I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1799

To amend title 38, United States Code, to revise and improve the authorities

of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs relating to the provision of counseling and treatment for sexual trauma experienced by veterans.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 13, 1999

Mr. GUTIERREZ introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Veterans Affairs

A BILL

To amend title 38, United States Code, to revise and improve

the authorities of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs relating to the provision of counseling and treatment for

sexual trauma experienced by veterans.

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 ‘‘Veterans Sexual Trau5 ma Treatment Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. COUNSELING AND TREATMENT FOR VETERANS

2 WHO HAVE EXPERIENCED SEXUAL TRAUMA.

3 (a) DURATION OF PROGRAM.—Section 1720D of title

4 38, United States Code, is amended in subsection (a)—

5 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘During the

6 period through December 31, 2001, the’’ and insert7 ing ‘‘The’’;

8 (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘During the

9 period referred to in paragraph (1), the’’ and insert10 ing ‘‘The’’; and

11 (3) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘, during the

12 period through December 31, 2001,’’.

13 (b) MANDATORY NATURE OF PROGRAM.—Subsection

14 (a) of such section is further amended in paragraphs (1)

15 and (2) by striking ‘‘may’’ and inserting ‘‘shall’’.

16 (c) PROVISION OF TREATMENT FOR SEXUAL TRAU17 MA.—Such subsection is further amended in paragraphs

18 (1) and (3) by inserting ‘‘and treatment’’ after ‘‘coun19 seling’’ each place it appears.

20 (d) DETERMINATIONS TO BE MADE BY MENTAL

21 HEALTH PROFESSIONALS.—Such subsection is further

22 amended in paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘the Secretary de23 termines’’ and inserting ‘‘a mental health professional em24 ployed by the Department determines’’.

25 (e) OUTREACH EFFORTS.—Subsection (c) of such

26 section is amended—
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1 (1) by inserting ‘‘and treatment’’ in the first

2 sentence and in paragraph (2) after ‘‘counseling’’;

3 (2) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph

4 (1);

5 (3) by redesignating paragraph (2) as para6 graph (3); and

7 (4) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol8 lowing new paragraph (2):

9 ‘‘(2) shall ensure that information about the

10 counseling and treatment available to veterans under

11 this section (which shall be revised and updated not

12 less often than every two years)—

13 ‘‘(A) is made available and visibly posted

14 at each facility of the Department; and

15 ‘‘(B) is advertised through public service

16 announcements, pamphlets, billboards, and

17 other appropriate means of communication;

18 and’’.

19 (f) PERSONS ELIGIBLE FOR COUNSELING AND

20 TREATMENT.—Such section is further amended by adding

21 at the end the following new subsection:

22 ‘‘(e)(1) A veteran shall be eligible for counseling and

23 treatment under this section without regard to the provi24 sions of section 5303A of this title.
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1 ‘‘(2) An individual who is a member of a reserve com2 ponent shall be eligible for counseling and treatment under

3 this section in the same manner as a veteran and without

4 regard to the provisions of section 5303A of this title.

5 ‘‘(3) An individual who is a former member of a re6 serve component (but who is not a veteran within the

7 meaning of section 101 of this title) and who was dis8 charged or released from service as a member of a reserve

9 component under conditions other than dishonorable shall

10 be eligible for counseling and treatment under this section

11 in the same manner as a veteran and without regard to

12 the provisions of section 5303A of this title.’’.

13 (g) OVERSIGHT OF OUTREACH ACTIVITIES.—Not

14 later than four months after the date of the enactment

15 of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall com16 plete the design and updating of public service announce17 ments, pamphlets, billboards, and other appropriate

18 means of communication as required for implementation

19 of paragraph (2) of section 1720D(c) of title 38, United

20 States Code, as added by subsection (e)(3). Not later than

21 six months after that date, the Secretary shall submit to

22 the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and

23 House of Representatives examples of the documents and

24 other means of communication developed for compliance

25 with that paragraph.
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1 (h) REPORT ON IMPLEMENTATION OF SEXUAL

2 TRAUMA TREATMENT PROGRAM.—Not later than 14

3 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the

4 Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to the Commit5 tees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and House of Rep6 resentatives a report on the use made of the authority pro7 vided under section 1720D of title 38, United States Code,

8 as amended by this section. The report shall include the

9 following with respect to activities under that section since

10 the enactment of such section:

11 (1) The number of persons who have sought

12 counseling under such section.

13 (2) The number of veterans who have received

14 counseling under such section.

15 (3) The number of veterans who have been re16 ferred to non-Department mental health facilities

17 and providers in connection with sexual trauma

18 counseling and treatment.

19 (4) The number of veterans who have been de20 termined by the Secretary to have a service-con21 nected disease or disability resulting from sexual

22 trauma.
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1 SEC. 3. REPORT ON EFFORTS TO PROVIDE VETERANS WITH

2 INFORMATION CONCERNING SEXUAL TRAU3 MA COUNSELING AND TREATMENT SERV4 ICES.

5 (a) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 14 months

6 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary

7 of Veterans Affairs and the Secretary of Defense shall

8 submit to the congressional committees specified in sub9 section (b) a joint report describing in detail the collabo10 rative efforts of the Department of Veterans Affairs and

11 the Department of Defense to ensure that members of the

12 Armed Forces, upon separation from active military,

13 naval, or air service, are provided appropriate and current

14 information about programs of the Department of Vet15 erans Affairs to provide counseling and treatment for sex16 ual trauma that may have been experienced by those mem17 bers while in the active military, naval, or air service, in18 cluding information about eligibility requirements for, and

19 procedures for applying for, such counseling and treat20 ment. The report shall include proposed recommendations

21 from both the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the Sec22 retary of Defense for the improvement of their collabo23 rative efforts to provide such information.

24 (b) SPECIFIED COMMITTEES.—The committees re25 ferred to in subsection (a) are the following:
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1 (1) The Committee on Veterans’ Affairs and

2 the Committee on Armed Services of the House of

3 Representatives

4 (2) The Committee on Veterans’ Affairs and

5 the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate.

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