I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3216 

To enhance efforts to prevent sexual assault in the Armed Forces, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 11, 2019 

Mrs. TRAHAN (for herself, Mr. TURNER, and Mr. CISNEROS) introduced the 

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

A BILL 

To enhance efforts to prevent sexual assault 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 ‘‘Prevention of Sexual 

5 Assault in the Armed Forces Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFENSE ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR THE PREVEN7 TION OF SEXUAL MISCONDUCT. 

8 (a) ESTABLISHMENT REQUIRED.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense 

10 shall establish and maintain within the Department 


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1 of Defense an advisory committee to be known as 

2 the ‘‘Defense Advisory Committee for the Prevention 

3 of Sexual Misconduct’’ (in this section referred to as 

4 the ‘‘Advisory Committee’’). 

5 (2) DEADLINE FOR ESTABLISHMENT.—The 

6 Secretary shall establish the Advisory Committee not 

7 later than 180 days after the date of the enactment 

8 of this Act. 

9 (b) MEMBERSHIP.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Advisory Committee 

11 shall consist of not more than 20 members, ap12 pointed by the Secretary from among individuals 

13 who have an expertise appropriate for the work of 

14 the Advisory Committee, including at least one indi15 vidual with each expertise as follows: 

16 (A) Expertise in the prevention of sexual 

17 assault and behaviors on the sexual assault con18 tinuum of harm. 

19 (B) Expertise in the prevention of suicide. 

20 (C) Expertise in trauma and trauma symp21 toms. 

22 (D) Expertise in the change of culture of 

23 large organizations. 

24 (E) Expertise in implementation science. 


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1 (2) BACKGROUND OF INDIVIDUALS.—Individ2 uals appointed to the Advisory Committee may in3 clude individuals with expertise in sexual assault 

4 prevention efforts of institutions of higher education, 

5 public health officials, and such other individuals as 

6 the Secretary considers appropriate. 

7 (3) PROHIBITION ON MEMBERSHIP OF MEM8 BERS OF ARMED FORCES ON ACTIVE DUTY.—A 

9 member of the Armed Forces serving on active duty 

10 may not serve as a member of the Advisory Com11 mittee. 

12 (c) DUTIES.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Advisory Committee 

14 shall advise the Secretary on the following: 

15 (A) The prevention of sexual assault (in16 cluding rape, forcible sodomy, other sexual as17 sault, and other sexual misconduct (including 

18 behaviors on the sexual assault continuum of 

19 harm)) involving members of the Armed Forces. 

20 (B) The policies, programs, and practices 

21 of each military department, each Armed Force, 

22 and each military service academy for the pre23 vention of sexual assault as described in sub24 paragraph (A). 


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1 (2) BASIS FOR PROVISION OF ADVICE.—For 

2 purposes of providing advice to the Secretary pursu3 ant to this subsection, the Advisory Committee shall 

4 review, on an ongoing basis, the following: 

5 (A) Closed cases involving allegations of 

6 sexual assault described in paragraph (1). 

7 (B) Efforts of institutions of higher edu8 cation to prevent sexual assault among stu9 dents. 

10 (C) Any other information or matters that 

11 the Advisory Committee or the Secretary con12 siders appropriate. 

13 (3) COORDINATION OF EFFORTS.—In addition 

14 to the reviews required by paragraph (2), for pur15 poses of providing advice to the Secretary, the Advi16 sory Committee shall also consult and coordinate 

17 with the Defense Advisory Committee on Investiga18 tion, Prosecution, and Defense of Sexual Assault in 

19 the Armed Forces (DAC–IPAD) on matters of joint 

20 interest to the two Advisory Committees. 

21 (d) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than March 30 

22 each year, the Advisory Committee shall submit to the 

23 Secretary and the Committees on Armed Services of the 

24 Senate and the House of Representatives a report on the 


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1 activities of the Advisory Committee pursuant to this sec2 tion during the preceding year. 

3 (e) SEXUAL ASSAULT CONTINUUM OF HARM.—In 

4 this section, the term ‘‘sexual assault continuum of harm’’ 

5 includes— 

6 (1) inappropriate actions (such as sexist jokes), 

7 sexual harassment, gender discrimination, hazing, 

8 cyber bullying, or other behavior that contributes to 

9 a culture that is tolerant of, or increases risk for, 

10 sexual assault; and 

11 (2) maltreatment or ostracism of a victim for a 

12 report of sexual misconduct. 

13 (f) TERMINATION.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para15 graph (2), the Advisory Committee shall terminate 

16 on the date that is five years after the date of the 

17 establishment of the Advisory Committee pursuant 

18 to subsection (a). 

19 (2) CONTINUATION.—The Secretary of Defense 

20 may continue the Advisory Committee after the ter21 mination date applicable under paragraph (1) if the 

22 Secretary determines that continuation of the Advi23 sory Committee after that date is advisable and ap24 propriate. If the Secretary determines to continue 

25 the Advisory Committee after that date, the SecVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:13 Jun 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3216.IH H3216

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1 retary shall notify the Committees on the Armed 

2 Services of the Senate and House of Representa3 tives. 

4 SEC. 3. NOTICE TO VICTIMS OF ALLEGED SEXUAL ASSAULT 

5 OF PENDENCY OF FURTHER ADMINISTRA6 TIVE ACTION FOLLOWING A DETERMINATION 

7 NOT TO REFER TO TRIAL BY COURT-MAR8 TIAL. 

9 Under regulations prescribed by the Secretary of De10 fense, upon a determination not to refer a case of alleged 

11 sexual assault for trial by court-martial under chapter 47 

12 of title 10, United States Code (the Uniform Code of Mili13 tary Justice), the commander making such determination 

14 shall periodically notify the victim of the status of a final 

15 determination on further action on such case, whether 

16 non-judicial punishment under section 815 of such title 

17 (article 15 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice), other 

18 administrative action, or no further action. Such notifica19 tions shall continue not less frequently than monthly until 

20 such final determination. 

21 SEC. 4. AUTHORITY FOR DETAIL OF CERTAIN ENLISTED 

22 MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES AS STU23 DENTS AT LAW SCHOOLS. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 101 of title 10, United 

25 States Code, is amended— 


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1 (1) by redesignating sections 2004a and 2004b 

2 as sections 2004b and 2004c, respectively; and 

3 (2) by inserting after section 2004 the following 

4 new section: 

5 ‘‘§ 2004a. Detail as students at law schools: certain 

6 enlisted members 

7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of each military 

8 department may, under regulations prescribed by the Sec9 retary of Defense, detail enlisted members of the armed 

10 forces as students at accredited law schools, located in the 

11 United States, for a period of training leading to the de12 gree of bachelor of laws or juris doctor. No more than 

13 twenty-five officers from each military department may 

14 commence such training in any single fiscal year. 

15 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBILITY FOR DETAIL.—To be eligible for 

16 detail under subsection (a), a member must be a citizen 

17 of the United States and must— 

18 ‘‘(1) as of the time training is to begin— 

19 ‘‘(A) have served on active duty for a pe20 riod of not less than four years nor more than 

21 eight years; 

22 ‘‘(B) be in pay grade E–5 or E–6; and 

23 ‘‘(C) meet all requirements for acceptance 

24 of a commission as a commissioned officer in 

25 the armed forces; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) sign an agreement that, unless sooner sep2 arated, the member will— 

3 ‘‘(A) complete the educational course of 

4 legal training; 

5 ‘‘(B) upon completion of the educational 

6 course of legal training— 

7 ‘‘(i) accept a commission as a commis8 sioned officer in the armed forces; and 

9 ‘‘(ii) accept transfer or detail as a 

10 judge advocate or law specialist within the 

11 department concerned; and 

12 ‘‘(C) agree to serve on active duty fol13 lowing completion or other termination of the 

14 educational course of legal training for a period 

15 of two years for each year or part thereof of 

16 such training. 

17 ‘‘(c) SELECTION.—Members detailed for legal train18 ing under subsection (a) shall be selected on a competitive 

19 basis by the Secretary of the military department con20 cerned, under the regulations required by subsection (a). 

21 ‘‘(d) SERVICE AND SERVICE OBLIGATIONS.—(1) Ex22 cept as provided in paragraph (2), any service obligation 

23 incurred by a member under an agreement entered into 

24 under subsection (b) shall be in addition to any service 


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1 obligation incurred by the member under any other provi2 sion of law or agreement. 

3 ‘‘(2)(A) A member who does not successfully com4 plete a course of legal training to which detailed pursuant 

5 to this section shall cease such detail and return to the 

6 armed force concerned as an enlisted member. 

7 ‘‘(B) Any time of a member described by subpara8 graph (A) in a course of legal training described in that 

9 subparagraph shall not count toward satisfaction of any 

10 period of service required under the current contract or 

11 agreement of the member for enlistment in the armed 

12 forces. 

13 ‘‘(e) LIMITATION ON NUMBER DETAILABLE.—The 

14 aggregate number of enlisted members detailed under this 

15 section and commissioned officers detailed under section 

16 2004 of this title in any fiscal year by a Secretary of a 

17 military department may not exceed 25. 

18 ‘‘(f) OTHER ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS.—Sub19 sections (d) and (f) of section 2004 of this title shall apply 

20 to the detail of members under this section, except that 

21 any reference in such section to an ‘officer’ shall be 

22 deemed to be a reference to an ‘enlisted member’ for such 

23 purposes.’’. 

24 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 2004 of such title is 

2 amended— 

3 (A) in subsection (a), by striking the sec4 ond sentence; and 

5 (B) in subsection (f)— 

6 (i) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘(f)’’; and 

7 (ii) by adding at the end the following 

8 new paragraph: 

9 ‘‘(2) The aggregate number of commissioned officers 

10 detailed under this section and enlisted members detailed 

11 under section 2004a of this title in any fiscal year by a 

12 Secretary of a military department may not exceed 25.’’. 

13 (2) HEADING AMENDMENT.—The heading of 

14 section 2004 of such title is amended to read as fol15 lows: 

16 ‘‘§ 2004. Detail as students at law schools: commis17 sioned officers’’. 

18 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

19 at the beginning of chapter 101 of such title is amended 

20 by striking the item relating to section 2004 and inserting 

21 the following new items: 

‘‘2004. Detail as students at law schools: commissioned officers. 

‘‘2004a. Detail as students at law schools: certain enlisted members. 

‘‘2004b. Detail of commissioned officers as students at medical schools. 

‘‘2004c. Detail of commissioned officers as students at schools of psychology.’’. 

Æ 


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