I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2285

To amend chapter 17 of title 38, United States Code, to improve the Department of Veterans Affairs program of sexual trauma counseling for veterans and to improve certain Department of Veterans Affairs programs

for women veterans.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 26, 1993

Mrs. SCHROEDER (for herself, Ms. PELOSI, Mr. EVANS, Ms. LONG, Ms. NORTON, Mrs. LLOYD, Mr. OBERSTAR, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. GUTIERREZ, and

Mr. KENNEDY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Veterans’ Affairs

A BILL

To amend chapter 17 of title 38, United States Code, to

improve the Department of Veterans Affairs program

of sexual trauma counseling for veterans and to improve

certain Department of Veterans Affairs programs for

women 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. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS SEXUAL

4 TRAUMA COUNSELING PROGRAM.

5 (a) EXTENSION OF PERIOD OF AUTHORITY TO PRO6 VIDE SEXUAL TRAUMA COUNSELING.—Subsection (a) of
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1 section 1720D of title 38, United States Code, is amend2 ed—

3 (1) by striking out ‘‘December 31, 1995,’’ in

4 paragraph (1) and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘Decem5 ber 31, 1998,’’; and

6 (2) by striking out ‘‘December 31, 1994,’’ in

7 paragraph (3) and inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘Decem8 ber 31, 1998,’’.

9 (b) PERIOD OF ELIGIBILITY TO SEEK COUNSEL10 ING.—(1) Such subsection is further amended—

11 (A) by striking out paragraph (2); and

12 (B) by redesignating paragraph (3) (as amend13 ed by subsection (a)(2)) as paragraph (2).

14 (2) Section 102(b) of the Veterans Health Care Act

15 of 1992 (Public Law 102–585; 106 Stat. 4946; 38 U.S.C.

16 1720D note) is repealed.

17 (c) REPEAL OF LIMITATION ON PERIOD OF RECEIPT

18 OF COUNSELING.—Section 1720D of title 38, United

19 States Code, is further amended—

20 (1) by striking out subsection (b); and

21 (2) by redesignating subsections (c), (d), and

22 (e) as subsections (b), (c), and (d), respectively.

23 (d) INCREASED PRIORITY OF CARE.—Section 1712(i)

24 of title 38, United States Code, is amended—

25 (1) in paragraph (1)—
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1 (A) by inserting ‘‘(A)’’ after ‘‘To a vet2 eran’’; and

3 (B) by inserting ‘‘, or (B) who is eligible

4 for counseling under section 1720D of this title,

5 for the purposes of such counseling’’ before the

6 period at the end; and

7 (2) in paragraph (2)—

8 (A) by striking out ‘‘, (B)’’ and inserting

9 in lieu thereof ‘‘or (B)’’; and

10 (B) by striking out ‘‘, or (C)’’ and all that

11 follows through ‘‘such counseling’’.

12 (e) PROGRAM REVISION.—(1) Section 1720D of title

13 38, United States Code, is further amended—

14 (A) by striking out ‘‘woman’’ in subsection

15 (a)(1);

16 (B) by striking out ‘‘women’’ in subsection

17 (b)(2)(C) and in the first sentence of subsection (c),

18 as redesignated by subsection (c); and

19 (C) by striking out ‘‘women’’ in subsection

20 (c)(2), as so redesignated, and inserting in lieu

21 thereof ‘‘individuals’’.

22 (2)(A) The heading of such section is amended to

23 read as follows:
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1 ‘‘§ 1720D. Counseling for sexual trauma’’.

2 (B) The item relating to such section in the table of

3 sections at the beginning of chapter 17 of such title is

4 amended to read as follows:

‘‘1720D. Counseling for sexual trauma.’’.

5 (f) INFORMATION ON COUNSELING BY TELE6 PHONE.—(1) Paragraph (1) of section 1720D(c) of title

7 38, United States Code, as redesignated by subsection (c)

8 of this section, is amended by striking out ‘‘may’’ and in9 serting in lieu thereof ‘‘shall’’.

10 (2) In providing information on counseling available

11 to veterans through the information system required

12 under section 1720D(c)(1) of title 38, United States Code

13 (as amended by this section), the Secretary of Veterans

14 Affairs shall ensure—

15 (A) that the telephone system described in such

16 section is operated by Department of Veterans Af17 fairs personnel who are trained in the provision to

18 persons who have experienced sexual trauma of in19 formation about the care and services relating to

20 sexual trauma that are available to veterans in the

21 communities in which such veterans reside, including

22 care and services available under programs of the

23 Department (including the care and services avail24 able under section 1720D of such title) and from

25 non-Department agencies or organizations;
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1 (B) that such personnel are provided with infor2 mation on the care and services relating to sexual

3 trauma that are available to veterans and the loca4 tions in which such care and services are available;

5 (C) that such personnel refer veterans seeking

6 such care and services to appropriate providers of

7 such care and services (including care and services

8 that are available in the communities in which such

9 veterans reside);

10 (D) that the telephone system is operated in a

11 manner that protects the confidentiality of persons

12 who place telephone calls to the system; and

13 (E) that the telephone system operates at all

14 times.

15 (3) The Secretary shall ensure that information about

16 the availability of the telephone system is visibly posted

17 in Department medical facilities and is advertised through

18 public service announcements, pamphlets, and other

19 means.

20 (4) Not later than 18 months after the date of the

21 enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to Con22 gress a report on the operation of the telephone system

23 required under section 1720D(c)(1) of title 38, United

24 States Code (as so amended). The report shall set forth

25 the following:
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1 (A) The number of telephone calls placed to the

2 system during the period covered by the report, with

3 a separate display of (i) the number of calls placed

4 to the system from each State (as such term is de5 fined in section 101(20) of title 38, United States

6 Code) during that period, and (ii) the number of

7 persons who placed more than one call to the system

8 during that period.

9 (B) The types of sexual trauma described to

10 personnel operating the system by persons placing

11 calls to the system.

12 (C) A description of the difficulties, if any, ex13 perienced by persons placing calls to the system in

14 obtaining care and services for sexual trauma in the

15 communities in which such persons live, including

16 care and services available from the Department and

17 from non-Department agencies and organizations.

18 (D) A description of the training provided to

19 the personnel operating the system.

20 (E) The recommendations and plans of the Sec21 retary for the improvement of the system.

22 (5) The Secretary shall commence operation of the

23 telephone system required under section 1720D(c)(1) of

24 title 38, United States Code (as so amended), not later

25 than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.
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1 SEC. 2. REPORT RELATING TO DETERMINATIONS OF SERV2 ICE CONNECTION FOR SEXUAL TRAUMA.

3 (a) REPORT.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs

4 shall submit to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs of

5 the Senate and House of Representatives a report contain6 ing the Secretary’s assessment of—

7 (1) the difficulties that veterans encounter in

8 obtaining from the Department of Veterans Affairs

9 determinations that disabilities relating to sexual

10 trauma resulting from events that occurred during

11 active duty are service-connected disabilities; and

12 (2) the extent to which Department personnel

13 fail to make determinations that such disabilities are

14 service-connected disabilities.

15 (b) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The Secretary shall in16 clude in the report the Secretary’s recommendations for

17 actions to be taken to respond in a fair manner to the

18 difficulties described in the report and to eliminate failures

19 to make determinations that such disabilities are service20 connected disabilities.

21 (c) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘sexual

22 trauma’’ means the immediate and long-term physical or

23 psychological trauma resulting from rape, sexual assault,

24 aggravated sexual abuse (as such term is described in sec25 tion 2241 of title 18, United States Code), sexual harass26 ment, or other act of sexual violence.
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1 (d) DEADLINE FOR REPORT.—The report required

2 by this section shall be submitted not later than June 30,

3 1994.

4 SEC. 3. COORDINATORS OF WOMEN’S SERVICES.

5 (a) REQUIREMENT OF FULL-TIME SERVICE.—Sec6 tion 108 of the Veterans Health Care Act of 1992 (Public

7 Law 102–585; 106 Stat. 4948; 38 U.S.C. 1710 note) is

8 amended—

9 (1) by inserting ‘‘(a)’’ before ‘‘The Secretary’’;

10 and

11 (2) by adding at the end the following:

12 ‘‘(b) Each official who serves in the position of coordi13 nator of women’s services under subsection (a) shall so

14 serve on a full-time basis.’’.

15 (b) ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES.—Subsection (a)

16 of such section (as designated by subsection (a) of this

17 section) is further amended—

18 (1) by redesignating paragraph (5) as para19 graph (6); and

20 (2) by inserting after paragraph (4) the follow21 ing new paragraph (5):

22 ‘‘(5) Facilitating communication between

23 women veterans coordinators under the jurisdiction

24 of such regional coordinator and the Under Sec25 retary for Health and the Secretary.’’.
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1 (c) SUPPORT FOR WOMEN’S SERVICES COORDINA2 TORS.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall take ap3 propriate actions to ensure that—

4 (1) sufficient funding is provided to each De5 partment of Veterans Affairs facility in order to per6 mit the coordinator of women’s services to carry out

7 the responsibilities of the coordinator at the facility;

8 (2) sufficient clerical and communications sup9 port is provided to each such coordinator for that

10 purpose; and

11 (3) each such coordinator has direct access to

12 the Director or Chief of Staff of the facility to which

13 the coordinator is assigned.

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