Military Sexual Assault Victims Empowerment Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. BARR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues to support this legislation, H.R. 3642, the Military Sexual Assault Victims Empowerment Act, also known as the Military SAVE Act, which would help the Department of Veterans Affairs identify deficiencies and vulnerabilities in their care for survivors of military sexual trauma and take corrective actions to improve those services.

According to the findings of the Department of Veterans Affairs' National Screening Program, 1 in 4 women and 1 in 100 men reported that they have been victims of military sexual assault during their time serving in the military. This problem was made personal to me by a group of women in the Sixth Congressional District of Kentucky, led by MST survivor Karen Tufts. Sadly, due in part to this emotional stress, two of these women have since committed suicide.

To the ranking member's concern about quality of care, the problem with some of these women was that they were revictimized at the VA. In fact, according to an independent nationwide study, research has found that female victims of MST are 14 times more likely to commit suicide than women who have never been assaulted, so we are all about improving the care of these women.

And while Congress has recently taken several actions to better protect survivors of MST within the military justice system, many survivors have expressed concern that services available within the VA healthcare system are insufficient to address their specific post-MST needs. That is exactly why we have been working closely with the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, veteran service organizations, as well, and my VA Pilot Program Development Task Force to improve medical care for survivors of MST in order to help those survivors get the care that best fits their unique physical and psychological needs.

Specifically, this legislation would allow survivors the ability to seek treatment, specifically tailored to their MST injuries, by a community care provider of their choice during a 3-year pilot program. This pilot program would study the results that direct access care provides that the VA does not and would help the VA take the necessary corrective actions to improve its care for survivors of MST.

In fact, our experience is that just the introduction of this legislation has focused the mind at the VA to improve the care that the VA provides. As I mentioned before, I did not create this legislation alone. It has been through the dedicated support and trusted advice of MST survivors who are members of our Pilot Program Development Task Force, and I thank them for their contributions, including former commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Veterans Affairs, Heather French Henry.

In conclusion, I would like to especially thank Chairman Roe and his staff for their hard work in support of this legislation and for his longstanding leadership on veterans issue. Chairman Roe truly cares about improving the lives of veterans, and this legislation is a testament to that devotion.

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