I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1403 
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 
MARCH 17, 2005 
Ms. KILPATRICK of Michigan (for herself, Ms. LEE, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. 
DEFAZIO, 
Mrs. 
NAPOLITANO, 
Mr. 
TOWNS, 
Ms. 
WATSON, 
Mr. 
MCDERMOTT, Mr. PALLONE, and Mrs. MALONEY) introduced the fol-
lowing 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. 
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 ‘‘Department of Defense 
Office of the Victim Advocate Act of 2005’’.
SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE OF THE VICTIM ADVO-
CATE IN DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Part II of subtitle A of title 
10, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 
the following new chapter: 
‘‘CHAPTER 90—OFFICE OF THE VICTIM 
ADVOCATE 
‘‘Sec. 
‘‘1811. Office of the Victim Advocate: establishment; Director. 
‘‘1812. Office of the Victim Advocate: functions. 
‘‘1813. Annual report. 
‘‘§ 1811. Office of the Victim Advocate: establishment; 
Director 
‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is in the Office of the 
Secretary of Defense an Office of the Victim Advocate. 
The office shall have responsibility for coordination of pro-
grams and activities of the military departments to the 
extent that they relate to victims of interpersonal violence 
among members of the armed forces or between members 
of the armed forces and family members and partners (in-
cluding former spouses, children, significant others, chil-
dren-in-common, girl friends, and boy friends.). 
‘‘(b) DIRECTOR.—The head of the Office is a Direc-
tor. 
‘‘(c) VICTIM DEFINED.—In this chapter, the term 
‘victim’ means a person who is the victim of sexual mis-
conduct or interpersonal violence which—
‘‘(1) in the case of a person who is a member 
of the armed forces, is carried out by another mem-
ber of the armed forces or a family member or inti-
mate partner; and 
‘‘(2) in the case of a person who is a not mem-
ber of the armed forces, is carried out by a member 
of the armed forces who is a family member or inti-
mate partner of that person. 
‘‘§ 1812. Office of the Victim Advocate: functions 
‘‘(a) COORDINATION FUNCTIONS.—The Director of 
the Office of the Victim Advocate shall carry out the fol-
lowing coordination functions: 
‘‘(1) Coordinate programs and activities of the 
military departments relative to care, services, and 
treatment for victims. 
‘‘(2) Serve as headquarters program manager 
for the victim advocates and the victim service spe-
cialists in the Department of Defense authorized by 
law. 
‘‘(3) Coordinate services for victims among mili-
tary and civilian communities and provide guidance 
to victims in obtaining those services. 
‘‘(b) EVALUATION AND REVIEW FUNCTIONS.—The 
Director of the Office of the Victim Advocate shall carry 
out the following evaluation and review functions:
‘‘(1) Evaluate the prevalence of interpersonal 
violence associated with members of the armed 
forces. 
‘‘(2) Evaluate the programs established by the 
military departments providing services to victims of 
interpersonal violence. 
‘‘(3) Evaluate the delivery of services by the 
military departments to victims of interpersonal vio-
lence. 
‘‘(4) Review the facilities of the military depart-
ments providing services to victims of interpersonal 
violence. 
‘‘(5) Review the hotline programs for victims of 
violence, including command and installation hot-
lines, the National Domestic Violence Hotline, and 
the National Sexual Assault Hotline. 
‘‘(6) Review disciplinary actions taken against 
members of the armed forces who commit acts of 
interpersonal violence. 
‘‘(c) POLICY FUNCTIONS.—The Director of the Office 
of the Victim Advocate shall carry out the following policy 
functions: 
‘‘(1) Recommend to the Secretaries of the mili-
tary departments policies, protocols, and programs 
to enhance services to victims.
‘‘(2) Recommend changes to policies and proce-
dures to address sexual misconduct and intimate 
partner violence. 
‘‘(3) Establish system accountability standards. 
‘‘(4) Develop protocols for accountability of 
commanders in response to incidents of violence. 
‘‘(5) Serve, or designate a person to serve, on 
any fatality review panel established by the Sec-
retary of a military department under section 4061, 
6036, or 9061 of this title. 
‘‘(d) EDUCATION AND TRAINING FUNCTIONS.—The 
Director of the Office of the Victim Advocate shall carry 
out the following education and training functions: 
‘‘(1) Conduct education and training within the 
armed forces. 
‘‘(2) Conduct training and technical assistance 
(including programs referred to as Life Skills pro-
gram) for commands, Family Advocacy Programs, 
victim witness assistance liaisons, commissions, med-
ical personnel, and law enforcement, security forces, 
and the Judge Advocate General Corps. 
‘‘(3) Conduct programs of public education. 
‘‘§ 1813. Annual report 
‘‘(a) REPORT TO THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE.— 
The Director of the Office of the Victim Advocate shall
submit to the Secretary of Defense an annual report con-
taining an assessment of the current state of affairs within 
the military departments relative to interpersonal violence 
and sexual misconduct. The report shall include proposed 
initiatives to enhance the response of the military depart-
ments to interpersonal violence and sexual misconduct. 
‘‘(b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary of De-
fense shall transmit to Congress each report received from 
the Director under subsection (a), together with the Sec-
retary’s comments thereon.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENTS.—The tables of chap-
ters at the beginning of subtitle A, and at the beginning 
of part II of subtitle A, of such title are amended by in-
serting after the item relating to chapter 89 the following 
new item: 
‘‘90. Office of the Victim Advocate ........................................................... 1811’’. 
SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
There is authorized to be appropriated for fiscal year 
2005 for Operation and Maintenance, Defense-Wide, the 
amount of $10,000,000 to carry out the functions of the 
Office of the Victim Advocate in the Department of De-
fense. 
Æ