I 
112TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5638 
To direct the Secretary concerned to develop and implement policies and 
procedures to prevent and respond to hazing in the Armed Forces, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 8, 2012 
Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Armed Services 
A BILL 
To direct the Secretary concerned to develop and implement 
policies and procedures to prevent and respond to hazing 
in the Armed Forces, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Service Member Anti- 
Hazing Act’’. 
SEC. 2. DUTIES OF THE SECRETARY CONCERNED. 
(a) HAZING POLICIES AND PROCEDURES.—The Sec-
retary concerned, in consultation with the Panel estab-
lished in section 3, shall— 
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(1) develop and implement a policy to prevent 
and respond to hazing of members of that branch of 
the Armed Forces; 
(2) develop and implement a program to train 
members of that branch of the Armed Forces on the 
dangers of and the need to avoid hazing and on 
issues related to diversity, which each such member 
shall attend not less than annually; 
(3) expand any policies for reporting incidents 
of hazing to include a phone service through which 
an individual can anonymously call to report inci-
dents of hazing in that branch of the Armed Forces; 
and 
(4) develop and implement a procedure to 
transfer a member of that branch of the Armed 
Forces who has been the victim of a substantiated 
incident of hazing to another unit in such branch of 
the Armed Forces. 
(b) DATA COLLECTION.—The Secretary concerned 
shall collect and maintain data on each incident of hazing 
reported, including— 
(1) the gender, race or ethnicity, sexual orienta-
tion, and religion of the victim and perpetrator of 
the incident of hazing; and 
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(2) whether the Secretary concerned responded 
to the incident of hazing, and if there was a re-
sponse, information about such response. 
(c) REPORT.—The Secretary concerned shall submit 
an annual report to Congress on the data collected and 
maintained under subsection (b). 
SEC. 
3. 
MILITARY 
HAZING 
PREVENTION 
OVERSIGHT 
PANEL. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a panel 
to be known as the Military Hazing Prevention Oversight 
Panel (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Panel’’). 
(b) MEMBERSHIP.—The Panel shall be composed of 
the following members: 
(1) The Secretary of the Army or the Sec-
retary’s designee. 
(2) The Secretary of the Navy or the Sec-
retary’s designee. 
(3) The Secretary of the Air Force or the Sec-
retary’s designee. 
(4) The Secretary of Homeland Security (with 
respect to the Coast Guard) or the Secretary’s des-
ignee. 
(5) Members appointed by the Secretary of De-
fense from among individuals who are not officers or 
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employees of any government and who have exper-
tise in advocating for— 
(A) women; 
(B) racial or ethnic minorities; 
(C) religious minorities; or 
(D) gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender 
individuals. 
(c) DUTIES.—The Panel shall— 
(1) make recommendations to the Secretary 
concerned on the development of the policies, pro-
grams, and procedures described in section 2(a); and 
(2) monitor the policies, programs, and proce-
dures described in section 2(a) and make rec-
ommendations to the Secretary concerned, based on 
the data collected in section 2(b), on ways to im-
prove such policies, programs, and procedures. 
(d) INITIAL MEETING.—Not later than 180 days 
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Panel shall 
hold its initial meeting. 
(e) MEETINGS.—The Panel shall meet not less than 
annually. 
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 
(a) HAZING.—The term ‘‘hazing’’ means any conduct 
whereby a member of the Armed Forces, regardless of 
branch or rank, without proper authority causes another 
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member to suffer, or be exposed to, any activity which is 
cruel, abusive, humiliating, oppressive, demeaning, or 
harmful, and includes— 
(1) soliciting or coercing another individual to 
perpetrate any such activity; 
(2) verbal or psychological conduct; and 
(3) instances in which the victim of such activ-
ity gave actual or implied consent. 
(b) SECRETARY CONCERNED.—The term ‘‘Secretary 
concerned’’ has the meaning given the term in section 
101(a) of title 10, United States Code. 
Æ 
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