I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5330 

To amend title 10, United States Code, to establish a Department of Defense 

Military Housing Readiness Council, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 1, 2023 

Ms. JACOBS (for herself and Mrs. BICE) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To amend title 10, United States Code, to establish a Department of Defense Military Housing Readiness Council, 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. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE MILITARY HOUS4 ING READINESS COUNCIL. 

5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Subchapter I of chapter 88 of 

6 title 10, United States Code, is amended by inserting after 

7 section 1781c the following new section: 


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1 ‘‘§ 1781d. Department of Defense Military Housing 

2 Readiness Council 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There is in the Department of 

4 Defense the Department of Defense Military Housing 

5 Readiness Council (in this section referred to as the 

6 ‘Council’). 

7 ‘‘(b) MEMBERS.—(1) The Council shall be composed 

8 of the following members: 

9 ‘‘(A) The Assistant Secretary of Defense for 

10 Energy, Installations, and Environment, who shall 

11 serve as chair of the Council and who may designate 

12 a representative to chair the Council in the absence 

13 of the Assistant Secretary. 

14 ‘‘(B) One representative of each of the Army, 

15 Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Space Force— 

16 ‘‘(i) each of whom shall be a member of 

17 the armed force to be represented; and 

18 ‘‘(ii) not fewer than two of whom shall be 

19 enlisted members. 

20 ‘‘(C) One spouse of a member of each of the 

21 Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Space 

22 Force on active duty, not fewer than two of whom 

23 shall be the spouse of an enlisted member. 

24 ‘‘(D) One representative that possesses exper25 tise in State and Federal housing standards from 

26 each of the following areas: 


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1 ‘‘(i) Plumbing. 

2 ‘‘(ii) Electrical. 

3 ‘‘(iii) Heating, ventilation, and air condi4 tioning. 

5 ‘‘(iv) Certified home inspection. 

6 ‘‘(v) Roofing. 

7 ‘‘(vi) Structural engineering. 

8 ‘‘(vii) Window fall prevention and safety. 

9 ‘‘(E) Two representatives of organizations that 

10 advocate on behalf of military families with respect 

11 to military housing. 

12 ‘‘(F) One individual appointed by the Secretary 

13 of Defense among representatives of the Inter14 national Code Council. 

15 ‘‘(G) One individual appointed by the Secretary 

16 of Defense among representatives of the Institute of 

17 Inspection Cleaning and Restoration Certification. 

18 ‘‘(H) One individual appointed by the Secretary 

19 of Defense among representatives of a voluntary 

20 consensus standards body that develops construction 

21 standards (such as building, plumbing, mechanical, 

22 or electrical). 

23 ‘‘(I) One individual appointed by the Secretary 

24 of Defense among representatives of a voluntary 

25 consensus standards body that develops personnel 


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1 certification standards for building maintenance or 

2 restoration. 

3 ‘‘(J) Two individuals appointed by the Chair of 

4 the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate, 

5 each of whom is not described in subparagraph (B), 

6 (C), or (D) and is not a representative of an organi7 zation specified in subparagraph (E), (F), (G), (H), 

8 or (I). 

9 ‘‘(K) Two individuals appointed by the Ranking 

10 Member of the Committee on Armed Services of the 

11 Senate, each of whom is not described in subpara12 graph (B), (C), or (D) and is not a representative 

13 of an organization specified in subparagraph (E), 

14 (F), (G), (H), or (I). 

15 ‘‘(L) Two individuals appointed by the Chair of 

16 the Committee on Armed Services of the House of 

17 Representatives, each of whom is not described in 

18 subparagraph (B), (C), or (D) and is not a rep19 resentative of an organization specified in subpara20 graph (E), (F), (G), (H), or (I). 

21 ‘‘(M) Two individuals appointed by the Ranking 

22 Member of the Committee on Armed Services of the 

23 House of Representatives, each of whom is not de24 scribed in subparagraph (B), (C), or (D) and is not 


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1 a representative of an organization specified in sub2 paragraph (E), (F), (G), (H), or (I). 

3 ‘‘(2) The term on the Council of the members speci4 fied under subparagraphs (B) through (M) of paragraph 

5 (1) shall be two years and may be renewed by the Sec6 retary of Defense. 

7 ‘‘(3) The chair of the Council shall extend an invita8 tion to all landlords for one representative of each landlord 

9 to attend such meetings of the Council as the chair con10 siders appropriate. 

11 ‘‘(4) Each member of the Council under paragraph 

12 (1)(D) may not be affiliated with— 

13 ‘‘(A) any organization that provides privatized 

14 military housing; or 

15 ‘‘(B) the Department of Defense. 

16 ‘‘(c) MEETINGS.—The Council shall meet two times 

17 each year. 

18 ‘‘(d) DUTIES.—The duties of the Council shall in19 clude the following: 

20 ‘‘(1) To review and make recommendations to 

21 the Secretary of Defense regarding policies for 

22 privatized military housing, including inspections 

23 practices, resident surveys, landlord payment of 

24 medical bills for health conditions of residents of 

25 housing units resulting from lack of maintenance of 


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1 minimum standards of habitability, and access to 

2 maintenance work order systems. 

3 ‘‘(2) To monitor compliance by the Department 

4 of Defense with, and effective implementation by the 

5 Department of, statutory and regulatory improve6 ments to policies for privatized military housing, in7 cluding the Military Housing Privatization Initiative 

8 Tenant Bill of Rights developed under section 2890 

9 of this title and the complaint database established 

10 under section 2894a of this title. 

11 ‘‘(3) To make recommendations to the Sec12 retary of Defense to improve collaboration, aware13 ness, and promotion of accurate and timely informa14 tion about privatized military housing, accommoda15 tions available through the Exceptional Family 

16 Member Program of the Department, and other sup17 port services among policymakers, service providers, 

18 and targeted beneficiaries. 

19 ‘‘(e) PUBLIC REPORTING.—(1) Subject to section 

20 552 of title 5 (commonly known as the ‘Freedom of Infor21 mation Act’), the records, reports, transcripts, minutes, 

22 appendices, working papers, drafts, studies, agenda, and 

23 other documents made available to or prepared for or by 

24 the Council shall be available for public inspection and 

25 copying at a single location in a publicly accessible format 


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1 on a website of the Department of Defense until the Coun2 cil ceases to exist. 

3 ‘‘(2)(A) Detailed minutes of each meeting of the 

4 Council shall be kept and shall contain— 

5 ‘‘(i) a record of the individuals present; 

6 ‘‘(ii) a complete and accurate description of 

7 matters discussed and conclusions reached; and 

8 ‘‘(iii) copies of all reports received, issued, or 

9 approved by the Council. 

10 ‘‘(B) The chair of the Council shall certify the accu11 racy of the minutes of each meeting of the Council. 

12 ‘‘(f) ANNUAL REPORTS.—(1) Not later than March 

13 1, 2024, and annually thereafter, the Council shall submit 

14 to the Secretary of Defense and the congressional defense 

15 committees a report on privatized military housing readi16 ness. 

17 ‘‘(2) Each report under this subsection shall include 

18 the following: 

19 ‘‘(A) An assessment of the adequacy and effec20 tiveness of the provision of privatized military hous21 ing and the activities of the Secretary of Defense in 

22 meeting the needs of military families relating to 

23 housing during the preceding fiscal year. 

24 ‘‘(B) A description of activities of the Council 

25 during the preceding fiscal year, including— 


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1 ‘‘(i) analyses of complaints of tenants of 

2 privatized military housing; 

3 ‘‘(ii) data received by the Council on main4 tenance response time and completion of main5 tenance requests relating to privatized military 

6 housing; 

7 ‘‘(iii) assessments of dispute resolution 

8 processes; 

9 ‘‘(iv) assessments of overall customer serv10 ice for tenants; 

11 ‘‘(v) assessments of results of housing in12 spections conducted with and without notice; 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(vi) any survey results conducted on be15 half of or received by the Council. 

16 ‘‘(C) Recommendations on actions to be taken 

17 to improve the capability of the provision of 

18 privatized military housing and the activities of the 

19 Department of Defense to meet the needs and re20 quirements of military families relating to housing, 

21 including actions relating to the allocation of fund22 ing and other resources. 

23 ‘‘(3) Each report under this subsection shall be made 

24 available in a publicly accessible format on a website of 

25 the Department of Defense. 


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1 ‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

2 ‘‘(1) The terms ‘landlord’ and ‘tenant’ have the 

3 meanings given, respectively, in section 2871 of this 

4 title. 

5 ‘‘(2) The term ‘privatized military housing’ 

6 means housing provided under subchapter IV of 

7 chapter 169 of this title.’’. 

8 (b) BRIEFING.—Not later than March 1, 2024, the 

9 Secretary of Defense shall provide to the congressional de10 fense committees a briefing on the annual report required 

11 under subsection (f) of section 1781d of title 10, United 

12 States Code, as added by subsection (a). 

Æ 


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