I 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4587 

To amend title 10, United States Code, to establish in the Department 

of Defense an Office of the Victim Advocate, to prescribe the functions 

of that office, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 16, 2004 

Ms. KILPATRICK (for herself, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of 

California, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Mrs. 

TAUSCHER, Mrs. MALONEY, and Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of 

Texas) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To amend title 10, United States Code, to establish in the 

Department of Defense an Office of the Victim Advocate, 

to prescribe the functions of that office, 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 ‘‘Department of Defense 

5 Office of the Victim Advocate Act of 2004’’. 
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1 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE OF THE VICTIM ADVO2 CATE IN DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE. 

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Part II of subtitle A of title 

4 10, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 

5 the following new chapter: 

6 ‘‘CHAPTER 90—OFFICE OF THE VICTIM 

7 ADVOCATE 

‘‘Sec. 

‘‘1811. Office of the Victim Advocate: establishment; Director. 

‘‘1812. Office of the Victim Advocate: functions. 

‘‘1813. Annual report. 

8 ‘‘§ 1811. Office of the Victim Advocate: establishment; 

9 Director 

10 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is in the Office of the 

11 Secretary of Defense an Office of the Victim Advocate. 

12 The office shall have responsibility for coordination of pro13 grams and activities of the military departments to the 

14 extent that they relate to victims of interpersonal violence 

15 among members of the armed forces or between members 

16 of the armed forces and family members and partners (in17 cluding former spouses, children, significant others, chil18 dren-in-common, girl friends, and boy friends). 

19 ‘‘(b) DIRECTOR.—The head of the Office is a Direc20 tor. 

21 ‘‘(c) VICTIM DEFINED.—In this chapter, the term 

22 ‘victim’ means a person who is the victim of sexual mis23 conduct or interpersonal violence which— 
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1 ‘‘(1) in the case of a person who is a member 

2 of the armed forces, is carried out by another mem3 ber of the armed forces or a family member or inti4 mate partner; and 

5 ‘‘(2) in the case of a person who is not member 

6 of the armed forces, is carried out by a member of 

7 the armed forces who is a family member or inti8 mate partner of that person. 

9 ‘‘§ 1812. Office of the Victim Advocate: functions 

10 ‘‘(a) COORDINATION FUNCTIONS.—The Director of 

11 the Office of the Victim Advocate shall carry out the fol12 lowing coordination functions: 

13 ‘‘(1) Coordinate programs and activities of the 

14 military departments relative to care, services, and 

15 treatment for victims. 

16 ‘‘(2) Serve as headquarters program manager 

17 for the victim advocates and the victim service spe18 cialists in the Department of Defense authorized by 

19 law. 

20 ‘‘(3) Coordinate services for victims among mili21 tary and civilian communities and provide guidance 

22 to victims in obtaining those services. 

23 ‘‘(b) EVALUATION AND REVIEW FUNCTIONS.—The 

24 Director of the Office of the Victim Advocate shall carry 

25 out the following evaluation and review functions: 
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1 ‘‘(1) Evaluate the prevalence of interpersonal 

2 violence associated with members of the armed 

3 forces. 

4 ‘‘(2) Evaluate the programs established by the 

5 military departments providing services to victims of 

6 interpersonal violence. 

7 ‘‘(3) Evaluate the delivery of services by the 

8 military departments to victims of interpersonal vio9 lence. 

10 ‘‘(4) Review the facilities of the military depart11 ments providing services to victims of interpersonal 

12 violence. 

13 ‘‘(5) Review the hotline programs for victims of 

14 violence, including command and installation hot15 lines, the National Domestic Violence Hotline, and 

16 the National Sexual Assault Hotline. 

17 ‘‘(6) Review disciplinary actions taken against 

18 members of the armed forces who commit acts of 

19 interpersonal violence. 

20 ‘‘(c) POLICY FUNCTIONS.—The Director of the Office 

21 of the Victim Advocate shall carry out the following policy 

22 functions: 

23 ‘‘(1) Recommend to the Secretaries of the mili24 tary departments policies, protocols, and programs 

25 to enhance services to victims. 
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1 ‘‘(2) Recommend changes to policies and proce2 dures to address sexual misconduct and intimate 

3 partner violence. 

4 ‘‘(3) Establish system accountability standards. 

5 ‘‘(4) Develop protocols for accountability of 

6 commanders in response to incidents of violence. 

7 ‘‘(5) Serve, or designate a person to serve, on 

8 any fatality review panel established by the Sec9 retary of a military department under section 4061, 

10 6036, or 9061 of this title. 

11 ‘‘(d) EDUCATION AND TRAINING FUNCTIONS.—The 

12 Director of the Office of the Victim Advocate shall carry 

13 out the following education and training functions: 

14 ‘‘(1) Conduct education and training within the 

15 armed forces. 

16 ‘‘(2) Conduct training and technical assistance 

17 (including programs referred to as Life Skills pro18 gram) for commands, Family Advocacy Programs, 

19 victim witness assistance liaisons, commissions, med20 ical personnel, and law enforcement, security forces, 

21 and the Judge Advocate General Corps. 

22 ‘‘(3) Conduct programs of public education. 

23 ‘‘§ 1813. Annual report 

24 ‘‘(a) REPORT TO THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE.— 

25 The Director of the Office of the Victim Advocate shall 
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1 submit to the Secretary of Defense an annual report con2 taining an assessment of the current state of affairs within 

3 the military departments relative to interpersonal violence 

4 and sexual misconduct. The report shall include proposed 

5 initiatives to enhance the response of the military depart6 ments to interpersonal violence and sexual misconduct. 

7 ‘‘(b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary of De8 fense shall transmit to Congress each report received from 

9 the Director under subsection (a), together with the Sec10 retary’s comments thereon.’’. 

11 SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

12 There is authorized to be appropriated for fiscal year 

13 2005 for Operation and Maintenance, Defense-Wide, the 

14 amount of $10,000,000 to carry out the functions of the 

15 Office of the Victim Advocate in the Department of De16 fense. 

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