Title: Harmony’s Law
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security

Summary:
Harmony's Law
This bill eliminates the statute of limitations under the Uniform Code of Military Justice for a child abuse offense.
Currently, such charges must be received during the life of the child or within 10 years of the commission of the offense, whichever is longer.
The bill retroactively applies to offenses for which the current statute of limitations has not yet lapsed.
The Office of General Counsel of the House of Representatives is authorized to file legal briefs supporting the position that prosecution for a rape or sexual assault should not be time-barred, notwithstanding the opinion of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces in United States v. Mangahas, No. 17-0434-AF.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2388 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2388

To amend the Uniform Code of Military Justice to eliminate the statute 
    of limitations for child abuse offenses, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 29, 2019

   Mr. Mast (for himself, Ms. Stevens, Mr. Posey, Mr. Bilirakis, Mr. 
Gaetz, Mr. Soto, Mr. Cisneros, Ms. Kuster of New Hampshire, Ms. Castor 
of Florida, Mr. Diaz-Balart, and Mrs. Demings) introduced the following 
  bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in 
  addition to the Committee on Rules, for a period to be subsequently 
   determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 
 provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Uniform Code of Military Justice to eliminate the statute 
    of limitations for child abuse offenses, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as ``Harmony's Law''.

SEC. 2. ELIMINATION OF STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS FOR CHILD ABUSE OFFENSES.

    (a) Elimination of Limitation Period.--Subparagraph (A) of section 
843(b)(2) of title 10, United States Code (article 43(b)(2) of the 
Uniform Code of Military Justice), is amended to read as follows: ``(A) 
A person charged with having committed a child abuse offense against a 
child may be tried and punished at any time without limitation.''.
    (b) Application.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall apply 
to the prosecution of any child abuse offense (as that term is defined 
in section 843(b)(2) of title 10, United States Code (article 43(b)(2) 
of the Uniform Code of Military Justice)) committed before, on, or 
after the date of the enactment of this Act if the applicable 
limitation period has not yet expired.

SEC. 3. PARTICIPATION OF HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES IN CASES INVOLVING 
              STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS FOR RAPE OR SEXUAL ASSAULT.

    The Office of General Counsel of the House of Representatives, 
under the direction of the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group established 
under clause 8(b) of rule II of the Rules of the House of 
Representatives, is authorized to take steps to protect the 
institutional interests of the House of Representatives in any case in 
which the opinion of the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed 
Forces regarding the statute of limitations for rape or sexual assault 
under U.S. v. Mangahas, No. 17-0434-AF, is invoked in a defendant's 
appeal, including filing amicus briefs and providing other support for 
the position that the prosecution of an individual under the Uniform 
Code of Military Justice for a rape or sexual assault committed before 
January 6, 2006, should not be time-barred based on such opinion.

SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS FOR RAPE OR SEXUAL 
              ASSAULT.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) the passage of time should not bar the prosecution of 
        rape or sexual assault under the Uniform Code of Military 
        Justice; and
            (2) the prosecution of an individual under such Code for a 
        rape or sexual assault committed before January 6, 2006, should 
        not be time-barred based on the opinion of the United States 
        Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces in the case U.S. v. 
        Mangahas.
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