On May 18, the House approved, 299-120, the FY2013 National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 4310). The House Armed Services Committee approved the legislation on May 10 (see The Source, 5/11/12).
According to the committee report, the bill would authorize $642.714 billion for FY2013. This amount includes $546.757 billion for the base department funding and $88.482 billion for overseas contingency operations (OCO). President Obama requested $631.603 billion for the Department of Defense and $88.5 billion for OCO in FY2013.
Of the total amount, military personnel programs would receive $135.727 billion ($615.056 million more than the president’s request), while the Defense Health program would receive $32.759 billion ($229.9 million over the president’s request) and military construction would receive $8.858 billion ($237.821 million below the president’s request). Family housing would receive $1.651 billion, an amount equal to the president’s request.
The bill contains several provisions addressing sexual assault in the military. The measure would require the secretaries of the military branches to “establish special victim teams for the investigation, prosecution, and victim support in connection with child abuse, serious domestic violence, or sexual offenses under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ)” (p. 166). The secretaries would be required to determine the number of teams to be established and prescribe regulations for their effective management and employment. The secretary of Defense would be required to provide sexual assault training during pre-command and command courses and to post information on sexual assault prevention in prominent locations throughout the Department of Defense (DoD) (p. 166).
The legislation would require the secretaries of the military branches to include in the annual DoD report on sexual assault information about sexual harassment and the secretary of Defense to continue reporting “on the establishment of the Defense Incident-Based Reporting System and the Defense Sexual Assault Incident Database until the secretary certifies that both systems are fully functional and operational” (p. 167).
The measure would establish an independent review and assessment of judicial proceedings involving sexual assault and related offenses under the UCMJ in an effort to develop potential improvements (p. 162). The measure also would require the secretaries of the military branches to establish and maintain for at least 20 years a record of dispositions of sexual assaults (p. 162). Reports of substantiated sexual harassment would be included in the service member’s record (p. 162).
The bill would require the secretary of Defense to report to Congress on the feasibility of incorporating gender-neutral occupational standards for military occupations currently closed to women (p. 161).
The legislation would protect pre-deployment child custody orders (p. 165) and increase the amount of leave available to members of the armed forces for the adoption of a child from 21 to 42 days, bringing the leave in line with that provided for the birth of a child (p. 161).
Recognizing the need for ergonomically correct body armor for female soldiers, the committee commends the Army for “pursuing several…programs to improve upon organizational clothing and individual equipment for soldiers to include programs specifically focused on female soldiers” and directs the secretary of the Army to “conduct an assessment as to whether there is an operational need to tailor the interceptor body armor systems fielded to female service members specifically for the physical requirements of women. This assessment should include a comprehensive market survey of commercial body armor system designs specifically tailored for female body types” (p. 57).
The bill would authorize $25 million in continued DoD support for local education agencies (LEAs) impacted by the enrollment of dependent children of service members and civilian DoD employees and $5 million for assistance to LEAs with significant changes in enrollment due to base closures, force relocations, or force structure changes (p. 165).
During consideration of the bill, the House passed, by voice vote, the following amendments, which were included in separate en bloc amendments offered by Rep. Buck McKeon (R-CA):
