II 

Calendar No. 293 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1917 

To provide for additional enhancements of the sexual assault prevention 

and response activities of the Armed Forces. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 14, 2014 

Mrs. MCCASKILL (for herself, Ms. AYOTTE, and Mrs. FISCHER) introduced 

the following bill; which was read the first time 

JANUARY 15, 2014 

Read the second time and placed on the calendar 

A BILL 

To provide for additional enhancements of the sexual assault 

prevention and response activities of the Armed Forces. 

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 ‘‘Victims Protection Act 

5 of 2014’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. INCLUSION OF SENIOR TRIAL COUNSEL DETER2 MINATIONS ON REFERRAL OF CASES TO 

3 TRIAL BY COURT-MARTIAL IN CASES RE4 VIEWED BY SECRETARIES OF MILITARY DE5 PARTMENTS. 

6 Section 1744 of the National Defense Authorization 

7 Act for Fiscal Year 2014 is amended— 

8 (1) in subsection (c)— 

9 (A) in the subsection heading, by inserting 

10 ‘‘OR SENIOR TRIAL COUNSEL’’ after ‘‘STAFF

11 JUDGE ADVOCATE’’; and 

12 (B) by inserting ‘‘or the senior trial coun13 sel detailed to the case’’ after ‘‘Military Jus14 tice),’’; and 

15 (2) in subsection (d)— 

16 (A) in the subsection heading, by inserting 

17 ‘‘OR SENIOR TRIAL COUNSEL’’ after ‘‘STAFF

18 JUDGE ADVOCATE’’; and 

19 (B) by inserting ‘‘or the senior trial coun20 sel detailed to the case’’ after ‘‘Military Jus21 tice),’’. 

22 SEC. 3. ADDITIONAL ENHANCEMENTS OF MILITARY DE23 PARTMENT ACTIONS ON SEXUAL ASSAULT 

24 PREVENTION AND RESPONSE. 

25 (a) ADDITIONAL DUTY OF SPECIAL VICTIMS’ COUN26 SEL.—In addition to any duties authorized by section 


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1 1044e of title 10, United States Code (as added by section 

2 1716 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 

3 Year 2014), a Special Victims’ Counsel designated under 

4 subsection (a) of such section 1044e shall provide advice 

5 to victims of sexual assault on the advantages and dis6 advantages of prosecution of the offense concerned by 

7 court-martial or by a civilian court with jurisdiction over 

8 the offense before such victims express their preference 

9 as to the prosecution of the offense under subsection (b). 

10 (b) CONSULTATION WITH VICTIMS REGARDING

11 PREFERENCE IN PROSECUTION OF CERTAIN SEXUAL OF12 FENSES.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretaries of the mili14 tary departments shall each establish a process to 

15 ensure consultation with the victim of a covered sex16 ual offense that occurs in the United States with re17 spect to the victim’s preference as to whether the of18 fense should be prosecuted by court-martial or by a 

19 civilian court with jurisdiction over the offense. 

20 (2) WEIGHT AFFORDED PREFERENCE.—The 

21 preference expressed by a victim under paragraph 

22 (1) with respect to the prosecution of an offense, 

23 while not binding, should be afforded great weight in 

24 the determination whether to prosecute the offense 

25 by court-martial or by a civilian court. 


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1 (3) NOTICE TO VICTIM OF LACK OF CIVILIAN

2 CRIMINAL PROSECUTION AFTER PREFERENCE FOR

3 SUCH PROSECUTION.—In the event a victim ex4 presses a preference under paragraph (1) in favor of 

5 prosecution of an offence by civilian court and the 

6 civilian authorities determine to decline prosecution, 

7 or defer to prosecution by court-martial, the victim 

8 shall be promptly notified of that determination. 

9 (c) PERFORMANCE APPRAISALS OF MEMBERS OF

10 THE ARMED FORCES.— 

11 (1) APPRAISALS OF ALL MEMBERS ON COMPLI12 ANCE WITH SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION AND RE13 SPONSE PROGRAMS.—The Secretaries of the military 

14 departments shall each ensure that the written per15 formance appraisals of members of the Armed 

16 Forces (whether officers or enlisted members) under 

17 the jurisdiction of such Secretary include an assess18 ment of the extent to which each such member sup19 ports the sexual assault prevention and response 

20 program of the Armed Force concerned. 

21 (2) PERFORMANCE APPRAISALS OF COM22 MANDING OFFICERS.—The Secretaries of the mili23 tary departments shall each ensure that the per24 formance appraisals of commanding officers under 

25 the jurisdiction of such Secretary indicate the extent 


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1 to which each such commanding officer has or has 

2 not established a command climate in which— 

3 (A) allegations of sexual assault are prop4 erly managed and fairly evaluated; and 

5 (B) a victim can report criminal activity, 

6 including sexual assault, without fear of retalia7 tion, including ostracism and group pressure 

8 from other members of the command. 

9 (d) COMMAND CLIMATE ASSESSMENTS FOLLOWING

10 INCIDENTS OF CERTAIN SEXUAL OFFENSES.— 

11 (1) ASSESSMENTS REQUIRED.—The Secretaries 

12 of the military departments shall each establish a 

13 process whereby a command climate assessment is 

14 performed following an incident involving a covered 

15 sexual offense for each of the command of the ac16 cused and the command of the victim. If the accused 

17 and the victim are within the same command, only 

18 a single climate assessment is required. The process 

19 shall ensure the timely completion of command cli20 mate assessments for provision to military criminal 

21 investigation organizations and commanders pursu22 ant to paragraph (2). 

23 (2) PROVISION TO MILITARY CRIMINAL INVES24 TIGATION ORGANIZATIONS AND COMMANDERS.—A 


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1 command climate assessment performed pursuant to 

2 paragraph (1) shall be provided to the following: 

3 (A) The military criminal investigation or4 ganization conducting the investigation of the 

5 offense concerned. 

6 (B) The commander next higher in the 

7 chain of command of the command covered by 

8 the climate assessment. 

9 (e) CONFIDENTIAL REVIEW OF CHARACTERIZATION

10 OF TERMS OF DISCHARGE OF VICTIMS OF SEXUAL OF11 FENSES.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretaries of the mili13 tary departments shall each establish a confidential 

14 process, through boards for the correction of mili15 tary records of the military department concerned, 

16 by which an individual who was the victim of a cov17 ered sexual offense during service in the Armed 

18 Forces may challenge, on the basis of being the vic19 tim of such an offense, the terms or characterization 

20 of the individual’s discharge or separation from the 

21 Armed Forces. 

22 (2) CONSIDERATION OF INDIVIDUAL EXPERI23 ENCES IN CONNECTION WITH OFFENSES.—In decid24 ing whether to modify the terms or characterization 

25 of an individual’s discharge or separation pursuant 


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1 to the process required by paragraph (1), the Sec2 retary of the military department concerned shall in3 struct boards to give due consideration to the psy4 chological and physical aspects of the individual’s ex5 perience in connection with the offense concerned, 

6 and to what bearing such experience may have had 

7 on the circumstances surrounding the individual’s 

8 discharge or separation from the Armed Forces. 

9 (3) PRESERVATION OF CONFIDENTIALITY.— 

10 Documents considered and decisions rendered pursu11 ant to the process required by paragraph (1) shall 

12 not be made available to the public, except with the 

13 consent of the individual concerned. 

14 (f) COVERED SEXUAL OFFENSE DEFINED.—In sub15 sections (a) through (e), the term ‘‘covered sexual offense’’ 

16 means any of the following: 

17 (1) Rape or sexual assault under subsection (a) 

18 or (b) of section 920 of title 10, United States Code 

19 (article 120 of the Uniform Code of Military Jus20 tice). 

21 (2) Forcible sodomy under section 925 of title 

22 10, United States Code (article 125 of the Uniform 

23 Code of Military Justice). 

24 (3) An attempt to commit an offense specified 

25 in paragraph (1) or (2) as punishable under section 


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1 880 of title 10, United States Code (article 80 of the 

2 Uniform Code of Military Justice). 

3 (g) MODIFICATION OF MILITARY RULES OF EVI4 DENCE RELATING TO ADMISSIBILITY OF GENERAL MILI5 TARY CHARACTER TOWARD PROBABILITY OF INNO6 CENCE.—Not later than 180 days after the date of the 

7 enactment of this Act, Rule 404(a) of the Military Rules 

8 of Evidence shall be modified to clarify that the general 

9 military character of an accused is not admissible for the 

10 purpose of showing the probability of innocence of the ac11 cused, except that evidence of a trait of the military char12 acter of an accused may be offered in evidence by the ac13 cused when that trait is relevant to an element of an of14 fense for which the accused has been charged. 

15 SEC. 4. APPLICABILITY OF SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION 

16 AND RESPONSE AND RELATED MILITARY 

17 JUSTICE ENHANCEMENTS TO MILITARY 

18 SERVICE ACADEMIES. 

19 (a) MILITARY SERVICE ACADEMIES.—The Secretary 

20 of the military department concerned shall ensure that the 

21 provisions of title XVII of the National Defense Author22 ization Act for Fiscal Year 2014 (as amended by this Act) 

23 and this Act apply to the United States Military Academy, 

24 the Naval Academy, and the Air Force Academy, as appli25 cable. 


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1 (b) COAST GUARD ACADEMY.—The Secretary of 

2 Homeland Security shall ensure that the provisions of title 

3 XVII of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 

4 Year 2014 (as so amended) and this Act apply to the 

5 Coast Guard Academy. 

6 SEC. 5. COLLABORATION BETWEEN THE DEPARTMENT OF 

7 DEFENSE AND THE DEPARTMENT OF JUS8 TICE IN EFFORTS TO PREVENT AND RE9 SPOND TO SEXUAL ASSAULT. 

10 (a) STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK ON COLLABORATION

11 REQUIRED.—Not later than 270 days after the date of 

12 the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense and 

13 the Attorney General shall jointly develop a strategic 

14 framework for ongoing collaboration between the Depart15 ment of Defense and the Department of Justice in their 

16 efforts to prevent and respond to sexual assault. The 

17 framework shall be based on and include the following: 

18 (1) An assessment of the role of the Depart19 ment of Justice in investigations and prosecutions of 

20 sexual assault cases in which the Department of De21 fense and the Department of Justice have concur22 rent jurisdiction, with the assessment to include a 

23 review of and list of recommended revisions to rel24 evant Memoranda of Understanding and related docVerDate Mar 15 2010 22:30 Jan 15, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1917.PCS S1917

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1 uments between the Department of Justice and the 

2 Department of Defense. 

3 (2) An assessment of the feasibility of estab4 lishing the position of advisor on military sexual as5 saults within the Department of Justice (using exist6 ing Department resources and personnel) to assist in 

7 the activities required under paragraph (1)and pro8 vide to the Department of Defense investigative and 

9 other assistance in sexual assault cases occurring on 

10 domestic and overseas military installations over 

11 which the Department of Defense has primary juris12 diction, with the assessment to address the feasi13 bility of maintaining representatives or designees of 

14 the advisor at military installations for the purpose 

15 of reviewing cases of sexual assault and providing 

16 assistance with the investigation and prosecution of 

17 sexual assaults. 

18 (3) An assessment of the number of unsolved 

19 sexual assault cases that have occurred on military 

20 installations, and a plan, with appropriate bench21 marks, to review those cases using currently avail22 able civilian and military law enforcement resources, 

23 such as new technology and forensics information. 


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1 (4) A strategy to leverage efforts by the De2 partment of Defense and the Department of Jus3 tice— 

4 (A) to improve the quality of investiga5 tions, prosecutions, specialized training, services 

6 to victims, awareness, and prevention regarding 

7 sexual assault; and 

8 (B) to address social conditions that relate 

9 to sexual assault. 

10 (5) Mechanisms to promote information sharing 

11 and best practices between the Department of De12 fense and the Department of Justice on prevention 

13 and response to sexual assault, including victim as14 sistance through the Violence against Women Act 

15 and Office for Victims of Crime programs of the De16 partment of Justice. 

17 (b) REPORT.—The Secretary of Defense and the At18 torney General shall jointly submit to the appropriate 

19 committees of Congress a report on the framework re20 quired by subsection (a). The report shall— 

21 (1) describe the manner in which the Depart22 ment of Defense and Department of Justice will col23 laborate on an ongoing basis under the framework; 

24 (2) explain obstacles to implementing the 

25 framework; and 


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1 (3) identify changes in laws necessary to 

2 achieve the purpose of this section. 

3 (c) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CONGRESS DE4 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate commit5 tees of Congress’’ means— 

6 (1) the Committee on Armed Services and the 

7 Committee on the Judiciary of the Senate; and 

8 (2) the Committee on Armed Services and the 

9 Committee on the Judiciary of the House of Rep10 resentatives. 

11 SEC. 6. MODIFICATION OF DEADLINE FOR REPORT ON 

12 NEED FOR PUNITIVE UCMJ ARTICLE ON IN13 APPROPRIATE CONTACT WITH PROSPECTIVE 

14 AND NEW MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES. 

15 Section 1741(d) of the National Defense Authoriza16 tion Act for Fiscal Year 2014 is amended by striking ‘‘120 

17 days’’ and inserting ‘‘60 days’’. 

18 SEC. 7. SENSE OF SENATE ON INDEPENDENT PANEL ON RE19 VIEW AND ASSESSMENT ON RESPONSE SYS20 TEMS TO SEXUAL ASSAULT CRIMES. 

21 It is the sense of the Senate that— 

22 (1) the panel to review and assess the systems 

23 used to respond to sexual assault established by sec24 tion 576 of the National Defense Authorization Act 

25 for Fiscal Year 2013 (Public Law 112–239; 126 


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1 Stat. 1758) is conducting an independent assess2 ment of the systems used to investigate, prosecute, 

3 and adjudicate crimes involving adult sexual assault 

4 and related offenses; 

5 (2) the work of the panel will be critical in in6 forming the efforts of Congress to combat rape, sex7 ual assault, and other sex-related crimes in the 

8 Armed Forces; 

9 (3) the panel should include in its assessment 

10 under subsection (d)(1) of section 576 of the Na11 tional Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 

12 2013 a review of the reforms that will be enacted 

13 pursuant to title XVII of the National Defense Au14 thorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014 (as amended by 

15 this Act) and this Act; and 

16 (4) the views of the victim advocate community 

17 should continue to be well-represented on the panel, 

18 and input from victims should continue to play a 

19 central role in informing the work of the panel. 


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Calendar No. 293 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1917 

A BILL 

To provide for additional enhancements of the sexthe Armed Forces. ual assault prevention and response activities of 

JANUARY 15, 2014 

Read the second time and placed on the calendar 


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