On April 21, the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Military Personnel approved, by voice vote, its portion of H.R. 4909, the FY2017 National Defense Authorization Act.
The measure would extend through January 2021 the requirement for annual reporting of sexual assaults by the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office (SAPRO). Additionally, the bill provides for the eventual coordination of the SAPRO report with the Department of Defense (DoD) Family Advocacy Report, which begins in January 2017. The Family Advocacy Report will detail incidents of child and domestic abuse.
The bill would create a new section of the Uniform Code of Military Justice to hold accountable recruiters and trainers for sexual misconduct committed during various phases of recruiting or basic military training environments.
The bill would authorize $30 million in assistance to local educational agencies impacted by the enrollment of dependent children of service members and DoD civilian employees.
Additional details of the bill will be made available once the committee releases its report.
