I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5197 

To implement recommendations of the Defense Task Force on Sexual Assault 

in the Military Services. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 3, 2010 

Ms. TSONGAS (for herself, Mr. TURNER, Ms. SHEA-PORTER, Mrs. MCMORRIS

RODGERS, Ms. GIFFORDS, Ms. DELAURO, Ms. HARMAN, Mr. WALZ, Mr. 

MCGOVERN, Mrs. CAPPS, and Mr. CLEAVER) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To implement recommendations of the Defense Task Force 

on Sexual Assault in the Military Services. 

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 ‘‘Defense Sexual Trau5 ma Response Oversight and Good Governance Act’’ (the 

6 ‘‘Defense STRONG Act’’). 


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1 SEC. 2. SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION AND RESPONSE OF2 FICE. 

3 (a) APPOINTMENT OF DIRECTOR; DUTIES.—Chapter 

4 3 of title 10, United States Code, is amended by inserting 

5 after section 136a the following new section: 

6 ‘‘§ 136b. Director of Sexual Assault Prevention and 

7 Response Office 

8 ‘‘(a) APPOINTMENT.—There is a Director of the Sex9 ual Assault Prevention and Response Office who shall be 

10 a general or flag officer or an employee of the Department 

11 of Defense in a comparable Senior Executive Service posi12 tion. 

13 ‘‘(b) DUTIES.—The Director of the Sexual Assault 

14 Prevention and Response Office serves as the Depart15 ment’s single point of authority, accountability, and over16 sight for Department policy regarding prevention and re17 sponse to sexual assault and provides oversight to ensure 

18 that the sexual assault programs of the military depart19 ments comply with Department policy. 

20 ‘‘(c) STANDARDIZATION.—The Secretary of Defense 

21 shall require the use of consistent sexual assault preven22 tion and response terminology, position descriptions, min23 imum program standards, and organizational structures 

24 throughout the armed forces.’’. 

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

26 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting 


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1 after the item relating to section 136a the following new 

2 item: 

‘‘136b. Director of Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office.’’. 

3 SEC. 3. SEXUAL ASSAULT RESPONSE COORDINATORS AND 

4 SEXUAL ASSAULT VICTIM ADVOCATES. 

5 (a) ASSIGNMENT AND TRAINING.—Chapter 80 of 

6 title 10, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

7 end the following new section: 

8 ‘‘§ 1568. Sexual assault prevention and response: Sex9 ual Assault Response Coordinators and 

10 Victim Advocates 

11 ‘‘(a) ASSIGNMENT OF COORDINATORS.—(1) At least 

12 one full-time Sexual Assault Response Coordinator shall 

13 be assigned at the brigade or equivalent or higher unit 

14 level. The Secretary concerned may assign additional Sex15 ual Assault Response Coordinators as necessary based on 

16 the demographics or needs of the unit. Any additional Sex17 ual Assault Response Coordinator for a unit shall also 

18 serve on a full-time basis. 

19 ‘‘(2) To ensure access to members of the Armed 

20 Forces in response to a report of a sexual assault involving 

21 a member, only members of the Armed Forces and civilian 

22 employees of the Department of Defense may be assigned 

23 to duty as a Sexual Assault Response Coordinator. Con24 tractor employees may not serve as a Sexual Assault ReVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:13 May 04, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5197.IH H5197

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1 sponse Coordinator, except on a temporary, emergency 

2 basis. 

3 ‘‘(b) ASSIGNMENT OF VICTIM ADVOCATES.—(1) At 

4 least one full-time Sexual Assault Victim Advocate shall 

5 be assigned to each battalion or equivalent unit. The Sec6 retary concerned may assign additional Victim Advocates 

7 as necessary based on the demographics or needs of the 

8 unit. The additional Victim Advocates may serve on a full9 time or part-time basis at the discretion of the Secretary. 

10 ‘‘(2) Only members of the armed forces and civilian 

11 employees of the Department of Defense may be assigned 

12 to duty as a Victim Advocate. Contractor employees may 

13 not serve as a Victim Advocate, except on a temporary, 

14 emergency basis. 

15 ‘‘(c) TRAINING AND CERTIFICATION.—(1) The Sec16 retary of Defense shall establish a professional and uni17 form training and certification program for Sexual Assault 

18 Response Coordinators and Victim Advocates. In devel19 oping the program, the Secretary of Defense shall work 

20 with the National Organization for Victim Advocates. The 

21 program shall be structured and administered in a manner 

22 similar to the professional training available for Equal Op23 portunity Advisors through the Defense Equal Oppor24 tunity Management Institute. 


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1 ‘‘(2) Effective beginning one year after the date of 

2 the enactment of this section, before a member or civilian 

3 employee may be assigned to duty as a Sexual Assault 

4 Response Coordinator, the member or employee must have 

5 completed the training program required by paragraph (1) 

6 and obtained the certification. 

7 ‘‘(3) A member or civilian employee assigned to duty 

8 as a Victim Advocate may obtain certification under the 

9 training program required by paragraph (1). At a min10 imum, the Sexual Assault Response Coordinator to whom 

11 a Victim Advocate reports shall train the Victim Advocate 

12 using the same training materials used to train the Sexual 

13 Assault Response Coordinator under the program. 

14 ‘‘(d) PERFORMANCE EVALUATIONS.—Performance 

15 evaluation reports pertaining to a member of the Armed 

16 Forces assigned to serve as a Sexual Assault Response Co17 ordinator or Victim Advocate shall comment on the per18 formance of the member in the position.’’. 

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

20 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by adding 

21 at the end the following new item: 

‘‘1568. Sexual assault prevention and response: Sexual Assault Response Coordinators and Victim Advocates.’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. SEXUAL ASSAULT VICTIMS ACCESS TO LEGAL 

2 COUNSEL AND VICTIM ADVOCATE SERVICES. 

3 (a) ACCESS.—Chapter 53 of title 10, United States 

4 Code, is amended by inserting after section 1044d the fol5 lowing new section: 

6 ‘‘§ 1044e. Access to legal assistance and Victim Advo7 cate services for victims of sexual assault 

8 ‘‘(a) ACCESS.—A member of the Armed Forces or a 

9 dependent of a member of the Armed Forces who is the 

10 victim of a sexual assault is entitled to legal assistance 

11 provided by a military legal assistance counsel and Victim 

12 Advocate services, regardless of whether the member or 

13 dependent elects unrestricted or restricted (confidential) 

14 reporting of the sexual assault. 

15 ‘‘(b) RESTRICTED REPORTING OPTION.—(1) A mem16 ber or dependent referred to in subsection (a) may con17 fidentially disclose the details of the assault to an indi18 vidual specified in paragraph (2) and receive medical 

19 treatment, legal assistance, or counseling, without trig20 gering an official investigation of the allegations. 

21 ‘‘(2) Individuals covered by paragraph (1) are the fol22 lowing: 

23 ‘‘(A) Military legal assistance counsel. 

24 ‘‘(B) Sexual Assault Response Coordinator. 

25 ‘‘(C) Victim Advocate. 

26 ‘‘(D) Healthcare personnel. 


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1 ‘‘(E) Chaplain. 

2 ‘‘(c) PRIVILEGED COMMUNICATIONS.—(1) Commu3 nications between a member or dependent referred to in 

4 subsection (a) and a Victim Advocate, and records of such 

5 communications created by or for the Department of De6 fense, are confidential and privileged. Such communica7 tions and records may not be disclosed to any person or 

8 entity without the consent of the member or dependent 

9 involved. 

10 ‘‘(2) No part of any communication or record referred 

11 to in paragraph (1) may be subject to discovery or admit12 ted into evidence in any judicial or administrative pro13 ceeding without the consent of the member or dependent 

14 involved. 

15 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

16 ‘‘(1) The term ‘sexual assault’ means any of the 

17 offenses covered by section 920 of this title (article 

18 120). 

19 ‘‘(2) The term ‘military legal assistance counsel’ 

20 means— 

21 ‘‘(A) a judge advocate (as defined in sec22 tion 801(13) of this title); or 

23 ‘‘(B) a civilian attorney serving as a legal 

24 assistance officer under the provisions of sec25 tion 1044 of this title.’’. 


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

2 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting 

3 after the item relating to section 1044d the following new 

4 item: 

‘‘1044e. Access to legal assistance and Victim Advocate services for victims of 

sexual assault.’’. 

5 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT REGARDING PROVI6 SION OF LEGAL COUNSEL.—Section 1044(d)(3)(B) of 

7 such title is amended by striking ‘‘sections 1044a, 1044b, 

8 1044c, and 1044d’’ and inserting ‘‘sections 1044a through 

9 1044e’’. 

10 SEC. 5. INCLUSION OF SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION AND 

11 RESPONSE TRAINING MODULE AT EACH 

12 LEVEL OF PROFESSIONAL MILITARY EDU13 CATION. 

14 The Secretary of Defense shall provide for the inclu15 sion of a sexual assault prevention and response training 

16 module at each level of professional military education. 

17 The training shall be tailored to the new responsibilities 

18 and leadership requirements of members of the Armed 

19 Forces as they are promoted. 

Æ 


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