I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7419 

To require the Secretary of Defense to submit a report on the quality 

of overseas covered military unaccompanied housing, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 20, 2024 

Mrs. KIGGANS of Virginia (for herself and Ms. JACOBS) introduced the 

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

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of Defense to submit a report 

on the quality of overseas covered military unaccompanied housing, 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 ‘‘Foreign Overseas Resi5 dence Conditions Enhancement Act’’ or the ‘‘FORCE 

6 Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

8 Congress finds the following: 

9 (1) According to a September 2023 Government 

10 Accountability Office report (23–107038) that surVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:32 Feb 27, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7419.IH H7419

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1 veyed 31 military installations within the United 

2 States, the Department of Defense does not reliably 

3 assess the conditions of barracks on installations, 

4 many of which are substandard and pose potentially 

5 serious health and safety risks to residents. 

6 (2) The Department of Defense also does not 

7 have complete visibility into the funding needed for 

8 construction and maintenance of unaccompanied 

9 housing facilities. 

10 (3) The Department of Defense does not con11 duct sufficient oversight needed to address long12 standing challenges with conditions in barracks. 

13 (4) The purview of this report related to bar14 racks on installations within the United States, but 

15 did not survey any overseas barracks facilities oper16 ated by the Department of Defense. 

17 (5) It is the opinion of Congress that American 

18 servicemembers deserve the highest possible quality 

19 of residential facilities that do not endanger mission 

20 readiness or capability. 

21 SEC. 3. REPORT ON OVERSEAS COVERED MILITARY UNAC22 COMPANIED HOUSING. 

23 (a) REPORT REQUIREMENTS.—Not later than 180 

24 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec25 retary of Defense shall submit to the Committees on 


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1 Armed Services of the Senate and House of Representa2 tives a report on the quality of all covered military unac3 companied housing not located in the United States that 

4 shall include the following: 

5 (1) The results of an evaluation the condition 

6 of such housing using the uniform index developed 

7 under section 2838 of the National Defense Author8 ization Act for Fiscal Year 2024 (Public Law 118– 

9 31). 

10 (2) A explanation of how the standards for hab11 itability established under section 2856b of title 10, 

12 United States Code (as added by section 2832 of the 

13 National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 

14 2024 (Public Law 118–31)), are applied to such 

15 housing. 

16 (3) An assessment to determine the funding 

17 needed to apply the standards for habitability de18 scribed in paragraph (2) to such housing. 

19 (4) An assessment of how habitability stand20 ards and the condition of such housing affect force 

21 readiness, broken down by combatant command. 

22 (b) COVERED MILITARY UNACCOMPANIED HOUSING

23 DEFINED.—In this subsection, the term ‘‘covered military 


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1 unaccompanied housing’’ has the meaning given in section 

2 2856 of title 10, United States Code. 

Æ 


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