This week, the Senate continued its debate on the FY2005 defense authorization bill (S. 2400), which it began prior to the Memorial Day recess. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) has announced his intention to complete the bill by June 11. The House approved its version of the bill (H.R. 4200) on May 20 (see The Source, 5/21/04).
S. 2400 would authorize $422.2 billion for defense programs in FY2005, the same level as the House bill. The measure would authorize a permanent increase in the rate of the family separation allowance from $100 per month to $250 per month.
S. 2400 would require the secretary of defense to promulgate, by January 1, 2005, a uniform Department of Defense policy for the prevention of, and response to, sexual assaults involving members of the Armed Forces. The secretaries of the military departments also would be required to establish programs throughout each service designated for victim advocacy and intervention, both at home and in deployed locations. Uniform training, reporting, and disciplinary procedures would be required for each military department, as well as an annual assessment of the effectiveness of the service’s policies to prevent and respond to sexual assault and violence. The bill also would require the secretary to submit an annual report to Congress on the number of sexual assaults, rapes, and other sexual offenses involving military personnel, the number of cases substantiated, a synopsis of disciplinary action taken in substantiated cases, and policies and programs implemented by the secretary to prevent and respond to sexual assault and violence.
The Senate Armed Services Committee report accompanying the bill states, “The committee recognizes that incidents of sexual assault require competent responses from law enforcement, medical, legal, and victim advocate personnel. Superiors and peers in the chain of command must be informed and trained [on] how to respond to incidents of sexual assaults. Officers in command must be prepared, and supported, with necessary resources to enable them to take appropriate measures to ensure that victims’ needs are addressed, accused’s rights under the Uniform Code of Military Justice are protected, and that cases are timely investigated and resolved. The committee reiterates its views that a ‘zero tolerance’ policy is the only appropriate standard for services to adopt with respect to incidents of sexual assault.”
S. 2400 would authorize a five-year extension of the pilot mentor-protege program. The program “provides incentives to major defense contractors to assist small disadvantaged businesses, women-owned businesses, and qualified organizations employing the severely disabled to enhance their capabilities as contractors on Department of Defense contracts.”
The measure also would authorize a five-year extension of the test program for negotiation of comprehensive small business subcontracting plans. Under the test program, “prime contractors may submit a plan designed to provide maximum subcontracting opportunity for small, disadvantaged, and women-owned small business concerns that covers all anticipated contracts on a plant, division, or corporate basis, rather than for each Federal contract and subcontract of $500,000 or more.”
During consideration of the bill, the Senate approved, 70-25, an amendment by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) that would allow members of the reserve and their families to participate in TRICARE, the military’s health program.
The Senate also approved, 95-0, an amendment by Sen. John Warner (R-VA) that would authorize an additional $25 billion in emergency budget authority to partially cover the projected costs of continuing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
