II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1579

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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

SEPTEMBER 13, 1999

Ms. SNOWE introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 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 information shall be revised and

12 updated not 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—

21 (1) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub22 section (e); and

23 (2) by inserting after subsection (c) the fol24 lowing new subsection (d):
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1 ‘‘(d)(1) A veteran shall be eligible for counseling and

2 treatment under this section without regard to the provi3 sions of section 5303A of this title.

4 ‘‘(2) An individual who is a member of a reserve com5 ponent shall be eligible for counseling and treatment under

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

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

8 ‘‘(3) An individual who is a former member of a re9 serve component (but who is not a veteran within the

10 meaning of section 101 of this title) and who was dis11 charged or released from service as a member of a reserve

12 component under conditions other than dishonorable shall

13 be eligible for counseling and treatment under this section

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

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

16 (g) OVERSIGHT OF OUTREACH ACTIVITIES.—Not

17 later than four months after the date of the enactment

18 of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall com19 plete the design and updating of public service announce20 ments, pamphlets, billboards, and other appropriate

21 means of communication as required for implementation

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

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

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

25 the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and
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1 House of Representatives examples of the documents and

2 other means of communication developed for compliance

3 with that paragraph.

4 (h) REPORT ON IMPLEMENTATION OF SEXUAL

5 TRAUMA TREATMENT PROGRAM.—Not later than 14

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

7 Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall submit to the Commit8 tees on Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and House of Rep9 resentatives a report on the use made of the authority pro10 vided under section 1720D of title 38, United States Code,

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

12 following with respect to activities under such section

13 1720D since the enactment of such section 1720D:

14 (1) The number of persons who have sought

15 counseling under such section 1720D.

16 (2) The number of veterans who have received

17 counseling under such section.

18 (3) The number of veterans who have been re19 ferred to non-Department mental health facilities

20 and providers in connection with sexual trauma

21 counseling and treatment.

22 (4) The number of veterans who have been de23 termined by the Secretary to have a service-con24 nected disease or disability resulting from sexual

25 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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