I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1593 

To amend title 10, United States Code, to improve the prevention of and 

response to sexual assault in the Armed Forces by establishing a Sexual 

Assault Oversight and Response Council and an enhanced Sexual Assault 

Oversight and Response Office and by requiring the appointment of 

a Director of Military Prosecutions for sexual-related offenses committed 

by a member of the Armed Forces, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 17, 2013 

Ms. SPEIER (for herself, Mr. ANDREWS, Ms. BASS, Mr. BECERRA, Mr. BERA

of California, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr. BRALEY of Iowa, Ms. BROWN of Florida, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, 

Mr. CAPUANO, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Ms. CASTOR

of Florida, Ms. CHU, Mr. CICILLINE, Ms. CLARKE, Mr. CLAY, Mr. 

CLEAVER, Mr. COHEN, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. CROWLEY, 

Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. DEFAZIO, Ms. 

DEGETTE, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. DELANEY, Mr. DOGGETT, Ms. EDWARDS, 

Mr. ELLISON, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. FARR, Mr. FATTAH, Ms. FRANKEL of 

Florida, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. AL GREEN of Texas, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. 

GUTIERREZ, Ms. HAHN, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. HOLT, Mr. 

HONDA, Mr. HUFFMAN, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, 

Mr. JONES, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. KEATING, Mr. KIND, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. LEWIS, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. BEN RAY LUJA ́N of New Mexico, 

Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Mr. MARKEY, Ms. MATSUI, 

Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. 

MCNERNEY, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Ms. MOORE, Mrs. 

NAPOLITANO, Ms. NORTON, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. PERLMUTTER, Ms. PINGREE of Maine, Mr. POLIS, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. RAHALL, 

Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. SCHWARTZ, Mr. SCHRADER, Mr. THOMPSON of California, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. 

TIERNEY, Ms. TITUS, Mr. TONKO, Mr. WALZ, Ms. WATERS, Mr. WELCH, 

Ms. WILSON of Florida, and Mr. LARSON of Connecticut) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services 


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A BILL 

To amend title 10, United States Code, to improve the 

prevention of and response to sexual assault in the 

Armed Forces by establishing a Sexual Assault Oversight 

and Response Council and an enhanced Sexual Assault 

Oversight and Response Office and by requiring the appointment of a Director of Military Prosecutions for sexual-related offenses committed by a member of the 

Armed Forces, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Sexual Assault Train5 ing Oversight and Prevention Act’’ or the ‘‘STOP Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) The Department of Defense conducted a 

9 survey of members of the Armed Forces serving on 

10 active duty that revealed that only 13.5 percent of 

11 such members reported incidents of sexual assault, 

12 which means that more than 19,000 incidents of 

13 sexual assault of members of the Armed Forces ac14 tually occurred in 2010 alone. 

15 (2) Despite modest attempts, the Department 

16 of Defense has failed to address the chronic under 

17 reporting of incidents of sexual assault and harassVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:34 Apr 23, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1593.IH H1593

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1 ment, as by the Department’s own estimates, 86 

2 percent of sexual assaults went unreported in 2010. 

3 (3) The military adjudication system itself lacks 

4 independence, as military judges depend on com5 mand, and members of the Armed Forces have only 

6 limited access to civilian courts to address their 

7 grievances. 

8 (4) The Cox Commission, sponsored by the Na9 tional Institute of Military Justice, as well as several 

10 other actors, have consistently observed that the 

11 United States has fallen behind countries such as 

12 Canada and the United Kingdom in terms of its 

13 military justice system. 

14 (5) The military atmosphere is not conducive to 

15 resolving issues of sexual assault and harassment, 

16 and sexual violence continues to infect the Armed 

17 Forces. 

18 (6) The culture of the United States Armed 

19 Forces is based on the chain of command. In a case 

20 of sexual assault, a commander may be responsible 

21 for both the victim and the offender, or both of their 

22 units, or the entire base or ship where the offense 

23 occurred. Command discretion empowers a com24 mander to decide if the case goes forward to court 

25 martial. The great deference afforded command disVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:34 Apr 23, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1593.IH H1593

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1 cretion raises serious concerns about conflicts of in2 terest and the potential for abuse of power. 

3 SEC. 3. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE SEXUAL ASSAULT OVER4 SIGHT AND RESPONSE COUNCIL. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 7 of title 10, United 

6 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol7 lowing new section: 

8 ‘‘§ 189. Sexual Assault Oversight and Response Coun9 cil 

10 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT; MEMBERSHIP.—There is a 

11 Sexual Assault Oversight and Response Council (herein12 after in this section referred to as the ‘Council’). Com13 posed of a majority of civilians this Council shall be inde14 pendent from the chain of command within the Depart15 ment of Defense. 

16 ‘‘(b) MEMBERSHIP.—(1) The membership of the 

17 Council is comprised of individuals selected by the Presi18 dent and the Secretary of Defense who are governmental 

19 and nongovernmental experts and professionals in the ju20 dicial and sexual assault fields as follows: 

21 ‘‘(A) Two members shall be appointed by the 

22 Secretary of the Defense from among the Depart23 ment of Defense personnel who have previously 

24 served as military judges in courts-martial cases re25 lating to sexual assault. 


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1 ‘‘(B) One member shall be appointed by the 

2 President from among the Department of Justice 

3 personnel with expertise in prosecuting cases of sex4 ual assault. 

5 ‘‘(C) One member shall be appointed by the 

6 President who shall have extensive experience advo7 cating for the rights of those sexually assaulted 

8 while serving in the Armed Forces. 

9 ‘‘(D) One member shall be appointed by the 

10 President who shall have extensive expertise adjudi11 cating civilian cases of sexual assault. 

12 ‘‘(2) Members shall be appointed for a term of three 

13 years, except that a member of the Council appointed to 

14 fill a vacancy occurring before the end of the term for 

15 which the member’s predecessor was appointed shall only 

16 serve until the end of such term. A member may serve 

17 after the end of the member’s term until the member’s 

18 successor takes office. 

19 ‘‘(c) CHAIRMAN; MEETINGS.—(1) The Council shall 

20 elect a chair from among its members. 

21 ‘‘(2) The Council shall meet not less often than once 

22 every year. 

23 ‘‘(d) ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS.—(1) Each mem24 ber of the Council who is not an officer or employee of 

25 the Federal Government shall be compensated at a rate 


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1 equal to the daily equivalent of the annual rate of basic 

2 pay prescribed for Executive Schedule Level IV under sec3 tion 5315 of title 5, for each day (including travel time) 

4 during which such member is engaged in the performance 

5 of the duties of the Council. Members of the Council who 

6 are officers or employees of the United States shall serve 

7 without compensation in addition to that received for their 

8 services as officers or employees of the United States. 

9 ‘‘(2) The members of the Council shall be allowed 

10 travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of subsistence, 

11 at rates authorized for employees of agencies under sub12 chapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, while away from their 

13 homes or regular places of business in the performance 

14 of services for the board. 

15 ‘‘(e) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Council shall be re16 sponsible for the following matters: 

17 ‘‘(1) Appointing certain personnel to the Sexual 

18 Assault Oversight and Response Office and advising 

19 the Sexual Assault Oversight and Response Office. 

20 ‘‘(2) Appointing, in consultation with the Sec21 retary of Defense, the Director of Military Prosecu22 tions. 

23 ‘‘(3) Appointing, in consultation with the Presi24 dent and the Secretary of Defense, the Executive DiVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:34 Apr 23, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1593.IH H1593

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1 rector of the Sexual Assault Oversight and Response 

2 Office. 

3 ‘‘(4) Reviewing each request of the Director of 

4 Military Prosecutions with respect to a case stem5 ming from a sexual-related offense that has been re6 ferred to an appellate court within the military or 

7 that has been referred to the Department of Justice. 

8 ‘‘(5) Submitting to the Secretary of Defense, 

9 Congress, and the Attorney General a report on each 

10 request by the Director of Military Prosecutions for 

11 a referral to a higher court. 

12 ‘‘(6) Advising the Sexual Assault Oversight and 

13 Response Office on— 

14 ‘‘(A) the development of sexual assault re15 porting protocols; 

16 ‘‘(B) the development of sexual assault 

17 risk-reduction and response training; 

18 ‘‘(C) the development of sexual assault pol19 icy; and 

20 ‘‘(D) the effectiveness of the Director of 

21 Military Prosecution.’’. 

22 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

23 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by adding 

24 at the end the following new item: 

‘‘189. Sexual Assault Oversight and Response Council.’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE SEXUAL ASSAULT OVER2 SIGHT AND RESPONSE OFFICE. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 4 of title 10, United 

4 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol5 lowing new section: 

6 ‘‘§ 145. Sexual Assault Oversight and Response Office 

7 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is in the Department 

8 a Sexual Assault Oversight and Response Office (in this 

9 section referred to as the ‘Office’). The head of the Office 

10 is the Executive Director of the Sexual Assault Oversight 

11 and Response Office, who shall be appointed by the Sec12 retary of Defense, in consultation with the President. 

13 ‘‘(b) RESPONSIBILITIES.—The Office shall be respon14 sible for the following: 

15 ‘‘(1) Coordination with appropriate military 

16 criminal investigative organizations to carry out in17 vestigations of accusations of sexual assault. 

18 ‘‘(2) Coordination and oversight of the provi19 sion of the three fundamental rights of victims of 

20 sexual assault, safety, security, and a place to com21 municate and to be validated. 

22 ‘‘(3) Determining whether alleged victims or al23 leged perpetrators of sexual assault should be tem24 porarily reassigned to be separated from the alleged 

25 assailant. 


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1 ‘‘(4) Establishing protocols to ensure that all 

2 reports of sexual assault are taken out of the chain 

3 of command and reported directly to the Office. 

4 ‘‘(5) Providing instruction in referring alleged 

5 victims of sexual assault to the Office to the fol6 lowing personnel: 

7 ‘‘(A) Sexual assault coordinators. 

8 ‘‘(B) Sexual assault prevention and re9 sponse victim advocates. 

10 ‘‘(C) Health care personnel. 

11 ‘‘(D) Chaplains. 

12 ‘‘(E) Unit commanders. 

13 ‘‘(F) Investigators and law enforcement 

14 personnel. 

15 ‘‘(G) Judge advocates. 

16 ‘‘(6) Maintaining the Military Sexual Registry 

17 under section 563 of the Duncan Hunter National 

18 Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2009 

19 (Public Law 110–417). 

20 ‘‘(c) COORDINATION OF TRAINING.—The Executive 

21 Director shall coordinate the training efforts of the Office 

22 with each of the military departments to ensure that all 

23 members of the Armed Forces receive— 


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1 ‘‘(1) the contact information for the Sexual As2 sault Oversight and Response Office for purposes of 

3 reporting violations of sexual-related offenses; and 

4 ‘‘(2) clear, written guidelines regarding who on 

5 the Sexual Assault Oversight and Response Office to 

6 contact, including the direct telephone number for a 

7 victims’ advocate, and what steps to take in the 

8 event of a sexual assault. 

9 ‘‘(d) PERSONNEL.—For the purposes of carrying out 

10 the responsibilities of the Office, the Executive Director 

11 of the Sexual Assault Oversight and Response Office, in 

12 consultation with the Sexual Assault Response Council es13 tablished under section 188 of this title, may select, ap14 point, and employ such officers and employees as may be 

15 necessary, subject to the provisions of title 5, United 

16 States Code, governing appointments in the competitive 

17 service, and the provisions of chapter 51 and subchapter 

18 III of chapter 53 of such title, relating to classification 

19 and General Schedule pay rates. 

20 ‘‘(e) INSPECTOR GENERAL REVIEWS.—The Inspector 

21 General shall conduct case reviews of a statistically signifi22 cant number of cases involving allegations of sexual as23 sault on a quarterly basis to determine if proper proce24 dures were followed in accordance with the sexual assault 


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1 protocols and guidelines within the Sexual Assault Over2 sight and Response Office. 

3 ‘‘(f) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Executive Direc4 tor shall submit to Congress an annual report on sexual 

5 assault in the Armed Forces. 

6 ‘‘(g) DEFINITION OF MILITARY CRIMINAL INVES7 TIGATIVE ORGANIZATION.—In this section, the term ‘mili8 tary criminal investigative organization’ means the Army 

9 Criminal Investigation Command, the Naval Criminal In10 vestigative Service, and the Air Force Office of Special In11 vestigations.’’. 

12 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

13 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by adding 

14 at the end the following new item: 

‘‘145. Sexual Assault Oversight and Response Office.’’. 

15 (c) TRANSFER OF FUNCTION.—All functions and 

16 personnel of the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response 

17 Office of the Department of Defense, as of the date of 

18 the enactment of this Act, shall be transferred to the Sex19 ual Assault Oversight and Response Office established by 

20 section 145 of title 10, United States Code, as added by 

21 subsection (a). 

22 SEC. 5. DIRECTOR OF MILITARY PROSECUTIONS. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 47 of title 10, United 

24 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 940 the 

25 following new section: 


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1 ‘‘§ 940A. Art. 140A. Director of Military Prosecutions 

2 ‘‘(a) APPOINTMENT.—There is a Director of Military 

3 Prosecutions who shall be appointed by the Sexual Assault 

4 Oversight and Response Council established under section 

5 189 of this title. 

6 ‘‘(b) RESPONSIBILITIES.—(1) Notwithstanding any 

7 other provision of this chapter, the Director of Military 

8 Prosecutions shall have independent and final authority 

9 to oversee the prosecution of all sexual-related offenses 

10 committed by a member of the armed forces. 

11 ‘‘(2) The Director of Military Prosecutions shall refer 

12 sexual-related offenses to be tried by courts-martial. The 

13 Director may consult with relevant commanding officers 

14 and refer less serious offenses, as determined by the Direc15 tor, to a commanding officer for non-judicial punishment 

16 pursuant to section 815 of this title (article 15). 

17 ‘‘(3) The Director of Military Prosecutions shall be 

18 the convening authority for all sexual-related offenses and 

19 shall determine the type of court-martial to which each 

20 such case will be referred. Members of a court-martial 

21 shall be selected by a court-martial administrator at the 

22 request of the Director. 

23 ‘‘(c) SEXUAL-RELATED OFFENSE.—In this section, 

24 the term ‘sexual-related offense’ means— 

25 ‘‘(1) rape; 

26 ‘‘(2) sexual assault; 


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1 ‘‘(3) aggravated sexual contact; 

2 ‘‘(4) abusive sexual contact; 

3 ‘‘(5) indecent assault; 

4 ‘‘(6) nonconsensual sodomy; 

5 ‘‘(7) any other sexual-related offense the Sec6 retary of Defense determines should be covered by 

7 this section; and 

8 ‘‘(8) an attempt to commit an offense described 

9 in a preceding paragraph.’’. 

10 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

11 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting 

12 after the item relating to section 940 the following new 

13 item: 

‘‘940A. Art. 140A. Director of Military Prosecutions.’’. 

Æ 


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