II 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3311 

To improve and enhance the capabilities of the Department of Defense to 

prevent and respond to sexual assault in the Armed Forces, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 5, 2010 

Mr. KERRY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To improve and enhance the capabilities of the Department 

of Defense to prevent and respond to 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. ENHANCEMENT OF PROCEDURES FOR COMMU4 NICATIONS BY MEMBERS OF THE ARMED 

5 FORCES REGARDING ALLEGATIONS OF SEX6 UAL ASSAULT. 

7 (a) JUDGE ADVOCATES TO BE RECIPIENTS OF RE8 STRICTED REPORTING OF ALLEGATIONS WITHOUT TRIG9 GERING OFFICIAL INVESTIGATIVE PROCESS.—The offiVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:45 May 06, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3311.IS S3311

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1 cials who are authorized to receive a restricted reporting 

2 by a member of the Armed Forces of an allegation of sex3 ual assault without resulting in the initiation of an official 

4 investigative process with respect to the allegation shall 

5 include judge advocates. 

6 (b) PRIVILEGED NATURE OF COMMUNICATIONS BE7 TWEEN MEMBERS AND VICTIM ADVOCATES.— 

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

9 shall modify the Military Rules of Evidence to pro10 vide that a member of the Armed Forces who alleges 

11 sexual assault shall have the privilege to refuse to 

12 disclose, and to prevent any other person from dis13 closing, a confidential communication made between 

14 the member and a Victim Advocate (VA), in a case 

15 arising under chapter 47 of title 10, United States 

16 Code (the Uniform Code of Military Justice), or 

17 chapter 47A of title 10, United States Code (relat18 ing to military commissions), if the communication 

19 was made for the purpose of facilitating victim advo20 cacy for the member with respect to the allegation. 

21 The privilege shall be similar in scope and excep22 tions, and the privilege shall be administered in a 

23 manner similar, to the psychotherapist-patient privi24 lege under Rule 513 of the Military Rules of Evi25 dence. 


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1 (2) CONFIDENTIAL DEFINED.—In this sub2 section, the term ‘‘confidential’’, in the case of a 

3 communication, means not intended to be disclosed 

4 to third persons other than those to whom disclosure 

5 is in furtherance of victim advocacy or those reason6 ably necessary for the transmission of the commu7 nication. 

8 (c) OTHER DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the terms 

9 ‘‘official investigative process’’, ‘‘restricted reporting’’, and 

10 ‘‘unrestricted reporting’’ have the meaning given such 

11 terms in Department of Defense Directive 6495.01, dated 

12 October 6, 2005 (as amended). 

13 SEC. 2. REQUIREMENTS AND LIMITATIONS REGARDING 

14 SEXUAL ASSAULT RESPONSE COORDINATORS 

15 AND VICTIM ADVOCATES. 

16 (a) LIMITATION ON PERSONNEL DISCHARGING

17 SARC FUNCTIONS.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each Sexual Assault Re19 sponse Coordinator (SARC) shall be a member of 

20 the Armed Forces on active duty or a full-time civil21 ian employee of the Department of Defense. 

22 (2) PROHIBITION ON DISCHARGE BY CON23 TRACTOR PERSONNEL.—A contractor or employee of 

24 a contractor of the Federal Government may not 


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1 serve or act as, or discharge the functions of, a Sex2 ual Assault Response Coordinator. 

3 (b) MINIMUM NUMBER OF VAS.—Each battalion of 

4 the Armed Forces shall be assigned not less than one Vic5 tim Advocate (VA) who is a member of the Armed Forces 

6 on active duty or a full-time civilian employee of the De7 partment of Defense. 

8 (c) TRAINING AND CERTIFICATION.— 

9 (1) TRAINING AND CERTIFICATION FOR

10 SARCS.—The Secretary of Defense shall, in consulta11 tion with the National Organization of Victim Advo12 cates (NOVA), carry out a program as follows: 

13 (A) To provide standardized training for 

14 all individuals who will serve as Sexual Assault 

15 Response Coordinators on matters relating to 

16 sexual assault in the Armed Forces. 

17 (B) To certify individuals who successfully 

18 complete training provided pursuant to sub19 paragraph (A) as qualified for the discharge of 

20 the functions of Sexual Assault Response Coor21 dinator. 

22 (2) PARTICIPATION OF VAS.—The Secretary 

23 shall permit individuals who will serve as a Victim 

24 Advocate to participate in training provided pursu25 ant to paragraph (1)(A) if such training is not othVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:45 May 06, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3311.IS S3311

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1 erwise provided or available to such individuals 

2 through individuals certified as Sexual Assault Re3 sponse Coordinators under paragraph (1)(B). 

4 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the term ‘‘Sexual 

5 Assault Response Coordinator’’ and ‘‘Victim Advocate’’ 

6 have the meaning given such terms in Department of De7 fense Directive 6495.01, dated October 6, 2005 (as 

8 amended). 

9 SEC. 3. REQUIREMENTS FOR THE SEXUAL ASSAULT PRE10 VENTION AND RESPONSE PROGRAM. 

11 (a) SES POSITION FOR DIRECTOR OF SAPRO.—The 

12 position of Director of the Sexual Assault Prevention and 

13 Response Office (SAPRO) of the Department of Defense 

14 shall be a position in the Senior Executive Service (SES). 

15 (b) STANDARDIZATION OF PROGRAM.—The Sec16 retary of Defense shall take appropriate actions to stand17 ardize and update programs and activities relating to sex18 ual assault prevention and response across the Armed 

19 Forces and the military departments. Such actions shall 

20 include the following: 

21 (1) The establishment of common organiza22 tional structures for organizations in the Armed 

23 Forces and the military departments responsible for 

24 sexual assault prevention and response activities in 

25 order to achieve commonality in the structure of 


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1 such organizations and their discharge of their func2 tions. 

3 (2) The standardization of terminology on sex4 ual assault prevention and response to be utilized by 

5 the organizations described in paragraph (1), the 

6 Armed Forces, and the military departments. 

7 (3) The establishment of position descriptions 

8 for positions in the Armed Forces and the military 

9 departments charged with sexual assault prevention 

10 and response duties, and the specification of the re11 sponsibilities of such positions. 

12 (4) The establishment of minimum standards 

13 for programs and activities of the Armed Forces and 

14 the military departments relating to sexual assault 

15 prevention and response. 

16 (5) Such other actions as the Secretary con17 siders appropriate. 

18 SEC. 4. SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION AND RESPONSE 

19 TRAINING IN PROFESSIONAL MILITARY EDU20 CATION. 

21 The Secretary of Defense shall, in consultation with 

22 the Secretaries of the military departments, ensure that 

23 training on sexual assault prevention and response is pro24 vided to members of the Armed Forces at each level of 

25 professional military education (PME) for members of the 


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1 Armed Forces. Such training shall, to the extent prac2 ticable, be uniform across the Armed Forces. 

3 SEC. 5. SEXUAL ASSAULT DEFINED. 

4 In this Act, the term ‘‘sexual assault’’ has the mean5 ing given that term in Department of Defense Directive 

6 6495.01, dated October 6, 2005 (as amended). 

Æ 


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