II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 865 

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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 25, 2015 

Mr. TESTER (for himself, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. BENNET, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. 

DURBIN, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. KING, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, and Mrs. 

MCCASKILL) 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 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. 

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 2015’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. STANDARD OF PROOF FOR SERVICE-CONNECTION 

2 OF MENTAL HEALTH CONDITIONS RELATED 

3 TO MILITARY SEXUAL TRAUMA. 

4 (a) STANDARD OF PROOF.—Section 1154 of title 38, 

5 United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 

6 following new subsection: 

7 ‘‘(c)(1) In the case of any veteran who claims that 

8 a covered mental health condition was incurred in or ag9 gravated by military sexual trauma during active military, 

10 naval, or air service, the Secretary shall accept as suffi11 cient proof of service-connection a diagnosis of such men12 tal health condition by a mental health professional to13 gether with satisfactory lay or other evidence of such trau14 ma and an opinion by the mental health professional that 

15 such covered mental health condition is related to such 

16 military sexual trauma, if consistent with the cir17 cumstances, conditions, or hardships of such service, not18 withstanding the fact that there is no official record of 

19 such incurrence or aggravation in such service, and, to 

20 that end, shall resolve every reasonable doubt in favor of 

21 the veteran. Service-connection of such covered mental 

22 health condition may be rebutted by clear and convincing 

23 evidence to the contrary. The reasons for granting or de24 nying service-connection in each case shall be recorded in 

25 full. 


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1 ‘‘(2) For purposes of this subsection, in the absence 

2 of clear and convincing evidence to the contrary, and pro3 vided that the claimed military sexual trauma is consistent 

4 with the circumstances, conditions, or hardships of the 

5 veteran’s service, the veteran’s lay testimony alone may 

6 establish the occurrence of the claimed military sexual 

7 trauma. 

8 ‘‘(3) In this subsection: 

9 ‘‘(A) The term ‘covered mental health condi10 tion’ means post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, 

11 depression, or other mental health diagnosis de12 scribed in the current version of the Diagnostic and 

13 Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders published by 

14 the American Psychiatric Association that the Sec15 retary determines to be related to military sexual 

16 trauma. 

17 ‘‘(B) The term ‘military sexual trauma’ means, 

18 with respect to a veteran, psychological trauma, 

19 which in the judgment of a mental health profes20 sional, resulted from a physical assault of a sexual 

21 nature, battery of a sexual nature, or sexual harass22 ment which occurred during active military, naval, 

23 or air service.’’. 

24 (b) ANNUAL REPORTS.— 


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

2 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by add3 ing at the end the following new section: 

4 ‘‘§ 1164. Reports on claims for disabilities incurred or 

5 aggravated by military sexual trauma 

6 ‘‘(a) REPORTS.—Not later than December 1, 2016, 

7 and each year thereafter through 2020, the Secretary shall 

8 submit to Congress a report on covered claims submitted 

9 during the previous fiscal year. 

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

11 shall include the following: 

12 ‘‘(1) The number of covered claims submitted 

13 to or considered by the Secretary during the fiscal 

14 year covered by the report. 

15 ‘‘(2) Of the covered claims listed under para16 graph (1), the number and percentage of such 

17 claims— 

18 ‘‘(A) submitted by each sex; 

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

20 number and percentage of such approved claims 

21 submitted by each sex; and 

22 ‘‘(C) that were denied, including the num23 ber and percentage of such denied claims sub24 mitted by each sex. 


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1 ‘‘(3) Of the covered claims listed under para2 graph (1) that were approved, the number and per3 centage, listed by each sex, of claims assigned to 

4 each rating percentage. 

5 ‘‘(4) Of the covered claims listed under para6 graph (1) that were denied— 

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

8 by the Secretary under section 5104(b)(1) of 

9 this title for such denials; and 

10 ‘‘(B) the number of denials that were 

11 based on the failure of a veteran to report for 

12 a medical examination. 

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

14 the end of the fiscal year covered by the report, are 

15 pending and, separately, the number of such claims 

16 on appeal. 

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

18 the average number of days that covered claims take 

19 to complete beginning on the date on which the 

20 claim is submitted. 

21 ‘‘(7) A description of the training that the Sec22 retary provides to employees of the Veterans Bene23 fits Administration specifically with respect to cov24 ered claims, including the frequency, length, and 

25 content of such training. 


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

2 ‘‘(1) The term ‘covered claims’ means claims 

3 for disability compensation submitted to the Sec4 retary based on a covered mental health condition 

5 alleged to have been incurred or aggravated by mili6 tary sexual trauma. 

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

8 has the meaning given that term in subparagraph 

9 (A) of section 1154(c)(3) of this title. 

10 ‘‘(3) The term ‘military sexual trauma’ has the 

11 meaning given that term in subparagraph (B) of 

12 such section.’’. 

13 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec14 tions at the beginning of such chapter is amended 

15 by adding at the end the following new item: 

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

16 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Subsection (c) of section 

17 1154 of title 38, United States Code, as added by sub18 section (a), shall apply with respect to any claim for dis19 ability compensation under laws administered by the Sec20 retary of Veterans Affairs for which no final decision has 

21 been made before the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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