,,ii  #aacth ,,congress  #ast ,session  
,s4 #bid  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of ,,the
 ,,united ,,states  ,february #ac1 #bjac
 ,mr4 ,tester 7for himself1 ,mr4        
,baucus1 ,mr4 ,begich1 ,mr4 ,blumenthal1
 ,mrs4 ,gillibrand1 and ,mrs4 ,shaheen7 
introduced the following bill2 which was
 read twice and referred to the         
,committee on ,veterans' ,affairs  ,a   
,,bill  ,to amend title #ch1 ,united    
,states ,code1 to improve the disability
 compensation evaluation procedure of   
the ,secretary of ,veterans ,affairs for
 veterans with mental health conditions 
related to military sexual trauma1 and  
for other purposes4  #a4 ,short title   
,this ,act may be cited as the ,ruth    
,moore ,act of #bjac4  #b4 ,standard of 
proof for service-connection of mental  
health conditions related to military   
sexual trauma  7a7 ,standard of proof   
,section #aaed of title #ch1 ,united    
,states ,code1 is amended by adding at  
the end the following new subsection3   
7c7 7#a7 ,in the case of any veteran who

 claims that a covered mental health    
condition was incurred in or aggravated 
by military sexual trauma during active 
military1 naval1 or air service1 the    
,secretary shall accept as sufficient   
proof of service-connection a diagnosis 
of such mental health condition by a    
mental health professional together with
 satisfactory lay or other evidence of  
such trauma and an opinion by the mental
 health professional that such covered  
mental health condition is related to   
such military sexual trauma1 if         
consistent with the circumstances1      
conditions1 or hardships of such        
service1 notwithstanding the fact that  
there is no official record of such     
incurrence or aggravation in such       
service1 and1 to that end1 shall resolve
 every reasonable doubt in favor of the 
veteran4 ,service-connection of such    
covered mental health condition may be  
rebutted by clear and convincing        
evidence to the contrary4 ,the reasons  
for granting or denying                 

service-connection in each case shall be
 recorded in full4  7#b7 ,for purposes  
of this subsection1 in the absence of   
clear and convincing evidence to the    
contrary1 and provided that the claimed 
military sexual trauma is consistent    
with the circumstances1 conditions1 or  
hardships of the veteran's service1 the 
veteran's lay testimony alone may       
establish the occurrence of the claimed 
military sexual trauma4  7#c7 ,in this  
subsection3  7,a7 ,the term covered     
mental health condition means           
post-traumatic stress disorder1 anxiety1
 depression1 or other mental health     
diagnosis described in the current      
version of the ,diagnostic and          
,statistical ,manual of ,mental         
,disorders published by the ,american   
,psychiatric ,association that the      
,secretary determines to be related to  
military sexual trauma4  7,b7 ,the term 
military sexual trauma means1 with      
respect to a veteran1 psychological     
trauma1 which in the judgment of a      

mental health professional1 resulted    
from a physical assault of a sexual     
nature1 battery of a sexual nature1 or  
sexual harassment which occurred during 
active military1 naval1 or air service4 
4  7b7 ,annual reports  7#a7 ,in general
 ,subchapter ,,vi of chapter #aa of     
title #ch1 ,united ,states ,code1 is    
amended by adding at the end the        
following new section3  #aafd4 ,reports 
on claims for disabilities incurred or  
aggravated by military sexual trauma    
7a7 ,reports ,not later than ,december  
#a1 #bjad1 and each year thereafter     
through #bjah1 the ,secretary shall     
submit to ,congress a report on covered 
claims submitted during the previous    
fiscal year4  7b7 ,elements ,each report
 under subsection 7a7 shall include the 
following3  7#a7 ,the number of covered 
claims submitted to or considered by the
 ,secretary during the fiscal year      
covered by the report4  7#b7 ,of the    
covered claims listed under paragraph   
7#a71 the number and percentage of such 

claims--  7,a7 submitted by each sex2   
7,b7 that were approved1 including the  
number and percentage of such approved  
claims submitted by each sex2 and  7,c7 
that were denied1 including the number  
and percentage of such denied claims    
submitted by each sex4  7#c7 ,of the    
covered claims listed under paragraph   
7#a7 that were approved1 the number and 
percentage1 listed by each sex1 of      
claims assigned to each rating          
percentage4  7#d7 ,of the covered claims
 listed under paragraph 7#a7 that were  
denied--  7,a7 the three most common    
reasons given by the ,secretary under   
section #eajd7;b77#a7 of this title for 
such denials2 and  7,b7 the number of   
denials that were based on the failure  
of a veteran to report for a medical    
examination4  7#e7 ,the number of       
covered claims that1 as of the end of   
the fiscal year covered by the report1  
are pending and1 separately1 the number 
of such claims on appeal4  7#f7 ,for the
 fiscal year covered by the report1 the 

average number of days that covered     
claims take to complete beginning on the
 date on which the claim is submitted4  
7#g7 ,a description of the training that
 the ,secretary provides to employees of
 the ,veterans ,benefits ,administration
 specifically with respect to covered   
claims1 including the frequency1 length1
 and content of such training4  7c7     
,definitions ,in this section3  7#a7    
,the term covered claims means claims   
for disability compensation submitted to
 the ,secretary based on a covered      
mental health condition alleged to have 
been incurred or aggravated by military 
sexual trauma4  7#b7 ,the term covered  
mental health condition has the meaning 
given that term in subparagraph 7,a7 of 
section #aaed7;c77#c7 of this title4    
7#c7 ,the term military sexual trauma   
has the meaning given that term in      
subparagraph 7,b7 of such section4  4   
7#b7 ,clerical amendment ,the table of  
sections at the beginning of such       
chapter is amended by adding at the end 

the following new item3  #aafd4 ,annual 
reports on claims for disabilities      
incurred or aggravated by military      
sexual trauma4  4  7c7 ,effective date  
,subsection 7c7 of section #aaed of     
title #ch1 ,united ,states ,code1 as    
added by subsection 7a71 shall apply    
with respect to any claim for disability
 compensation under laws administered by
 the ,secretary of ,veterans ,affairs   
for which no final decision has been    
made before the date of the enactment of
 this ,act4