PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Sep 2, 1998
Torture Survivors Relief Act of 1998 - Amends the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to authorize the President to provide grants to treatment centers and programs in foreign countries carrying out projects or activities specifically designed to treat and rehabilitate victims of torture for the physical and psychological effects of the torture. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes the Secretary of Health and Human Services to provide grants to programs in the United States to cover the cost of: (1) services for the rehabilitation of victims of torture, including treatment of the physical and psychological effects of torture; (2) social and legal services for them; and (3) research and training for health care providers outside of treatment centers, or programs for the purpose of enabling such providers to provide rehabilitation services for torture victims. Authorizes appropriations. Authorizes appropriations for FY 1999 and 2000 to the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture. Declares that it is the sense of the Congress that the President, acting through the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations, should: (1) request the Fund to find new ways to support and protect, and encourage development of new, treatment centers and programs carrying out such rehabilitative services; (2) use the U.S. voice and vote to support the work of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and the Committee Against Torture; and (3) use the U.S. voice and vote to establish a country rapporteur or similar procedural mechanism to investigate human rights violations in a country where a prevalent and systematic practice of torture is indicated. Directs the Secretary of State to provide training for consular officers with respect to: (1) identification of torture and its effects on the victim, as well as the surrounding circumstances in which it is most often practiced; and (2) the manner of interviewing torture victims so as not to retraumatize them. Requires gender- specific training on the subject of interacting with women and men who are victims of torture by rape or any other form of sexual violence.
People & committees
Sen. Grams, Rod [R-MN] · R–MN
Legislative record
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Read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.
Introduced in Senate
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Source last updated: Aug 21, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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