On November 12, the Senate approved, 95-3, the conference report for the FY2004 defense authorization bill (H.R. 1588). The House approved the conference report for H.R. 1588 on November 7 (see The Source, 11/7/03). It will now go to the White House for the President’s signature.
H.R. 1588 would authorize $401.3 billion in military spending for FY2004, $834 million more than the President’s request and $8.4 billion more than the FY2003 authorization.
Under the measure, $775.6 million would be provided for the construction and improvement of military family housing units in FY2004, the same amount requested by the President. In FY2003, Congress allocated $676.7 million.
H.R. 1588 would allocate $16.5 million for child development centers. The funding will enable the operation of an additional three centers. Last year, Congress allocated $17.6 million.
The bill would require the Secretary of Defense to establish a civilian and military task force to address sexual harassment and violence at the U.S. Military and Naval Academies. The task force would be required to report their findings to the Secretary along with recommendations to improve efforts to reduce harassment. These efforts would include victims’ safety programs, offender accountability, sexual harassment prevention, and standard guidelines for training personnel at the academies.
Sen. Wayne Allard (R-CO) lauded the task force’s establishment, noting, “Over the last 10 years, dozens of female cadets have been sexually assaulted, but only a few have reported the crime and even fewer have received the kind of support and assistance needed to overcome such a traumatic experience. In fact, some victims said they were punished for reporting a sexual assault, and many feared they would be punished if they did report the crime.”
In an effort to eliminate domestic violence in the military, H.R. 1588 would require that travel and transportation allowances be made for dependents who are victims of domestic violence and are relocating for personal safety, and that transitional compensation be made to victims for three years after the sentencing of a domestic violence offender. In addition, the Secretary of Defense would be asked to conduct multidisciplinary fatality reviews for each domestic violence or child fatality.
The measure would require the Secretary of Defense to prescribe a policy concerning the concurrent deployment to a combat zone of both spouses of a military family with one or more minor children.
H.R. 1588 would require the Secretary of Defense to commission a study on the use of small businesses, minority-owned businesses, and women-owned businesses in the U.S. efforts to rebuild Iraq and develop outreach procedures to provide these businesses with information on participation in the Iraqi rebuilding process.
The bill also would restrict the bundling of Department of Defense (DoD) contract requirements that unreasonably disadvantage small businesses.
Under H.R. 1588, the Secretary of Defense would provide for an independent epidemiological study of exposure to perchlorate in drinking water. Specifically, the study would examine urinary iodine and thyroid hormone levels in pregnant women, neonates, and infants exposed to perchlorate.
Finally, the measure maintains current law, under which the DoD covers abortions in domestic and military facilities only in cases where the life of the pregnant woman is endangered. In cases of rape and incest, women must prove that they have been the victim of rape or incest. If they can prove this, they may obtain abortion services with their own funds. Servicewomen who are seeking abortion services under other circumstances must pay for those services at a non-military facility.
