On July 27, the House Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Health passed, by voice vote, the Veterans Sexual Assault Prevention Act (H.R. 2074). The subcommittee held a hearing on several bills, including H.R. 2074, on July 25.
Sponsored by Chair Ann Marie Buerkle (R-NY), the bill would require a comprehensive policy on reporting and tracking sexual assault incidents and other safety incidents that occur at medical facilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Specifically, the legislation would require the secretary of Veterans’ Affairs to “develop and implement a centralized and comprehensive policy on the reporting and tracking of sexual assault incidents” that includes information on “suspected, alleged, attempted, or confirmed cases of sexual assault, regardless of whether such assaults lead to prosecution or conviction; criminal and purposefully unsafe acts; alcohol or substance abuse related acts (including by employees of the department); and any kind of event involving alleged or suspected abuse of a patient.”
“One of the bills we will discuss this afternoon is H.R. 2074, the Veterans Sexual Assault Prevention Act, a bill I introduced in response to a truly alarming report issued last month by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) on the prevalence of sexual assault and other safety incidents in VA facilities,” saidRep. Buerkle. She continued, “In their report, GAO found that between January 2007 and July 2010 nearly 300 sexual assaults, including 67 alleged rapes, were reported to VA police. Troublingly, and in direct violation of federal regulations and VA policy, many of these incidents were not properly reported to VA leadership officials or the VA Office of the Inspector General. As disturbing, GAO uncovered serious deficiencies in the guidance and oversight provided by VA leadership officials on the reporting, management, and tracking of sexual assault and other safety incidents. GAO also found that the Department failed to accurately assess risk or take effective precautionary measures, with inadequate monitoring of surveillance systems and malfunctioning or failing panic alarms. As a domestic violence counselor, I have seen firsthand the pervasive and damaging effects sexual assault can have on the lives of those who experience it. Abusive behavior like the kind documented by GAO is unacceptable in any form, but for it to be found in what should be an environment of caring for our honored veterans is simply intolerable.”
Dr. Robert Jesse, principal deputy under secretary for Health at the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), expressed the VA’s opposition to H.R. 2074 by noting the efforts currently underway at VA and VHA facilities to address the issue. He explained: “We believe H.R. 2074 is unnecessary because our current efforts are fulfilling much of what it would require. In addition to the [Safety/Security] Workgroup [convened in response to the GAO report], VA is already undertaking other efforts to enhance the safety and security of our facilities. For example, VA is evaluating its risk assessment tools and is developing enterprise-wide assessments that consider issues beyond the veteran’s legal history and medical record. VA is taking steps to consider universal risk for violence and design appropriate intervention actions. These are important steps to improve evaluations of patient risk. Mandatory training on security issues is also in development, and VA plans to provide educational materials for patients and visitors as well so they can help contribute to a safer VA environment for everyone. VA’s Integrated Operations Center (IOC), established in 2009, provides oversight of VA facilities 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and is responsible for collecting any reports of serious incidents, including alleged criminal behavior at VA facilities. VHA is already developing an oversight system like that described in the bill. It will be in place later this summer, and will have clear and consistent guidance on the management and treatment of sexual assaults by the end of 2011.” Dr. Jesse added, “While we agree with many of the aims of H.R. 2074, and are proceeding with similar initiatives, we do have several concerns with the bill as written. First, the timeline for the implementation of this policy is not feasible. VA is committed to enacting this policy, but needs time to complete work on reporting tools and processes and to pilot these initiatives before the policy will be fully implemented so that we can achieve the shared goal of increased safety. Second, VA is concerned that the term ‘other safety incidents’ is overly broad. While the bill requires VA to define the term ‘safety incident’ and provides the secretary the authority to prescribe regulations to implement the legislation, ‘other safety incidents’ could be read broadly to include any safety incident, including workplace issues (such as a slip and fall situation) and occupational safety concerns. VA believes the intent of this provision is to focus on the security of patients, employees and visitors, and we will define this term accordingly. We are happy to work with the committee to refine this language in the legislation. VA also has serious concerns with the requirement that VA report ‘alcohol or substance abuse related acts’ committed by veterans. VA is an integrated health care system that treats all of the health care needs of veterans, including substance use disorders and alcoholism. With our focus on universal precautions, we will assess all potential risks, not just those associated with substance use disorders. Alcohol and drug misuse are associated with a host of medical, social, mental health, and employment problems. Fortunately, these problems are treatable and with treatment, the lives of our patients and their loved ones can be enriched. VA does not want to create a disincentive for veterans to seek treatment for these conditions and recommends that this provision be deleted from the bill.”
Shane Barker, senior legislative associate within the National Legislative Service at the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States (VFW), expressed his organization’s support of H.R. 2074 but also made recommendations for the bill’s improvement: “VA must be extremely judicious not to allow unsubstantiated allegations to bring about negative consequences for the accused, while at the same time holding the guilty accountable for such heinous actions. The VFW does not want to see dedicated employees leave the VA system for this reason, so any successful cultural change within VA must include protections for innocent employees wrongfully accused. The most important missing piece is a comprehensive, continuous, and evidence-based training program. All efforts to properly identify sexual assault and to create programs to forward allegations to appropriate officials are in vain if employees are not trained to be vigilant and to identify problem situations. We strongly believe that VA must institute a first-class training program that is mandatory for all VA employees to attend. They must also clarify what constitutes sexual assault, because the lack of a clear and consistent VA-wide definition has allegedly led to many events not being reported, or resulted in no action on those events that were reported. GAO also recommended VA police create a system-wide process that would result in cases involving potential felonies to be automatically reported to the VA Office of the Inspector General. Frankly, we are shocked that such a common-sense standard operating procedure does not already exist. VA leadership has failed in their obligations for too long, and the hidden nature of this unacceptable problem requires Congress to act quickly. We stand ready to assist the committee in passing this legislation without delay.”
Speaking in support of H.R. 2074, Joy Ilem, deputy national legislative director for Disabled American Veterans, said, “We concur with GAO that when a veteran has a history of sexual assault or violent acts, VA must be vigilant in identifying the risks that such veterans pose to the safety of others at its medical facilities. When a sexual assault involves a VA employee, whether perpetrator or victim, the incident takes on even more meaning, and raises a host of questions that were explored by the GAO, and also discussed during your recent hearing. VA needs to take decisive actions to improve personal safety and promote an environment of care that includes protection from personal assaults, including sexual assaults. To do so will take a commitment from all levels of VA and especially VA’s senior leadership. We commend GAO for making this critical report. Hopefully, GAO’s findings can serve VA and veterans well in providing a roadmap to promote a new environment of care that encompasses a strong consistent culture of safety, and one that can be closely monitored by this subcommittee as VA completes the recommended changes…[Y]our bill firms up VA’s requirement to document, track and control – and hopefully, to eliminate – incidents of sexual assaults that occur on properties and grounds of the VA. We believe the bill, if enacted, would be consistent with GAO’s findings and would serve veterans and VA well as a means of greater accountability and transparency of VA’s actions in combating sexual assaults and related incidents affecting the safety of veterans and VA staff.”
Reps. Michael Grimm (R-NY); John Carter (R-TX); Tim Walz (D-MN); and Larry Buchshon (R-IN); Dr. Thomas Berger, executive director of the Veterans Health Council at the Vietnam Veterans of America; Carl Blake, national legislative service for the Paralyzed Veterans of America; and Christina Roof, national acting legislative director for AMVETS also testified.
