I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6211 

To amend title 10, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Defense 

to conduct annual surveys on military community belonging and support 

in military communities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 9, 2021 

Mr. BROWN of Maryland introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To amend title 10, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Defense to conduct annual surveys on military 

community belonging and support in military communities, 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 ‘‘Strengthening Rela5 tions in Military Communities Act of 2021’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PROGRAM TO IMPROVE RELATIONS BETWEEN MEM2 BERS OF THE ARMED FORCES AND MILITARY 

3 COMMUNITIES. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 23 of title 10, United 

5 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 481a 

6 the following new section: 

7 ‘‘§ 481b. Program to improve relations between mem8 bers of the Armed Forces and military 

9 communities 

10 ‘‘(a) SURVEY.—(1) The Secretary of Defense, acting 

11 through the Office of Diversity Management and Equal 

12 Opportunity, shall conduct a biennial survey of covered in13 dividuals regarding relations between covered individuals 

14 and covered communities. 

15 ‘‘(2) The survey shall be conducted to solicit informa16 tion from covered individuals regarding the following: 

17 ‘‘(A) Rank, age, racial, ethnic, and gender de18 mographics of the covered individuals. 

19 ‘‘(B) Relationships of covered individuals with 

20 the covered community, including support services 

21 and acceptance of the military community. 

22 ‘‘(C) Availability of housing, employment oppor23 tunities for military spouses, health care, education, 

24 and other relevant issues. 


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1 ‘‘(D) Initiatives of local government and com2 munity organizations in addressing diversity, equity, 

3 and inclusion. 

4 ‘‘(E) Physical safety while in a covered commu5 nity but outside the military installation located in 

6 such covered community. 

7 ‘‘(F) Any other matters designated by the Sec8 retary of Defense. 

9 ‘‘(b) ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES.—Additional activities 

10 under this section may include the following: 

11 ‘‘(1) Facilitating local listening sessions and in12 formation exchanges. 

13 ‘‘(2) Developing educational campaigns. 

14 ‘‘(3) Supplementing existing local and national 

15 defense community programs. 

16 ‘‘(4) Sharing best practices and activities. 

17 ‘‘(c) COORDINATION.—To support activities under 

18 this section, the Secretary of Defense may coordinate with 

19 local governments or not-for-profit organizations that rep20 resent covered individuals. 

21 ‘‘(d) REPORT.—(1) Not later than September 30 of 

22 every other year, the Secretary of Defense shall submit 

23 to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and 

24 the House of Representatives a report on the most recent 

25 survey under subsection (a). 


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1 ‘‘(2) Each report under paragraph (1) shall include— 

2 ‘‘(A) with respect to each covered community— 

3 ‘‘(i) the results of the survey required 

4 under subsection (b); and 

5 ‘‘(ii) activities conducted to address racial 

6 inequity in the community; 

7 ‘‘(B) aggregate results of the survey required 

8 under subsection (b); and 

9 ‘‘(C) best practices for creating positive rela10 tionships between covered individuals and covered 

11 communities. 

12 ‘‘(3) The Secretary of Defense shall— 

13 ‘‘(A) designate ten geographically diverse mili14 tary installations for review in each survey; 

15 ‘‘(B) make the results of each report under 

16 paragraph (1) available on a publicly accessible 

17 website of the Department of Defense; and 

18 ‘‘(C) ensure that any data included with the re19 port is made available in a machine-readable format 

20 that is downloadable, searchable, and sortable. 

21 ‘‘(e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

22 ‘‘(1) The term ‘covered community’ means a 

23 military installation designated under subsection 

24 (e)(3)(A) and the area within 10 miles of such mili25 tary installation. 


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1 ‘‘(2) The term ‘covered individual’ means any of 

2 the following who lives in a covered community or 

3 works on a military installation in a covered commu4 nity: 

5 ‘‘(A) A member of the Armed Forces. 

6 ‘‘(B) A family member of an individual de7 scribed in subparagraph (A) or (B). 

8 ‘‘(3) The term ‘military installation’ has the 

9 meaning given such term in section 2801 of this 

10 title.’’. 

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

12 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting 

13 after the item relating to section 481a the following new 

14 item: 

‘‘481b. Program to improve relations between members of the Armed Forces 

and military communities.’’. 

15 (c) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Secretary of Defense 

16 shall carry out the first survey under section 481b(a) of 

17 such title, as added by subsection (a), not later than one 

18 year after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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