I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2026 
To enhance the sexual assault prevention and response program of the 
Department of Defense. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 23, 2015 
Mr. TURNER (for himself and Ms. TSONGAS) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services 
A BILL 
To enhance the sexual assault prevention and response 
program of the Department of Defense. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Support Uniformed Patriots; Prevent Offenses and Re-
store Trust Act’’ or the ‘‘SUPPORT Act’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Sexual assault prevention and response training for administrators and 
instructors of the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps. 
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Sec. 3. Strategy to prevent retaliation against members of the Armed Forces 
who report or intervene on behalf of the victim in instances of 
sexual assault. 
Sec. 4. Department of Defense civilian employee access to Special Victims’ 
Counsel. 
Sec. 5. Improvements to Special Victims’ Counsel program. 
Sec. 6. Improved Department of Defense prevention and response to sexual as-
saults in which the victim is a male member of the Armed 
Forces. 
Sec. 7. Additional guidance regarding the use of mental health records. 
Sec. 8. Improvements to the implementation of changes to the Uniform Code 
of Military Justice. 
SEC. 2. SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION AND RESPONSE 
TRAINING FOR ADMINISTRATORS AND IN-
STRUCTORS OF THE RESERVE OFFICERS’ 
TRAINING CORPS. 
(a) TRAINING
AND EDUCATION REQUIRED.—The 
Secretary of a military department shall ensure that the 
commander of each unit of the Junior Reserve Officers’ 
Training Corps or Senior Reserve Officers’ Training 
Corps and all Professors of Military Science, senior mili-
tary instructors, and civilian employees detailed, assigned, 
or employed as administrators and instructors of the Re-
serve Officers’ Training Corps receive regular sexual as-
sault prevention and response training and education. 
(b) AVAILABILITY OF LEGAL ASSISTANCE AND SEX-
UAL ASSAULT PREVENTION AND RESPONSE PROGRAM 
SERVICES.—The Secretary of a military department shall 
ensure that information regarding the availability of legal 
assistance and the services of the sexual assault prevention 
and response program of the Department of Defense is 
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made available to the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps 
personnel referred to in subsection (a). 
SEC. 3. STRATEGY TO PREVENT RETALIATION AGAINST 
MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES WHO RE-
PORT OR INTERVENE ON BEHALF OF THE 
VICTIM IN INSTANCES OF SEXUAL ASSAULT. 
(a) STRATEGY REQUIRED.—The Secretary of De-
fense shall establish a comprehensive strategy to prevent 
retaliation carried out by members of the Armed Forces 
against other members who report or otherwise intervene 
on behalf of the victim in instances of sexual assault. 
(b) ELEMENTS.—The comprehensive strategy re-
quired by subsection (a) shall include, at a minimum, the 
following: 
(1) Bystander intervention programs empha-
sizing the importance of guarding against such retal-
iation. 
(2) Department of Defense and military depart-
ment policies and requirements to ensure protection 
from retaliation against victims of sexual assault 
and members who intervene on behalf of a victim. 
(3) Additional training for commanders on 
methods and procedures to combat attitudes and be-
liefs that lead to acts of retaliation by members. 
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(c) RETALIATION DESCRIBED.—For purposes of this 
section, the term ‘‘retaliation’’ has the meaning given that 
term in the regulations issued by the Secretary of Defense 
pursuant to section 1709(b)(1) of the National Defense 
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014 (Public Law 113– 
66; 10 U.S.C. 113 note) and shall include ostracism and 
other acts of maltreatment designated by the Secretary 
pursuant to subparagraph (B) of such section. 
(d) BRIEFING.—Not later than 90 days after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense 
shall brief the Committees on Armed Services of the Sen-
ate and the House of Representatives on the comprehen-
sive strategy required by subsection (a). 
SEC. 4. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE CIVILIAN EMPLOYEE 
ACCESS TO SPECIAL VICTIMS’ COUNSEL. 
Section 1044(a) of title 10, United States Code, is 
amended by adding the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(8) In any instance in which the victim of a 
sex-related offense is a Department of Defense civil-
ian employee, the Secretary of Defense or the Sec-
retary of a military department may waive the limi-
tation outlined in paragraph (7) in order to permit 
the civilian employee to obtain the services of a Spe-
cial Victims’ Counsel under section 1044e of this 
title.’’. 
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SEC. 5. IMPROVEMENTS TO SPECIAL VICTIMS’ COUNSEL 
PROGRAM. 
(a) QUALIFICATIONS
AND DESIGNATION.—Section 
1044e(d) of title 10, United States Code, is amended— 
(1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘An individual’’; 
(2) by designating existing paragraphs (1) and 
(2) as subparagraphs (A) and (B), respectively; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following new 
paragraphs: 
‘‘(2) The Secretary of Defense shall direct the Sec-
retary of each military department to implement addi-
tional selection criteria requiring that judge advocates 
have adequate criminal justice experience before they are 
assigned as Special Victims’ Counsel. 
‘‘(3) The Secretary of Defense shall develop a policy 
to standardize both the timeframe within which Special 
Victims’ Counsel receive training and the training that 
each Special Victims’ Counsel receives.’’. 
(b) 
ADMINISTRATIVE
RESPONSIBILITY.—Section 
1044e(e) of title 10, United States Code, is amended by 
adding at the end the following new paragraphs: 
‘‘(3) The Secretary of Defense shall establish appro-
priate program performance measures and standards, in-
cluding evaluating, monitoring, and reporting on the Spe-
cial Victims’ Counsel programs, establishing guiding prin-
ciples for the military departments, and ensuring central-
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ized, standardized assessment of program effectiveness 
and client satisfaction. 
‘‘(4) The Secretary of Defense shall direct the Sec-
retary of each military department to perform regular 
evaluations to ensure that Special Victims’ Counsel are as-
signed to locations that maximize the opportunity for face- 
to-face interactions between counsel and clients and to de-
velop effective means by which a Special Victims’ Counsel 
may communicate with a client when face-to-face commu-
nication is not feasible.’’. 
SEC. 6. IMPROVED DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE PREVEN-
TION AND RESPONSE TO SEXUAL ASSAULTS 
IN WHICH THE VICTIM IS A MALE MEMBER 
OF THE ARMED FORCES. 
(a) REVISED TRAINING.—The Secretary of Defense 
shall direct the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel 
and Readiness, in collaboration with the Secretaries of the 
military services, to revise sexual assault prevention and 
response training to more comprehensively and directly 
address the incidence of male servicemembers being sexu-
ally assaulted and how certain behavior and activities— 
like hazing—can constitute a sexual assault. 
(b) EVALUATION OF DIFFERENCES IN MEDICAL AND 
MENTAL HEALTH-CARE NEEDS.—The Secretary of De-
fense shall direct the Assistant Secretary of Defense for 
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Health Affairs, in collaboration with the services’ Sur-
geons General, to systematically evaluate the extent to 
which differences exist in the medical and mental health- 
care needs of male and female sexual assault victims, and 
the care regimen, if any, that will best meet those needs. 
(c) IMPROVED DATA COLLECTION AND USE.—The 
Secretary of Defense shall direct the Under Secretary of 
Defense for Personnel and Readiness, in collaboration 
with the Secretaries of the military services, to develop— 
(1) a plan for data-driven decisionmaking for 
male victim sexual assault prevention and response 
program efforts; and 
(2) clear goals with associated metrics to drive 
the changes needed to address sexual assaults of 
males. 
(d) IMPROVED INFORMATION
TO MEMBERS.—The 
Secretary of Defense shall direct the Under Secretary of 
Defense for Personnel and Readiness, in collaboration 
with the Secretaries of the military services, to include in-
formation about the sexual victimization of males in com-
munications to servicemembers that are used to raise 
awareness of sexual assault and the department’s efforts 
to prevent and respond to it. 
(e) IMPROVED GUIDELINES FOR PROVIDERS.—The 
Secretary of Defense shall direct the Assistant Secretary 
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of Defense for Health Affairs should, in collaboration with 
the services’ Surgeons General, to develop and issue guid-
ance for the department’s medical and mental health pro-
viders—and other personnel, as appropriate—based on 
the results of this evaluation that delineates these gender- 
specific distinctions and the care regimen that is rec-
ommended to most effectively meet those needs. 
SEC. 7. ADDITIONAL GUIDANCE REGARDING THE USE OF 
MENTAL HEALTH RECORDS. 
The Secretary of Defense shall establish and issue 
uniform guidance to ensure that mental health records are 
neither sought from a medical treatment facility by inves-
tigators or military justice practitioners nor acknowledged 
or released by medical treatment facility personnel until 
the production of such mental health records have been 
ordered by a military judge or Article 32 hearing officer. 
SEC. 8. IMPROVEMENTS TO THE IMPLEMENTATION OF 
CHANGES TO THE UNIFORM CODE OF MILI-
TARY JUSTICE. 
The Secretary of Defense shall examine the Depart-
ment of Defense and interagency review process for imple-
menting statutory changes to the Uniform Code of Mili-
tary Justice and should explore options for streamlining 
these procedures. The Secretary shall adopt procedures 
that ensure that legal guidance is published as statutory 
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