On December 12, the House approved, 350-69, H.R. 3304, the FY2014 National Defense Authorization Act.
According to the House Armed Services Committee summary, the compromise legislation is based upon two bills: H.R. 1960, which passed the House on June 14 (see The Source, 6/14/13), and S. 1197, which the Senate Armed Services Committee approved the same day (see The Source, 6/14/13).
The measure would authorize $526.8 billion for the base defense budget and $80.7 billion for overseas contingency operations. The Department of Energy would be authorized to receive $17.6 billion for defense-related projects. The total amount authorized would be $625.1 billion in discretionary spending for FY2014.
The bill would authorize roughly $137 billion for military personnel and $32.9 billion for the Defense Health Program.
The legislation would change the way the military addresses sexual assault. Specifically, the bill would “strip commanders of their authority to dismiss a finding by a court martial” and would “prohibit commanders from reducing guilty findings to lesser offenses.”
Minimum sentencing guidelines would be established for service members found guilty of sexual assault related crimes. Information on such crimes would be included in personnel records. In addition, victims of sexual assault would be allowed to apply for a permanent change of station or unit transfer; commanders would be authorized to remove or temporarily reassign service members who are alleged perpetrators of sexual assault.
Qualified and specially trained lawyers would be available to provide legal assistance to victims of sexual assault. Rape, sexual assault, or other sexual misconduct would be added to the list of protected communications to members of Congress or an inspector general; the bill also would expand those protections for sexual assault crimes. The measure would eliminate the five year statute of limitations on rape and sexual assault. Individuals convicted of certain sex-related offenses would be barred from joining the military.
To address the inclusion of women into ground combat positions, the bill would establish a “definition of a gender-neutral occupational standard that each military service would use to develop the standards required for all military career designators” [career codes related to military operations on the ground].
The Senate is scheduled to consider the bill next week.
