On June 11, the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee held a hearing on pending benefits legislation, including the Ruth Moore Act of 2013 (S. 294). The bill was passed by the House of Representatives on June 4 (see The Source, 6/7/13).
Ryan Gallucci, deputy director, National Legislative Service, Veterans of Foreign Wars, said, “The VFW [Veterans of Foreign Wars] strongly supports this legislation, and believes that it is long overdue. S. 294 would relax evidentiary standards for tying mental health conditions to an assault, making it easier for Military Sexual Assault (MST) survivors to receive VA [Department of Veterans Affairs] benefits. Current regulations put a disproportionate burden on the veteran to produce evidence of MST – often years after the event and in an environment which is often unfriendly – in order to prove service-connection for mental health disorders. With the extraordinarily high incidence of sexual trauma in the military and the failure of many victims to report the trauma to medical or police authorities, it is time Congress amends this restrictive standard.”
The following witnesses also testified:
