II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 548 

To amend title 10, United States Code, to improve and enhance the capabilities of the Armed Forces to prevent and respond to sexual assault 

and sexual harassment in the Armed Forces, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 13, 2013 

Ms. KLOBUCHAR (for herself and Ms. MURKOWSKI) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

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

enhance the capabilities of the Armed Forces to prevent 

and respond to sexual assault and sexual harassment 

in 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 ‘‘Military Sexual Assault 

5 Prevention Act of 2013’’. 

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1 SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON SERVICE IN THE ARMED FORCES 

2 BY INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVE BEEN CON3 VICTED OF A SEXUAL OFFENSE. 

4 (a) PROHIBITION.—Chapter 37 of title 10, United 

5 States Code, is amended adding at the end the following 

6 new section: 

7 ‘‘§ 656. Prohibition on service in the armed forces by 

8 individuals convicted of a sexual offense 

9 ‘‘(a) PROHIBITION ON COMMISSIONING OR ENLIST10 MENT.—(1) A person who has been convicted of an offense 

11 specified in paragraph (2) under Federal or State law may 

12 not be processed for commissioning or permitted to enlist 

13 in the armed forces. 

14 ‘‘(2) An offense specified in this paragraph is any fel15 ony offense as follows: 

16 ‘‘(A) Rape. 

17 ‘‘(B) Sexual assault. 

18 ‘‘(C) Forcible sodomy. 

19 ‘‘(D) Incest. 

20 ‘‘(b) ADMINISTRATIVE SEPARATION FOR CERTAIN

21 OFFENSES NOT RESULTING IN PUNITIVE DISCHARGE.— 

22 (1) Any member of the armed forces on active duty, and 

23 any member of a reserve component of the armed forces 

24 not on active duty but in active status, who is convicted 

25 of an offense specified in paragraph (2) and not punitively 

26 discharged from the armed forces in connection with such 

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1 conviction shall be separated administratively from the 

2 armed forces for such offense. 

3 ‘‘(2) An offense specified in this paragraph is any of4 fense as follows: 

5 ‘‘(A) Rape or sexual assault under subsection 

6 (a) or (b) of section 920 of this title (article 120 of 

7 the Uniform Code of Military Justice). 

8 ‘‘(B) Forcible sodomy under section 925 of this 

9 title (article 125 of the Uniform Code of Military 

10 Justice). 

11 ‘‘(C) An attempt to commit an offense specified 

12 in subparagraph (A) or (B), as punishable under 

13 section 880 of this title (article 80 of the Uniform 

14 Code of Military Justice). 

15 ‘‘(3) Under regulations prescribed by the Secretary 

16 of Defense, the Secretary of the military department con17 cerned may waive the requirement in paragraph (1) with 

18 respect to a member if the waiver is determined appro19 priate in the interests of the national security of the 

20 United States. Waivers under this paragraph shall be 

21 made on a case-by-case basis.’’. 

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

23 at the beginning of chapter 37 of such title is amended 

24 by adding at the end the following new item: 

‘‘656. Prohibition on service in the armed forces by individuals convicted of a 

sexual offense.’’. 

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1 SEC. 3. PERSONS WHO MAY EXERCISE DISPOSITION AU2 THORITY REGARDING CHARGES INVOLVING 

3 CERTAIN SEXUAL MISCONDUCT OFFENSES 

4 UNDER THE UNIFORM CODE OF MILITARY 

5 JUSTICE. 

6 (a) PERSONS WHO MAY EXERCISE DISPOSITION AU7 THORITY.— 

8 (1) DISPOSITION AUTHORITY.—With respect to 

9 any charge under chapter 47 of title 10, United 

10 States Code (the Uniform Code of Military Justice), 

11 that alleges an offense specified in paragraph (2), 

12 the Secretary of Defense shall require the Secre13 taries of the military departments to restrict disposi14 tion authority under section 830 of such chapter (ar15 ticle 30 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice) to 

16 officers of the Armed Forces who have the authority 

17 to convene special courts-martial under section 823 

18 of such chapter (article 23 of the Uniform Code of 

19 Military Justice), but not lower than the following: 

20 (A) In the case of a training command, the 

21 first brigadier general, or, in the case of the 

22 Navy, the first rear admiral (lower half), with 

23 a legal advisor (or access to a legal advisor) in 

24 the chain of command of the person accused of 

25 committing the offense. 

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1 (B) In the case of any other command, the 

2 first colonel, or in the case of the Navy, the 

3 first captain, with a legal advisor (or access to 

4 a legal advisor) in the chain of command of the 

5 person accused of committing the offense. 

6 (2) COVERED OFFENSES.—Paragraph (1) ap7 plies with respect to a charge that alleges any of the 

8 following offenses under chapter 47 of title 10, 

9 United States Code (the Uniform Code of Military 

10 Justice): 

11 (A) Rape or sexual assault under sub12 section (a) or (b) of section 920 of such chapter 

13 (article 120 of the Uniform Code of Military 

14 Justice). 

15 (B) Forcible sodomy under section 925 of 

16 such chapter (article 125 of the Uniform Code 

17 of Military Justice). 

18 (C) An attempt to commit an offense spec19 ified in subparagraph (A) or (B), as punishable 

20 under section 880 of such chapter (article 80 of 

21 the Uniform Code of Military Justice). 

22 (b) IMPLEMENTATION.— 

23 (1) SECRETARIES OF MILITARY DEPART24 MENTS.—The Secretaries of the military departmstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

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1 ments shall revise policies and procedures as nec2 essary to comply with subsection (a). 

3 (2) SECRETARY OF DEFENSE.—Not later than 

4 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

5 the Secretary of Defense shall recommend such 

6 changes to the Manual for Courts-Martial as are 

7 necessary to ensure compliance with subsection (a). 

8 SEC. 4. POLICY OF THE UNITED STATES ON DISPOSITION 

9 OF CHARGES INVOLVING CERTAIN SEXUAL 

10 MISCONDUCT OFFENSES UNDER THE UNI11 FORM CODE OF MILITARY JUSTICE THROUGH 

12 COURTS-MARTIAL. 

13 (a) STATEMENT OF POLICY.—It shall be the policy 

14 of the United States that any charge regarding an offense 

15 specified in subsection (b) should be disposed of by court16 martial, rather than by non-judicial punishment or admin17 istrative action. 

18 (b) COVERED OFFENSES.—An offense specified in 

19 this subsection is any of the following offenses under chap20 ter 47 of title 10, United States Code (the Uniform Code 

21 of Military Justice): 

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

23 or (b) of section 920 of such chapter (article 120 of 

24 the Uniform Code of Military Justice). 

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1 (2) Forcible sodomy under section 925 of such 

2 chapter (article 125 of the Uniform Code of Military 

3 Justice). 

4 (3) An attempt to commit an offense specified 

5 in paragraph (1) or (2), as punishable under section 

6 880 of such chapter (article 80 of the Uniform Code 

7 of Military Justice). 

8 (c) JUSTIFICATION FOR DISPOSITION OTHER THAN

9 BY COURT-MARTIAL.—In the case of any charge regard10 ing an offense specified in subsection (b) that is disposed 

11 of by non-judicial punishment or administrative action, 

12 rather than by court-martial, the disposition authority 

13 provided for in section 3 shall include in the case file a 

14 justification for the disposition of the charge by non-judi15 cial punishment or administrative action, rather than by 

16 court-martial. 

17 SEC. 5. COMMAND ACTION ON REPORTS BY MEMBERS OF 

18 THE ARMED FORCES OF SEXUAL OFFENSES 

19 INVOLVING MEMBERS. 

20 (a) MAXIMUM PERIOD FOR ACTION.—A commanding 

21 officer who receives a report of a sexual-related offense 

22 involving a member of the Armed Forces in the chain of 

23 command of such officer shall act upon the report in ac24 cordance with subsection (b) by not later than 24 hours 

25 after receipt of the report by the commanding officer. 

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1 (b) REQUIRED ACTION.—The action required by this 

2 subsection with respect to a report described in subsection 

3 (a) is, at the election of the commanding officer concerned, 

4 one of the following: 

5 (1) The submittal of the report to the next 

6 higher officer in the chain of command of the com7 manding officer concerned. 

8 (2) The referral of the report to the office of 

9 the special investigation of the military department 

10 concerned or such other investigation service of the 

11 military department concerned as the Secretary of 

12 the military department concerned may specify for 

13 purposes of this section. 

14 SEC. 6. INCLUSION AND COMMAND REVIEW OF INFORMA15 TION ON SEXUAL-RELATED OFFENSES IN 

16 PERSONNEL SERVICE RECORDS OF MEM17 BERS OF THE ARMED FORCES. 

18 (a) INFORMATION ON SUBSTANTIATED REPORTS ON

19 SEXUAL-RELATED OFFENSES.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—If a complaint of a sexual21 related offense is made against a member of the 

22 Armed Forces and the complaint is substantiated, a 

23 notation to that effect shall be placed in the per24 sonnel service record of the member, regardless of 

25 the member’s grade. 

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1 (2) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the inclusion of 

2 information in personnel service records under para3 graph (1) is to alert commanders to the members of 

4 their command who have received courts-martial 

5 conviction, non-judicial punishment, or administra6 tive action for sexual-related offenses in order to re7 duce the likelihood that repeat offenses will escape 

8 the notice of commanders. 

9 (b) LIMITATION ON PLACEMENT.—A notation under 

10 subsection (a) may not be placed in the restricted section 

11 of the personnel service record of a member. 

12 (c) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in subsection (a) or 

13 (b) may be construed to prohibit or limit the capacity of 

14 a member of the Armed Forces to challenge or appeal the 

15 placement of a notation, or location of placement of a no16 tation, in the member’s personnel service record in accord17 ance with procedures otherwise applicable to such chal18 lenges or appeals. 

19 (d) SUBSTANTIATED COMPLAINTS.—For purposes of 

20 implementing this section, the Secretary of Defense shall 

21 use the definition of substantiated developed for purposes 

22 of the annual report on sexual assaults involving members 

23 of the Armed Forces prepared under section 1631 of the 

24 Ike Skelton National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 

25 Year 2011 (10 U.S.C. 1561 note). 

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1 (e) COMMAND REVIEW OF HISTORY OF SEXUAL-RE2 LATED OFFENSES OF MEMBERS UPON ASSIGNMENT OR

3 TRANSFER TO NEW UNIT.— 

4 (1) REVIEW REQUIRED.—Under uniform regu5 lations prescribed by the Secretary of Defense, the 

6 commanding officer of a facility, installation, or unit 

7 to which a member of the Armed Forces described 

8 in paragraph (2) is permanently assigned or trans9 ferred shall review the history of substantiated sex10 ual offenses of the member in order to familiarize 

11 such officer with such history of the member. 

12 (2) COVERED MEMBERS.—A member of the 

13 Armed Forces described in this paragraph is a mem14 ber of the Armed Forces who, at the time of assign15 ment or transfer as described in paragraph (1), has 

16 a history of one or more substantiated sexual of17 fenses as documented in the personnel service record 

18 of such member or such other records or files as the 

19 Secretary shall specify in the regulations prescribed 

20 under paragraph (1). 

21 SEC. 7. COLLECTION AND RETENTION OF RECORDS ON DIS22 POSITION OF REPORTS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT. 

23 (a) COLLECTION.—The Secretary of Defense shall re24 quire that the Secretary of each military department es25 tablish a record on the disposition of any report of sexual 

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1 assault, whether such disposition is court-martial, non-ju2 dicial punishment, or other administrative action. The 

3 record of any such disposition shall include the following, 

4 as appropriate: 

5 (1) Documentary information collected about 

6 the incident reported. 

7 (2) Punishment imposed, including the sen8 tencing by judicial or non-judicial means including 

9 incarceration, fines, restriction, and extra duty as a 

10 result of military court-martial, Federal and local 

11 court and other sentencing, or any other punishment 

12 imposed. 

13 (3) Reasons for the selection of the disposition 

14 and punishments selected. 

15 (4) Administrative actions taken, if any. 

16 (5) Any pertinent referrals offered as a result 

17 of the incident (such as drug and alcohol counseling 

18 and other types of counseling or intervention). 

19 (b) RETENTION.—The Secretary of Defense shall re20 quire that— 

21 (1) the records established pursuant to sub22 section (a) be retained by the Department of De23 fense for a period of not less than 50 years; and 

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1 (2) a copy of such records be maintained at a 

2 centralized location for the same period as applies to 

3 retention of the records under paragraph (1). 

4 SEC. 8. RETENTION OF CERTAIN FORMS IN CONNECTION 

5 WITH RESTRICTED REPORTS ON SEXUAL AS6 SAULT INVOLVING MEMBERS OF THE ARMED 

7 FORCES. 

8 (a) REQUIREMENT FOR RETENTION.—Subsection (a) 

9 of section 577 of the National Defense Authorization Act 

10 for Fiscal Year 2013 (Public Law 112–239) is amended 

11 by striking ‘‘At the request of a member of the Armed 

12 Forces who files a Restricted Report on an incident of sex13 ual assault involving the member, the Secretary of Defense 

14 shall’’ and inserting ‘‘The Secretary of Defense shall’’. 

15 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The heading of 

16 such section is amended by striking ‘‘AT REQUEST OF

17 THE MEMBER OF THE ARMED FORCES MAKING THE

18 REPORT’’. 

Æ 

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