On April 25, the House Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs approved, by voice vote, the Ruth Moore Act of 2013 (H.R. 671). The subcommittee held a hearing to examine the legislation on April 16 (see The Source, 4/19/13).
Sponsored by Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME), the legislation would require the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to accept a veteran’s lay testimony of military sexual trauma (MST) as sufficient proof of the attack to approve a disability compensation claim for MST-related Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Current VA policy requires a veteran with MST-related PTSD to provide documented evidence of MST in order to file a claim for disability compensation.