I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4758 
To require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a 
national sexual assault care and treatment task force; and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 18, 2019 
Mr. GRIFFITH introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on 
Ways and Means, and the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently de-
termined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 
as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To require the Secretary of Health and Human Services 
to establish a national sexual assault care and treatment 
task force; and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Sexual Assault Victims 
Protection Act of 2019’’. 
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SEC. 2. NATIONAL SEXUAL ASSAULT CARE AND TREAT-
MENT TASK FORCE. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Health and 
Human Services shall establish a task force to be known 
as the ‘‘National Sexual Assault Care and Treatment 
Task Force’’ (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Task 
Force’’) to identify barriers to improving access to sexual 
assault forensic examiners, sexual assault nurse exam-
iners, and other forensic medical examiners. 
(b) MEMBERSHIP.—The Task Force shall include a 
representative from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid 
Services, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 
the Health Resources and Services Administration, the In-
dian Health Service, the Office for Victims of Crime of 
the Department of Justice, the Office on Women’s Health 
of the Department of Health and Human Services, and 
the Office on Violence Against Women of the Department 
of Justice, a survivor of sexual assault; representatives 
from regional and national organizations with expertise in 
forensic nursing, rape trauma or crisis counseling, inves-
tigating rape and gender violence cases, survivors’ advo-
cacy and support, sexual assault prevention education, 
rural health, and responding to sexual violence in Native 
communities; representatives from hospitals, patient 
groups, and emergency department physicians; and rep-
resentatives of States, including States that have in effect 
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State laws or procedures that address the objectives de-
scribed in subsection (c). 
(c) OBJECTIVES.—To assist and standardize State- 
level efforts to improve medical forensic evidence collection 
relating to sexual assault, the Task Force shall— 
(1) identify barriers to the recruitment, train-
ing, and retention of sexual assault forensic exam-
iners, sexual assault response teams, sexual assault 
nurse examiners, and others who perform such ex-
aminations; 
(2) make recommendations for improving access 
to medical forensic examinations, including the feasi-
bility of, or barriers to, utilizing mobile units and 
telehealth services; 
(3) make recommendations for improving co-
ordination of services, other protocols regarding the 
care and treatment of sexual assault survivors, and 
the preservation of evidence between law enforce-
ment officials and health care providers; 
(4) make recommendations for updating na-
tional minimum standards for forensic medical ex-
aminer training and forensic medical evidence collec-
tion relating to sexual assault; 
(5) make recommendations for the development 
of resources and best practices described in sub-
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section (e) for inclusion on the public website of the 
Department of Health and Human Services; 
(6) make recommendations on the collection 
and retention of sexual assault kits, including anony-
mous or unreported sexual assault kits; and 
(7) make recommendations on processes and 
best practices for communicating to sexual assault 
survivors who seek care in the emergency room in-
formation about the availability of forensic medical 
evidence collection as part of the care and treatment 
of such survivors. 
(d) TRANSPARENCY REQUIREMENTS.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than one year 
after first convening, the Task Force shall submit to 
the Secretary a report on the recommendations, 
findings, and conclusions of the Task Force. 
(2) REPORT.—Not later than 18 months after 
the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 
shall submit to Congress a report on the rec-
ommendations, findings, and conclusions of the Task 
Force. 
(e) SEXUAL ASSAULT TREATMENT RESOURCES.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than July 1, 2020, 
the Secretary shall post on the public website of the 
Department of Health and Human Services re-
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sources and best practices developed by health care 
providers, forensic scientists, law enforcement rep-
resentatives, and advocates of sexual assault victims, 
relating to the treatment of individuals for sexual 
assault by health care providers. Such resources and 
best practices shall include the following: 
(A) RESOURCES FOR HEALTH CARE PRO-
VIDERS.—Resources and best practices for 
health care providers, including— 
(i) best practices for training per-
sonnel on sexual assault forensic evidence 
collection; 
(ii) best practices relating to providing 
counseling and appropriate referrals to 
such individuals; and 
(iii) other resources and best practices 
determined appropriate by the Secretary. 
(B) RESOURCES
FOR
SEXUAL
ASSAULT 
SURVIVORS.—Resources and best practices for 
sexual assault survivors, including— 
(i) information about the forensic 
exam furnished by a sexual assault forensic 
examiner, including the process and poten-
tial benefits of collecting evidence; 
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(ii) information on available State- 
wide databases of sexual assault nurse ex-
aminer-ready or sexual assault forensic ex-
aminer-ready facilities; 
(iii) survivor advocacy group websites 
and hotlines; 
(iv) next-steps guides for survivors 
with best practices for preserving evidence 
and seeking treatment after an assault; 
and 
(v) other resources and best practices 
determined appropriate by the Secretary. 
(2) UPDATES.—As soon as practicable after the 
submission of the report under subsection (d)(1) to 
the Secretary, the Secretary shall update the re-
sources and best practices posted on the website of 
the Department of Health and Human Services 
under paragraph (1) to take into consideration the 
recommendations, findings, and conclusions of the 
Task Force contained in such report. The Secretary 
shall update such resources and best practices peri-
odically, but not less frequently than annually. 
(f) ANNUAL SUMMIT.—The Secretary shall convene 
an annual stakeholder meeting to address gaps in health 
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care provider care relating to sexual assault that includes 
the Task Force. 
(g) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 
(1) MEDICAL
FORENSIC
EXAMINATION.—The 
term ‘‘medical forensic examination’’ means an ex-
amination provided to a sexual assault survivor by 
medical personnel trained to gather evidence of a 
sexual assault in a manner suitable for use in a 
court of law. 
(2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Health and Human Services. 
(3) SEXUAL ASSAULT.—The term ‘‘sexual as-
sault’’ means any non-consensual sexual act pro-
scribed by Federal, tribal, or State law, including 
when the individual lacks capacity to consent. 
(4) SEXUAL
ASSAULT
EXAMINER.—The term 
‘‘sexual assault examiner’’ means a registered nurse, 
advanced practice nurse, physician, or physician as-
sistant specifically trained to provide comprehensive 
care to sexual assault forensic examinations. 
(5) SEXUAL ASSAULT FORENSIC EXAMINER.— 
The term ‘‘sexual assault forensic examiner’’ means 
a medical practitioner who has specialized forensic 
training in treating sexual assault survivors and con-
ducting medical forensic examinations. 
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(6) SEXUAL ASSAULT NURSE EXAMINER.—The 
term ‘‘sexual assault nurse examiner’’ means a reg-
istered nurse who has specialized forensic training in 
treating sexual assault survivors and conducting 
medical forensic examinations. 
(7) SEXUAL ASSAULT RESPONSE TEAM.—The 
term ‘‘sexual assault response team’’ means a multi-
disciplinary team that provides a specialized and im-
mediate response to survivors of sexual assault, and 
may include health care personnel, law enforcement 
representatives, community-based survivor advo-
cates, prosecutors, and forensic scientists. 
SEC. 3. PROMOTING COORDINATION OF SEXUAL ASSAULT 
CARE IN LOCAL COMMUNITIES. 
Not later than one year after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and Human 
Services shall revise section 489.24(j) of title 42, Code of 
Federal Regulations, to require each formal community 
call plan (as described in section 489.24(j)(2)(iii) of such 
title (or a successor regulation)) to provide— 
(1) with respect to the delineation of on-call 
coverage responsibilities described in subparagraph 
(A) of such section, for a delineation of such cov-
erage responsibilities for screening and treatment re-
lating to sexual assault and includes a schedule of 
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the on-call coverage availability for such screening 
and treatment at each hospital with on-call coverage 
responsibilities for such treatment; and 
(2) with respect to assurances related to local 
and regional EMS system protocols described in sub-
paragraph (D) of such section, for an assurance that 
such protocols include information with respect to 
community on-call arrangements for screening and 
treatment relating to sexual assault. 
Æ 
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