González-Colón, Ross and Wexton reintroduce bill to expand disability compensations for sexual trauma to military retirees

Rep. Jenniffer - HNR Committee Hearing
February 27, 2023
Press Release

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Representatives Jenniffer González-Colón (PR-AL), Deborah Ross (NC-02), and Jennifer Wexton (VI-10) reintroduced H.R. 1082 the Military Sexual Trauma Retirement Equity Act (MSTREA Act) for the 118th Congress. This bipartisan legislation seeks to enable all military retirees with disabilities caused by military sexual trauma (MST) to receive their full retirement and disability compensation.



“I'm proud to reintroduce the MSTREA Act, which seeks to fairly compensate our veterans who have suffered a traumatic sexual experience while serving our country. Let’s not forget that these brave men and women chose to serve, despite knowing the hardships they may encounter during their time in our military.  They should not be subjected to this kind of treatment, and even less so, not receive compensation due to trauma to this magnitude. I look forward to working alongside my colleagues once more in support of this legislation and on behalf of those impacted by MST”, said Rep. González-Colón.  



“We owe our veterans an enormous debt of gratitude, and we cannot fail to act when military retirees who endured heinous acts of violence are unable to receive the benefits they are owed. We must end the stigma around sexual assault and provide our military retirees, including those in North Carolina, with the support needed to recover fully from trauma. I thank Congresswoman González-Colón for her leadership on this issue and look forward to working with her to support survivors,” said Rep. Deborah Ross.



“Survivors of military sexual trauma deserve the same benefits that all veterans are entitled to—but right now, too many survivors are being prevented from accessing their full retirement pay,” said Rep. Jennifer Wexton.“I'm proud to join Rep. González-Colón and cosponsor this important bipartisan legislation to right this wrong and stand with survivors of military sexual trauma.”



The Military Sexual Trauma Retirement Equity Act would:

  1. Build on enacted legislation and define MST as an exposure that meets the Combat-Related Special Compensation (CRSC) criteria.
  2. Make clerical amendments to retitle CRSC as Trauma-Related Special Compensation. 
  3. Protect these veterans from the retraumatizing experience of telling their story of survival to multiple Departments. The Secretary of Veterans Affairs finding of a service-connected disability will be determinative for purposes of qualification.

 

###

 

Background information: 



In 2020, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) found that 1 in 3 women and 1 in 50 men report experiencing Military Sexual Trauma to their VA providers. Military Sexual Trauma (MST) is sexual assault or repeated sexual harassment that occurs while the member is serving on duty.



The experience of MST can cause a wide range of illnesses that could result in a service-connected disability, including but not limited to post-traumatic stress disorders, STDs, and reproductive health disorders.



The VA reports that more than 84,000 veterans have disabilities caused by MST, with more than 57,000 of those disabilities being rated between 70 – 100%.