) The number of covered claims submitted to 

22 or considered by the Secretary during the fiscal year 

23 covered by the report. 


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1 ‘‘(2) Of the covered claims listed under para2 graph (1), the number and percentage of such 

3 claims— 

4 ‘‘(A) submitted by each sex; 

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

6 number and percentage of such approved claims 

7 submitted by each sex; and 

8 ‘‘(C) that were denied, including the num9 ber and percentage of such denied claims sub10 mitted by each sex. 

11 ‘‘(3) Of the covered claims listed under para12 graph (1) that were approved, the number and per13 centage, listed by each sex, of claims assigned to each 

14 rating percentage. 

15 ‘‘(4) Of the covered claims listed under para16 graph (1) that were denied— 

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

18 by the Secretary under section 5104(b)(1) of this 

19 title for such denials; and 

20 ‘‘(B) the number of denials that were based 

21 on the failure of a veteran to report for a med22 ical examination. 

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

24 end of the fiscal year covered by the report, are pendVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:07 May 17, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H671.RH H671

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1 ing and, separately, the number of such claims on ap2 peal. 

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

4 average number of days that covered claims take to 

5 complete beginning on the date on which the claim is 

6 submitted. 

7 ‘‘(7) A description of the training that the Sec8 retary provides to employees of the Veterans Benefits 

9 Administration specifically with respect to covered 

10 claims, including the frequency, length, and content of 

11 such training. 

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

13 ‘‘(1) The term ‘covered claims’ means claims for 

14 disability compensation submitted to the Secretary 

15 based on a covered mental health condition alleged to 

16 have been incurred or aggravated by military sexual 

17 trauma. 

18 ‘‘(2) The term ‘covered mental health condition’ 

19 means post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depres20 sion, or other mental health diagnosis described in the 

21 current version of the Diagnostic and Statistical 

22 Manual of Mental Disorders published by the Amer23 ican Psychiatric Association that the Secretary deter24 mines to be related to military sexual trauma. 


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

2 with respect to a veteran, psychological trauma, 

3 which in the judgment of a mental health profes4 sional, resulted from a physical assault of a sexual 

5 nature, battery of a sexual nature, or sexual harass6 ment which occurred during active military, naval, or 

7 air service.’’. 

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

10 adding at the end the following new item: 

‘‘1164. Reports on claims for disabilities incurred or aggravated by military sexual trauma.’’. 

11 (3) INITIAL REPORT.—The Secretary of Veterans 

12 Affairs shall submit to Congress an initial report de13 scribed in section 1164 of title 38, United States 

14 Code, as added by paragraph (1), by not later than 

15 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

16 Such initial report shall be in addition to the annual 

17 reports required under such section beginning in De18 cember 2014. 

19 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Congress 

20 that the Secretary of Veterans Affairs should update and 

21 improve the regulations of the Department of Veterans Af22 fairs with respect to military sexual trauma by— 

23 (1) ensuring that military sexual trauma is 

24 specified as an in-service stressor in determining the 


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1 service-connection of post-traumatic stress disorder by 

2 including military sexual trauma as a stressor de3 scribed in section 3.304(f)(3) of title 38, Code of Fed4 eral Regulations; and 

5 (2) recognizing the full range of physical and 

6 mental disabilities (including depression, anxiety, 

7 and other disabilities as indicated in the Diagnostic 

8 and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders published 

9 by the American Psychiatric Association) that can re10 sult from military sexual trauma. 

11 (c) PROVISION OF INFORMATION.—During the period 

12 beginning on the date that is 15 months after the date of 

13 the enactment of this Act and ending on the date on which 

14 the Secretary updates and improves regulations as de15 scribed in subsection (b), the Secretary shall— 

16 (1) provide to each veteran who has submitted a 

17 covered claim or been treated for military sexual 

18 trauma at a medical facility of the Department with 

19 a copy of the report under subsection (a)(3) or section 

20 1164 of title 38, United States Code, as added by sub21 section (a)(1), that has most recently been submitted 

22 to Congress; 

23 (2) provide on a monthly basis to each veteran 

24 who has submitted any claim for disability compensaVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:07 May 17, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H671.RH H671

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1 tion or been treated at a medical facility of the De2 partment information that includes— 

3 (A) the date that the Secretary plans to 

4 complete such updates and improvements to such 

5 regulations; 

6 (B) the number of covered claims that have 

7 been granted or denied during the month covered 

8 by such information; 

9 (C) a comparison to such rate of grants and 

10 denials with the rate for other claims regarding 

11 post-traumatic stress disorder; 

12 (D) the three most common reasons for such 

13 denials; 

14 (E) the average time for completion of cov15 ered claims; 

16 (F) the average time for processing covered 

17 claims at each regional office; and 

18 (G) any information the Secretary deter19 mines relevant with respect to submitting a cov20 ered claim; 

21 (3) in addition to providing to veterans the in22 formation described in paragraph (2), the Secretary 

23 shall make available on a monthly basis such infor24 mation on a conspicuous location of the Internet 

25 website of the Department; and 


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1 (4) submit to Congress on a monthly basis a re2 port that includes— 

3 (A) a list of all adjudicated covered claims, 

4 including ancillary claims, during the month 

5 covered by the report; 

6 (B) the outcome with respect to each med7 ical condition included in the claim; and 

8 (C) the reason given for any denial of such 

9 a claim. 

10 (d) MILITARY SEXUAL TRAUMA DEFINED.—In this 

11 section: 

12 (1) The term ‘‘covered claim’’ has the meaning 

13 given that term in section 1164(c)(1) of title 38, 

14 United States Code, as added by subsection (a)(1). 

15 (2) The term ‘‘military sexual trauma’’ has the 

16 meaning given that term in section 1164(c)(3) of title 

17 38, United States Code, as added by subsection (a)(1). 

18 SEC. 3. EXTENSION OF ROUNDING DOWN OF PERCENTAGE 

19 INCREASES OF RATES OF CERTAIN EDU20 CATIONAL ASSISTANCE. 

21 (a) MONTGOMERY GI BILL.—Section 3015(h)(2) of 

22 title 38, United States Code, is amended— 

23 (1) by striking ‘‘fiscal year 2014’’ and inserting 

24 ‘‘fiscal year 2019’’; and 


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1 (2) by striking ‘‘fiscal year 2013’’ and inserting 

2 ‘‘fiscal year 2018’’. 

3 (b) SURVIVORS’ AND DEPENDENTS’ EDUCATIONAL AS4 SISTANCE.—Section 3564(b) of such title is amended— 

5 (1) by striking ‘‘fiscal year 2014’’ and inserting 

6 ‘‘fiscal year 2019’’; and 

7 (2) by striking ‘‘fiscal year 2013’’ and inserting 

8 ‘‘fiscal year 2018’’. 

Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘A bill to amend title 

38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to submit to Congress an annual report on 

claims for disabilities incurred or aggravated by military 

sexual trauma, and for other purposes.’’. 


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Union Calendar No. 38 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 671 

[Report No. 113–63] 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve 

sexual trauma, and for other purposes. with mental health conditions related to military of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for veterans the disability compensation evaluation procedure 

MAY 17, 2013 

Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee 

dered to be printed of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and orVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:07 May 17, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\H671.RH H671

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