I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4554 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans 

Affairs to establish and implement a comprehensive anti-harassment and 

anti-sexual assault policy of the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 27, 2019 

Ms. BROWNLEY of California introduced the following bill; which was referred 

to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to establish and implement 

a comprehensive anti-harassment and anti-sexual assault 

policy of the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

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

3 SECTION 1. ANTI-HARASSMENT AND ANTI-SEXUAL ASSAULT 

4 POLICY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS 

5 AFFAIRS. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 5 of title 

7 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 

8 the following new section: 


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1 ‘‘§ 533. Anti-harassment and anti-sexual assault pol2 icy 

3 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Veterans 

4 Affairs shall establish a comprehensive policy to end har5 assment and sexual assault, including sexual and gender6 based harassment, at all facilities of the Department of 

7 Veterans Affairs. This policy shall include the following: 

8 ‘‘(1) Responses to incidents of harassment and 

9 sexual assault committed by any veteran or other 

10 public visitor within a facility of the Department. 

11 ‘‘(2) Responses to incidents of harassment and 

12 sexual assault of any veteran or other public visitor 

13 within a facility of the Department. 

14 ‘‘(3) A process for reporting and responding to 

15 harassment and sexual assault described in para16 graph (1). 

17 ‘‘(4) A process for reporting and responding to 

18 harassment and sexual assault described in para19 graph (2). 

20 ‘‘(5) A mandatory reporting requirement appli21 cable to any employee or contractor of the Depart22 ment who witnesses harassment or sexual assault 

23 within a facility of the Department. 

24 ‘‘(6) Mandatory annual training for employees 

25 and contractors of the Department regarding how to 


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1 report and address harassment and sexual assault 

2 described in paragraphs (1) and (2). 

3 ‘‘(7) Annual distribution of anti-harassment 

4 and anti-sexual assault educational materials by mail 

5 or email to each individual entitled to a benefit 

6 under a law administered by the Secretary. 

7 ‘‘(8) The prominent display of anti-harassment 

8 and anti-sexual assault messages in each facility of 

9 the Department, including how to report harassment 

10 and sexual assault at such facility. 

11 ‘‘(9) The posting of anti-harassment and anti12 sexual assault banners on websites of the Depart13 ment, including eBenefits.va.gov and 

14 myHealthEVet.va.gov. 

15 ‘‘(b) POINTS OF CONTACT.—The Secretary shall des16 ignate, as a point of contact to receive reports of harass17 ment and sexual assault— 

18 ‘‘(1) at least one individual at each facility of 

19 the Department, with regards to that facility; 

20 ‘‘(2) at least one individual employed in each 

21 Veterans Integrated Service Network (‘VISN’), with 

22 regards to facilities in that VISN; and 

23 ‘‘(3) at least one individual employed at the 

24 Central Office of the Department to track reports of 


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1 harassment across the Department, disaggregated 

2 by facility. 

3 ‘‘(c) REPORTING.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

4 shall submit to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of 

5 the Senate and the House of Representatives an annual 

6 report on harassment and sexual assault in facilities of 

7 the Department. Each such report shall include the fol8 lowing: 

9 ‘‘(1) Results of harassment and sexual assault 

10 programming, including the End Harassment pro11 gram. 

12 ‘‘(2) Results of studies from the Women’s 

13 Health Practice Based Research Network related to 

14 harassment and sexual assault. 

15 ‘‘(3) Data collected on incidents of sexual har16 assment and sexual assault. 

17 ‘‘(4) A description of any actions taken by the 

18 Secretary during the year preceding the date of the 

19 report to stop harassment and sexual assault at fa20 cilities of the Department. 

21 ‘‘(5) An assessment of the implementation of 

22 the training required in subsection (a)(5). 

23 ‘‘(6) A list of resources the Secretary deter24 mines necessary to prevent harassment and sexual 

25 assault at facilities of the Department.’’. 


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1 (b) TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

2 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by adding 

3 after the item relating to section 532 the following new 

4 item: 

‘‘533. Anti-harassment and anti-sexual assault policy.’’. 

5 (c) DEADLINE.—The Secretary shall carry out sec6 tion 533 of such title, as added by subsection (a), not later 

7 than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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