On May 4, the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Military Personnel approved, by voice vote, its portion of the FY2012 National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 1540). The full committee is expected to consider the entire bill next week.
Sponsored by Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon (R-CA), the bill contains several provisions important to female service members and their families. According to the subcommitteesummary, the measure would provide $132.097 billion for military personnel in FY2012, which includes $32.199 billion for the Defense Health program.
H.R. 1540 contains several provisions to improve the prevention of, and response to, sexual assault in the military. Specifically, the bill would entitle victims of sexual assault to legal assistance provided by a military legal assistance counsel who has been certified by a sexual assault victims’ advocate. In addition, dependents of service members who are victims of sexual assault and live on or near a military installation would be entitled to military legal assistance. The bill also would require that consideration and approval of victims’ requests for permanent change of station or unit transfer be expedited (p. 15).
The legislation includes a provision to protect service members’ child custody arrangements by requiring courts that issue temporary custody orders based solely on the service member being deployed or anticipating deployment to reinstate the custody order in effect immediately preceding the temporary custody order, unless doing so is not in the best interest of the child. The bill also would prohibit courts from using deployment or the possibility of deployment against service members when determining the best interest of the child (p. 14).
The bill would require the secretary of Defense to conduct a comprehensive review of the “availability, efficacy, and adequacy of health care services for female members of the armed forces” (p. 23). The secretary would be required to submit to Congress a report on the findings by March 31, 2012.
The measure would provide $30 million in assistance to local education agencies (LEAs) that have military dependent students that comprise at least 20 percent of their yearly attendance. The bill also would provide $10 million in assistance to LEAs that experience significant increases or decreases in yearly enrollment due to the number of military dependent students.
