I 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5638 

To direct the Secretary concerned to develop and implement policies and 

procedures to prevent and respond to hazing in the Armed Forces, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 8, 2012 

Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary concerned to develop and implement 

policies and procedures to prevent and respond to hazing 

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 ‘‘Service Member Anti5 Hazing Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DUTIES OF THE SECRETARY CONCERNED. 

7 (a) HAZING POLICIES AND PROCEDURES.—The Sec8 retary concerned, in consultation with the Panel estab9 lished in section 3, shall— 


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1 (1) develop and implement a policy to prevent 

2 and respond to hazing of members of that branch of 

3 the Armed Forces; 

4 (2) develop and implement a program to train 

5 members of that branch of the Armed Forces on the 

6 dangers of and the need to avoid hazing and on 

7 issues related to diversity, which each such member 

8 shall attend not less than annually; 

9 (3) expand any policies for reporting incidents 

10 of hazing to include a phone service through which 

11 an individual can anonymously call to report inci12 dents of hazing in that branch of the Armed Forces; 

13 and 

14 (4) develop and implement a procedure to 

15 transfer a member of that branch of the Armed 

16 Forces who has been the victim of a substantiated 

17 incident of hazing to another unit in such branch of 

18 the Armed Forces. 

19 (b) DATA COLLECTION.—The Secretary concerned 

20 shall collect and maintain data on each incident of hazing 

21 reported, including— 

22 (1) the gender, race or ethnicity, sexual orienta23 tion, and religion of the victim and perpetrator of 

24 the incident of hazing; and 


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1 (2) whether the Secretary concerned responded 

2 to the incident of hazing, and if there was a re3 sponse, information about such response. 

4 (c) REPORT.—The Secretary concerned shall submit 

5 an annual report to Congress on the data collected and 

6 maintained under subsection (b). 

7 SEC. 3. MILITARY HAZING PREVENTION OVERSIGHT 

8 PANEL. 

9 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a panel 

10 to be known as the Military Hazing Prevention Oversight 

11 Panel (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Panel’’). 

12 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—The Panel shall be composed of 

13 the following members: 

14 (1) The Secretary of the Army or the Sec15 retary’s designee. 

16 (2) The Secretary of the Navy or the Sec17 retary’s designee. 

18 (3) The Secretary of the Air Force or the Sec19 retary’s designee. 

20 (4) The Secretary of Homeland Security (with 

21 respect to the Coast Guard) or the Secretary’s des22 ignee. 

23 (5) Members appointed by the Secretary of De24 fense from among individuals who are not officers or 


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1 employees of any government and who have exper2 tise in advocating for— 

3 (A) women; 

4 (B) racial or ethnic minorities; 

5 (C) religious minorities; or 

6 (D) gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender 

7 individuals. 

8 (c) DUTIES.—The Panel shall— 

9 (1) make recommendations to the Secretary 

10 concerned on the development of the policies, pro11 grams, and procedures described in section 2(a); and 

12 (2) monitor the policies, programs, and proce13 dures described in section 2(a) and make rec14 ommendations to the Secretary concerned, based on 

15 the data collected in section 2(b), on ways to im16 prove such policies, programs, and procedures. 

17 (d) INITIAL MEETING.—Not later than 180 days 

18 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Panel shall 

19 hold its initial meeting. 

20 (e) MEETINGS.—The Panel shall meet not less than 

21 annually. 

22 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

23 (a) HAZING.—The term ‘‘hazing’’ means any conduct 

24 whereby a member of the Armed Forces, regardless of 

25 branch or rank, without proper authority causes another 


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1 member to suffer, or be exposed to, any activity which is 

2 cruel, abusive, humiliating, oppressive, demeaning, or 

3 harmful, and includes— 

4 (1) soliciting or coercing another individual to 

5 perpetrate any such activity; 

6 (2) verbal or psychological conduct; and 

7 (3) instances in which the victim of such activ8 ity gave actual or implied consent. 

9 (b) SECRETARY CONCERNED.—The term ‘‘Secretary 

10 concerned’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

11 101(a) of title 10, United States Code. 

Æ 


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