On December 17, the House passed, 341-48, the FY2011 Ike Skelton National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 6523). The House passed a similar version (H.R. 5136) on May 28, while the Senate Armed Services Committee approved its version of the bill (S. 3454) on May 27 (see The Source, 6/1/10).
The bill would authorize $725 billion in FY2011 for programs at the Department of Defense (DoD). Included in that amount is $159.3 billion for military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as $32.4 billion for the Defense Health Program and $19.3 billion for military construction, base realignment and closure (BRAC), and family housing. School districts whose populations consist of 20 percent or more of children of service members would receive $50 million in Impact Aid in FY2011. Military personnel would receive an across-the-board 1.4 percent pay increase.
The compromise legislation would remove the controversial portions of the previous bills under consideration, including a provision in S. 3454 that would permit women to obtain abortions at military facilities as long as they use their own funds; the restriction on using federal funds for abortions would remain intact.
Like the previous versions of the bill, the legislation would improve the efforts to prevent and respond to sexual assault within the armed forces. The bill would implement the recommendations of the Defense Task Force on Sexual Assault in the Military Services, issued in December 2009. The secretary of Defense would be required to submit by March 30, 2012, a revised comprehensive policy for sexual assault prevention and response. The bill also would strengthen sexual assault reporting requirements, establish “comprehensive and consistent” protocols for providing and documenting medical care for victims, and include officers from each of the armed forces among the staff of the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office. The legislation would require further evaluation to determine if additional regulations or legislation are needed with regard to victim support services, current offenses under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, and prevention and response programs in remote or joint operations.
The measure would make changes to the existing DoD domestic violence programs. Specifically, the bill would require the department to develop plans to address deficiencies in the incident-based reporting system, adequate personnel levels, domestic violence training for military chaplains, and for an oversight framework for all DoD domestic violence programs.
In light of the increased number of women serving in the military (recent reports indicate that women comprise 14 percent of active duty forces and 17 percent of reserve forces), the measure would direct the secretary of Defense to review “laws, policies, and regulations, including the collocation policy, that may restrict the service of female members of the armed forces to determine whether changes in such laws, policies, and regulations are needed to ensure that female members have an equitable opportunity to compete and excel in the armed forces.”
