Shaheen As Her Bill Heads to President’s Desk: “This is a momentous day for survivors of sexual assault”

(Washington, DC) —U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) delivered remarks on the Senate floor tonight after Senate unanimously passed her legislation to establish a basic set of rights for survivors of sexual assault. Shaheen’s legislation will now go to President Obama’s desk for his signature. The Sexual Assault Survivors’ Rights Act, also known as the Survivors’ Bill of Rights Act of 2016, creates the first federally codified rights specifically for sexual assault survivors, and for the first time would allow survivors the opportunity to enforce those rights in federal court. The groundbreaking legislation was authored and introduced by Shaheen in February 2016 after Shaheen’s staff met with sexual assault survivor Amanda Nguyen. Representatives Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL), Mimi Walters (R-CA) and Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) introduced counterpart bills in the House. The renamed Survivors’ Bill of Rights Act of 2016 was unanimously passed by the House earlier this month.

“This is a momentous day for survivors of sexual assault,” said Senator Shaheen. This legislation will “create a standardized, transparent process that reassures survivors that they will be supported and protected as they pursue justice.”

Shaheen continued, “I thank all my colleagues in both the Senate and House who have come together, on a bipartisan basis, to create a reformed process that ends the silence surrounding sexual assault, brings it out of the shadows, and gives survivors a fair shot at justice.”