Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HB2201 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	I
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION H. R. 2201
5	5	To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve claims, made under
6	6	laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, regarding mili-
7	7	tary sexual trauma, and for other purposes.
8	8	IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
9	9	MARCH18, 2025
10	10	Mrs. K
11	11	IM(for herself, Ms. BUDZINSKI, Mr. BACON, and Ms. HOULAHAN) in-
12	12	troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Vet-
13	13	erans’ Affairs
14	14	A BILL
15	15	To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve claims,
16	16	made under laws administered by the Secretary of Vet-
17	17	erans Affairs, regarding military sexual trauma, and for
18	18	other purposes.
19	19	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
20	20	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
21	21	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
22	22	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Improving VA Train-4
23	23	ing for Military Sexual Trauma Claims Act’’. 5
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26	26	•HR 2201 IH
27	27	SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENT OF CLAIMS BASED ON MILITARY 1
28	28	SEXUAL TRAUMA UNDER LAWS ADMINIS-2
29	29	TERED BY THE SECRETARY OF VETERANS AF-3
30	30	FAIRS. 4
31	31	(a) T
32	32	RAINING FOREMPLOYEESWHOPROCESSSUCH 5
33	33	C
34	34	LAIMS.— 6
35	35	(1) I
36	36	N GENERAL.—Subsection (c) of section 7
37	37	1166 of title 38, United States Code, is amended— 8
38	38	(A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘mem-9
39	39	bers of teams established under subsection (a) 10
40	40	are trained’’ and inserting ‘‘each employee of 11
41	41	the Department who processes such a claim, 12
42	42	communicates with a claimant regarding evi-13
43	43	dence supporting such a claim, or decides such 14
44	44	a claim, receives annual sensitivity training and 15
45	45	training’’; and 16
46	46	(B) by adding at the end the following new 17
47	47	paragraphs: 18
48	48	‘‘(4) The Secretary shall ensure that training received 19
49	49	by an employee under this subsection is appropriate for 20
50	50	how much experience the employee has with such claims. 21
51	51	‘‘(5) The Secretary shall update training under this 22
52	52	subsection not less than once annually.’’. 23
53	53	(2) R
54	54	EPORT.—Not later than 90 days after the 24
55	55	date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 25
56	56	Veterans Affairs shall submit to the Committees on 26
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59	59	•HR 2201 IH
60	60	Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and House of Rep-1
61	61	resentatives a report regarding— 2
62	62	(A) training provided under such sub-3
63	63	section before such date; and 4
64	64	(B) plans of the Secretary to carry out the 5
65	65	amendments made by paragraph (1). 6
66	66	(b) E
67	67	XPANSION OFDUTY TOASSIST INOBTAINING 7
68	68	R
69	69	ECORDS FOR A COMPENSATION CLAIM.—Section 8
70	70	5103A(c) of title 38, United States Code, is amended— 9
71	71	(1) by redesignating paragraph (2) as para-10
72	72	graph (3); and 11
73	73	(2) by inserting, after paragraph (1), the fol-12
74	74	lowing new paragraph (2): 13
75	75	‘‘(2) In the case of a claim under section 1166 of 14
76	76	this title, the assistance provided by the Secretary under 15
77	77	this section shall include— 16
78	78	‘‘(A) if there is no credible supporting evidence 17
79	79	of a military sexual trauma in the evidence of 18
80	80	record, obtaining the service personnel record of the 19
81	81	claimant; and 20
82	82	‘‘(B) obtaining the service medical record of the 21
83	83	claimant.’’. 22
84	84	(c) S
85	85	ENSITIVITYTRAINING FOR CERTAINCON-23
86	86	TRACTEDHEALTHCAREPROFESSIONALS: REPORT; IM-24
87	87	PROVEMENTS.—Not later than 90 days after the date of 25
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90	90	•HR 2201 IH
91	91	the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Veterans Af-1
92	92	fairs shall submit to the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs 2
93	93	of the Senate and House of Representatives a report on— 3
94	94	(1) sensitivity training required for health care 4
95	95	professionals (including individuals who commu-5
96	96	nicate with veterans to schedule examinations), con-6
97	97	tracted under section 504 of the Veterans’ Benefits 7
98	98	Improvements Act of 1996 (Public Law 104–275; 8
99	99	38 U.S.C. 5101 note), to perform examinations of 9
100	100	veterans who make claims under section 1166 of 10
101	101	title 38, United States Code; and 11
102	102	(2) the plan of the Secretary to— 12
103	103	(A) improve such sensitivity training; and 13
104	104	(B) ensure that a veteran who makes such 14
105	105	a claim is not retraumatized during such an ex-15
106	106	amination by such a contracted health care pro-16
107	107	fessional. 17
108	108	Æ
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