Motion to Instruct Conferrees on H.R. 3230, Pay Our Guard and Reserve Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. TITUS. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague from California for yielding to me, and for addressing this important issue of coverage for victims of sexual assault in the National Guard.

I rise in support of the Brownley motion to instruct. As you have heard described, this proposal addresses an unacceptable gap in current law that effectively leaves some victims of military sexual assault without the support and treatment they need.

Members of the National Guard and other reserve components of the armed services have fought bravely for our country, many completing numerous tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. Since the attacks on September 11, more than 50,000 guardsmen and guardswomen have been called to service both at home and abroad. We recognize the value of their service, of the National Guard, and of other reserve components, and we thank them for their sacrifice.

Unfortunately, some guardsmen and -women, like other members of the armed services, are victimized by sexual assault while on Active Duty. If that happens, they are provided all of the VA resources and services they need to recover and heal, physically and emotionally. These benefits, however, are not offered to members of the National Guard or other reserve components who experience sexual assault while on inactive training missions. For example, members of the Guard are required to participate in training missions one weekend a month and two weeks a year, but benefits and services, such as counseling and medical care, do not extend to victims sexually assaulted during those mandatory training missions. This oversight is simply unacceptable and leaves so many who have served our country so bravely without assistance or support during a devastating time.

On May 28, the House unanimously agreed to a solution to this problem by passing legislation I introduced last year, the bipartisan National Guard Military Sexual Trauma Parity Act. This legislation is supported by a number of the leading veterans service organizations.

The National Guard Military Sexual Trauma Parity Act would fix this omission and clarify that all victims of sexual trauma in the National Guard or other reserve components have access to the care they need to help them recover from acts of sexual trauma while they are on inactive or reserve duty.

The Senate wisely included this language in the VA reform bill that passed their body 93-3, and it is important that this provision, which has been passed by the House already, be included in the final version of the bill. I was pleased to hear it mentioned by our colleague from Colorado, so I am glad that there is support for keeping it in the conference report.

I encourage my colleagues to support the Brownley motion to instruct to ensure that all victims of sexual assault, regardless of what kind of duty they are on, have access to the care they need.

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