This week, the Senate Armed Services Committee completed action on its FY2005 defense authorization bill (S. 2229), while the subcommittees of the House Armed Services Committee approved their sections of the bill (H.R. 4200) for full committee consideration next week.
Senate Committee Consideration
On May 7, the Senate Armed Services Committee unanimously approved the FY2005 defense authorization bill. In a joint press release, Chair John Warner (R-VA) said, “The brave young men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces and their families deserve our absolute, unwavering support.” Ranking Member Sander Levin (D-MI) agreed: “The bill reported by the Armed Services Committee will promote the national defense, improve the quality of life of our men and women in uniform, and make the investments we need to meet the challenges of the 21st Century.”
According to the committee’s press release, the bill would authorize $422.2 billion in budget authority for defense programs in FY2005, a $20.9 billion increase over last year. S. 2229 would authorize a permanent increase in the rate of family separation allowance from $100 per month to $250 per month. The bill also would authorize a new TRICARE Reserve Select benefit that would allow members of the reserves and their families to participate in TRICARE, the military’s health care program. Further, S. 2229 would “direct the Secretary of Defense to develop a comprehensive policy and procedures for the prevention of and response to incidents of sexual assault involving military members.”
The measure also would authorize a three-year extension of the Department of Defense (DoD) Mentor-Protege Program. Additional details will be available when the bill is considered on the Senate floor.
House Subcommittee Consideration
All six of the House Armed Services subcommittees approved their portions of the FY2005 defense authorization bill this week. Further details of the House bill will be available upon completion of the full committee’s mark-up on May 12.
On May 5, during its consideration of portions of the defense authorization bill pertaining to military personnel matters, the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Total Force defeated, 6-8, an amendment by Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-CA) that would have increased the criminal punishments for military personnel who commit acts of sexual abuse or sexual assault. Noting that the “Army is currently investigating more than 110 counts of sexual abuse in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Rep. Sanchez said, “The problem is real…But our current mechanism for prosecuting sexual assault within the Armed Services in woefully outdated…The time has come to adopt a sexual assault statute for the military that is consistent with the U.S. Code and the majority of state sexual assault statutes.”
Specifically, the amendment would have clarified the definition of sexual assault, expanded the scope of sexual acts that constitute sexual abuse, increased the protections for victims, criminalized sexual extortion, provided a mechanism for cases involving voluntary or involuntary intoxication of the victim, provided an array of graduated offenses that better define nonconsensual sex crimes, and defined penalties for sexual crimes against prisoners and detainees.
Subcommittee Chair John McHugh (R-NY) said that language requiring the Department of Defense to identify proposed changes to the Uniformed Code of Military Justice with respect to sexual abuse and sexual assault would be included during full committee consideration.
