I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7060 

To improve the military justice system, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 28, 2020 

Mr. TURNER (for himself and Mrs. DAVIS of California) introduced the 

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

A BILL 

To improve the military justice system, 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 ‘‘Military Justice Over5 sight and Refinement Act of 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. BRIEFING ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF MILITARY 

7 JUSTICE REFORM. 

8 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact9 ment of this Act, the Judge Advocates General of the 

10 Army, the Navy, the Air Force, and the Coast Guard, and 

11 the Staff Judge Advocate to the Commandant of the MaVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:43 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7060.IH H7060

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1 rine Corps shall each provide to the Committee on Armed 

2 Services of the House of Representatives a briefing on the 

3 results on the review and assessment conducted under sec4 tion 946(f)(1) of title 10, United States Code (article 

5 146(f)(1) of the Uniform Code of Military Justice). Each 

6 briefing shall include recommendations for improvements 

7 to the Uniform Code of Military Justice based on the re8 sults of such review and assessment. 

9 SEC. 3. BRIEFING SPECIAL VICTIMS’ COUNSEL PROGRAM. 

10 (a) BRIEFING REQUIRED.—Not later than 180 days 

11 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Judge Ad12 vocates General of the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, 

13 and the Coast Guard, and the Staff Judge Advocate to 

14 the Commandant of the Marine Corps shall each provide 

15 to the congressional defense committees a briefing on the 

16 status of the Special Victims’ Counsel program of the 

17 Armed Force concerned. 

18 (b) ELEMENTS.—Each briefing under subsection (a) 

19 shall include, with respect to the Special Victims’ Counsel 

20 program of the Armed Force concerned, the following: 

21 (1) An assessment of whether the Armed Force 

22 is in compliance with the provisions of the National 

23 Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 re24 lating to the Special Victims’ Counsel program and, 


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1 if not, what steps have been taken to achieve compli2 ance with such provisions. 

3 (2) An estimate of the average caseload of each 

4 Special Victims’ Counsel. 

5 (3) A description of any staffing shortfalls in 

6 the Special Victims’ Counsel program or other pro7 grams of the Armed Force resulting from the addi8 tional responsibilities required of the Special Vic9 tims’ Counsel program under the National Defense 

10 Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020. 

11 (4) An explanation of the ability of Special Vic12 tims’ Counsel to adhere to requirement that a coun13 sel respond to a request for services within 72 hours 

14 of receiving such request. 

15 (5) An assessment of the feasibility of providing 

16 cross-service Special Victims’ Counsel representation 

17 in instances where a Special Victims’ Counsel from 

18 a different Armed Force is co-located with a victim 

19 at a remote base. 

20 SEC. 4. POLICY ON SEPARATION OF VICTIM AND ACCUSED 

21 AT MILITARY SERVICE ACADEMIES. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense shall, 

23 in consultation with the Secretaries of the military depart24 ments and the Superintendent of each military service 

25 academy, prescribe in regulations a policy under which asVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:43 Jun 20, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7060.IH H7060

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1 sociation between a cadet or midshipman of a military 

2 service academy who is the alleged victim of a sexual as3 sault and the accused is minimized while both parties com4 plete their course of study at the academy. 

5 (b) ELEMENTS.—The Secretary of Defense shall en6 sure that the policy developed under subsection (a)— 

7 (1) is fair to the both the alleged victim and the 

8 accused; and 

9 (2) provides for the confidentiality of the par10 ties involved. 

11 (c) MILITARY SERVICE ACADEMY DEFINED.—The 

12 term ‘‘military service academy’’ means the following: 

13 (1) The United States Military Academy. 

14 (2) The United States Naval Academy. 

15 (3) The United States Air Force Academy. 

16 (4) The United States Coast Guard Academy. 

17 SEC. 5. MODIFICATION OF REPORTING AND DATA COLLEC18 TION ON VICTIMS OF SEXUAL OFFENSES. 

19 Section 547 of the John S. McCain National Defense 

20 Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 (Public Law 115– 

21 232; 10 U.S.C. 1561 note) is amended— 

22 (1) in subsection (a)— 

23 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

24 (i) by striking ‘‘accused of’’ and in25 serting ‘‘suspected of’’; and 


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1 (ii) by striking ‘‘assault’’ and insert2 ing ‘‘offense’’; 

3 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘accused 

4 of’’ and inserting ‘‘suspected of’’; and 

5 (C) in paragraph (3)— 

6 (i) by striking ‘‘assaults’’ and insert7 ing ‘‘offenses’’; and 

8 (ii) by striking ‘‘an accusation’’ and 

9 inserting ‘‘suspicion of’’; 

10 (2) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub11 section (c); 

12 (3) by inserting after subsection (b) the fol13 lowing new subsection: 

14 ‘‘(b) GUIDANCE REQUIRED.—The Secretary of De15 fense shall issue guidance to ensure the uniformity of the 

16 data collected by each Armed Force for purposes of sub17 section (a). At a minimum, such guidance shall estab18 lish— 

19 ‘‘(1) standardized methods for the collection of 

20 the data required to be reported under such sub21 section; and 

22 ‘‘(2) standardized definitions for the terms ‘sex23 ual offense’, ‘collateral misconduct’, and ‘adverse ac24 tion’.’’; and 


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1 (4) by amending subsection (c), as so redesig2 nated, to read as follows: 

3 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 ‘‘(1) The term ‘covered individual’ means an in5 dividual who is identified in the case files of a mili6 tary criminal investigative organization as a victim 

7 of a sexual offense that occurred while that indi8 vidual was serving on active duty as a member of 

9 the Armed Forces. 

10 ‘‘(2) The term ‘suspected of’, when used with 

11 respect to a covered individual suspected of collateral 

12 misconduct or crimes as described in subsection (a), 

13 means that an investigation by a military criminal 

14 investigative organization reveals facts and cir15 cumstances that would lead a reasonable person to 

16 believe that the individual committed an offense 

17 under chapter 47 of title 10, United States Code 

18 (the Uniform Code of Military Justice).’’. 

19 SEC. 6. GUARDIAN AD LITEM PROGRAM FOR MINOR DE20 PENDENTS OF MEMBERS OF THE ARMED 

21 FORCES. 

22 Section 540L(b)(1) of the National Defense Author23 ization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 (Public Law 116–92; 133 

24 Stat. 1373) is amended by adding before the period at 

25 the end the following: ‘‘, including an assessment of the 


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1 feasibility and advisability of establishing a guardian ad 

2 litem program for military dependents living outside the 

3 United States’’. 

Æ 


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