I 
117TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7621 
To amend title 10, United States Code, to establish in the Department 
of Defense a civilian harm investigation coordinator, to improve and 
make permanent the requirement that the Secretary of Defense submit 
an annual report on civilian harm in connection with United States 
military operations, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 28, 2022 
Mr. CROW (for himself, Ms. JACOBS of California, Mr. MALINOWSKI, and Mr. 
KHANNA) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Armed Services 
A BILL 
To amend title 10, United States Code, to establish in the 
Department of Defense a civilian harm investigation co-
ordinator, to improve and make permanent the require-
ment that the Secretary of Defense submit an annual 
report on civilian harm in connection with United States 
military operations, 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 
Civilian Harm Transparency Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. ANNUAL REPORT ON CIVILIAN HARM IN CONNEC-
TION WITH UNITED STATES MILITARY OPER-
ATIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 23 of title 10, United 
States Code, is amended by inserting after section 486 the 
following new section: 
‘‘§ 487. Civilian harm in connection with United 
States military operations. 
‘‘(a) COORDINATOR.—The Secretary of Defense 
shall— 
‘‘(1) designate a senior official within the Office 
of the Secretary of Defense to serve as the civilian 
harm investigation coordinator; and 
‘‘(2) appoint a general counsel to assist the co-
ordinator in carrying out the responsibilities under 
subsection (b). 
‘‘(b) RESPONSIBILITIES.— The coordinator des-
ignated under subsection (a) shall carry out the following 
responsibilities: 
‘‘(1) In the case of each investigation of civilian 
harm, conducting a review of the investigation and 
an assessment of whether applicable laws, policies, 
guidelines, and processes were followed in con-
ducting the investigations. 
‘‘(2) Certifying each annual report submitted 
under subsection (c). 
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‘‘(c) ANNUAL REPORT REQUIRED.—(1) Not later 
than May 1 each year, the Secretary of Defense shall sub-
mit to the congressional defense committees a report on 
civilian harm resulting from United States military oper-
ations during the preceding year. 
‘‘(2) Each report required under paragraph (1) shall 
set forth the following: 
‘‘(A) A list of all the United States military op-
erations conducted during the year covered by the 
report as a result of which— 
‘‘(i) an incident of civilian harm is con-
firmed or reasonably suspected to have oc-
curred; or 
‘‘(ii) an incident of civilian harm is alleged 
to have occurred and for which an investigation 
into such incident remains open as of the date 
of the submittal of the report. 
‘‘(B) For each military operation listed under 
subparagraph (A), each of the following: 
‘‘(i) The date and time. 
‘‘(ii) The location, including the precise ge-
ographic coordinates of any strike occurring as 
a result of the conduct of the operation. 
‘‘(iii) An identification of whether the oper-
ation occurred inside or outside of a declared 
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theater of active armed conflict and a definition 
of the term ‘theater of active armed conflict’. 
‘‘(iv) The type of operation, including for 
each strike conducted as part of the oper-
ation— 
‘‘(I) a description of whether the 
strike was deliberate or dynamic; 
‘‘(II) the Department’s legal and pol-
icy justification for the strike, including an 
explanation of each such justification 
under domestic law and applicable inter-
national law; 
‘‘(III) the relevant rules and proce-
dures in place to prevent civilian casualties 
or significant damage to civilian objects, 
and whether those rules and procedures 
were followed; and 
‘‘(IV) a description of the type of 
weapons and ordnance used, including 
whether there was any weapon malfunc-
tion. 
‘‘(v) An assessment of the estimated num-
ber of civilians, civilians directly participating in 
hostilities, and belligerents killed and injured 
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during the operation, formulated as a range, if 
necessary, and including— 
‘‘(I) details on the number of men, 
women, and children involved and the esti-
mated ages of such civilians, civilians di-
rectly participating in hostilities, and bel-
ligerents; and 
‘‘(II) an explanation of— 
‘‘(aa) how the Department of De-
fense determined whether targets were 
civilians, civilians directly partici-
pating in hostilities, and belligerents; 
‘‘(bb) the Department’s legal cri-
teria for considering a person to be a 
civilian, civilian directly participating 
in hostilities, or a belligerent; and 
‘‘(cc) the level of epistemic cer-
tainty required to make such deter-
mination. 
‘‘(vi) For each strike carried out as part of 
the operation— 
‘‘(I) an assessment of whether post- 
strike civilian harm exceeded pre-strike as-
sessments of anticipated harm and, if so, 
the reasons for this discrepancy; 
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‘‘(II) an assessment of whether civil-
ian harm resulted from misidentification of 
a military objective or the collateral effects 
of engagement; 
‘‘(III) an assessment of damage to ci-
vilian objects that would ordinarily be 
placed on a no-strike list, and an expla-
nation if any such object was removed 
from the list; and 
‘‘(IV) a general assessment of reli-
ability of information provided and how 
such reliability level was determined. 
‘‘(vii) A summary for all completed civilian 
harm assessments and investigations. 
‘‘(viii) For any investigation into an inci-
dent that has been open for more than 180 
days, an update on the status of the investiga-
tion in the report table. 
‘‘(ix) In the case of any incident where the 
Secretary determines that credible civilian harm 
occurred— 
‘‘(I) an assessment of whether the De-
partment has publicly acknowledged the ci-
vilian harm or instituted any procedural 
reforms; 
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‘‘(II) a description of any other non- 
monetary consequence management that 
has occurred, including the provision of 
medical care, visa assistance, private apolo-
gies or explanations, or public affairs 
statements; and 
‘‘(III) an analysis on the effectiveness 
of the Department of Defense response. 
‘‘(x) For each investigation into an inci-
dent of civilian harm or alleged civilian harm— 
‘‘(I) whether witness interviews and 
site visits occurred, and if not, an expla-
nation for why not; 
‘‘(II) whether civil society documenta-
tion or investigations were taken into ac-
count in making a final determination in 
the investigation, and if not, an expla-
nation for why not; and 
‘‘(III) if an incident of alleged civilian 
harm is deemed not credible, an expla-
nation of the standard and methodology 
for making that determination. 
‘‘(C) A description of the process by which the 
Department of Defense investigates allegations of ci-
vilian casualties resulting from United States mili-
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tary operations, including all standards and guide-
lines applicable to such investigations, the proce-
dures for conducting and reviewing such investiga-
tions, the procedures for reviewing external sources 
of information, the criteria for deeming information 
credible, and the entities responsible for conducting 
and reviewing such investigations. 
‘‘(D) A description of steps taken to mitigate 
harm to civilians in the course of conducting such 
operations, including any new or updated civilian 
harm policies and procedures implemented by the 
Department of Defense or the combatant commands. 
‘‘(E) An assessment of how United States mili-
tary operations affected or exacerbated humani-
tarian needs of civilian populations in each theater 
of military operations. 
‘‘(F) For each incident of civilian harm where 
at least simple negligence was determined to play a 
contributory role— 
‘‘(i) a description of any remedial per-
sonnel action taken, including administrative, 
disciplinary, or punitive; or 
‘‘(ii) if no disciplinary action was taken, an 
explanation of why not. 
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‘‘(G) A description of any changes to policies, 
rules, or procedures as a result of such an incident. 
‘‘(H) Any other matter the Secretary of De-
fense determines is appropriate. 
‘‘(3) In preparing a report under this subsection, the 
Secretary of Defense shall take into account relevant and 
credible all-source reporting, with a special emphasis on 
information from public reports and non-governmental 
sources. 
‘‘(4) Each report required under paragraph (1) shall 
be— 
‘‘(A) submitted in unclassified form, but may 
include a classified annex; and 
‘‘(B) redacted only as necessary to protect le-
gitimately classified information and then made pub-
licly available in a databased and searchable format 
that includes a table with hyperlinks to individual in-
cidents. 
‘‘(d) EX GRATIA AND CONDOLENCE PAYMENTS.—(1) 
Not less frequently than once each calendar quarter, the 
Secretary of Defense shall make publicly available in an 
electronic format— 
‘‘(A) a detailed list of all ex gratia payments 
and any other payments in response to civilian harm 
paid by the United States during that quarter, in-
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cluding for each payment, the country where the 
payment was issued and the type of payment; and 
‘‘(B) with respect to a calendar quarter in 
which no ex gratia or other payments were made in 
response to civilian harm, an explanation of whether 
any payments were refused along with the reason for 
such refusal, and any other reason for which no pay-
ments were made. 
‘‘(2) Information about specific payments required 
under paragraph (1) that must be kept confidential to en-
sure the safety or privacy of payment recipients, based on 
consultation with such recipients, may be excluded from 
the publicly available list if the Secretary of Defense— 
‘‘(A) provides such information to the congres-
sional defense committees in a confidential annex; 
‘‘(B) submits to such committees a certification 
of the need for confidentiality; and 
‘‘(C) makes such information publicly available 
in an aggregated format. 
‘‘(3) The Secretary of Defense shall make available 
an easily accessible electronic method by which individuals 
or others on their behalf may request ex gratia or other 
condolence payments.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 
at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting 
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after the item relating to section 486 the following new 
item: 
‘‘487. Annual report on civilian harm in connection with United States military 
operations.’’. 
(c) CONFORMING REPEAL.—Section 1057 of the Na-
tional Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018 
(Public Law 115–91) is repealed. 
Æ 
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