Department of Defense Office of the Victim Advocate Act of 2005

Department of Defense Office of the Victim Advocate Act of 2005 - Establishes an Office of the Victim Advocate within the Office of the Secretary of Defense to assist victims of sexual misconduct and interpersonal violence occurring among members of the Armed Forces or between members of the Armed Forces and family members and partners.

Requires the Director of the Office to carry out specified coordination, evaluation and review, policy, and education and training functions, and to submit to the Secretary an annual report assessing the current state of affairs within military departments relative to interpersonal violence and sexual misconduct. Requires the Secretary to transmit the Director's report to Congress with additional comments.

[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1403 Introduced in House (IH)]






109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1403

 To amend title 10, United States Code, to establish in the Department 
of Defense an Office of the Victim Advocate, to prescribe the functions 
                of that office, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 17, 2005

  Ms. Kilpatrick of Michigan (for herself, Ms. Lee, Ms. Woolsey, Mr. 
  DeFazio, Mrs. Napolitano, Mr. Towns, Ms. Watson, Mr. McDermott, Mr. 
  Pallone, and Mrs. Maloney) introduced the following bill; which was 
              referred to the Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend title 10, United States Code, to establish in the Department 
of Defense an Office of the Victim Advocate, to prescribe the functions 
                of that office, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Department of Defense Office of the 
Victim Advocate Act of 2005''.

SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF OFFICE OF THE VICTIM ADVOCATE IN DEPARTMENT OF 
              DEFENSE.

    (a) Establishment.--Part II of subtitle A of title 10, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new chapter:

              ``CHAPTER 90--OFFICE OF THE VICTIM ADVOCATE

``Sec.
``1811. Office of the Victim Advocate: establishment; Director.
``1812. Office of the Victim Advocate: functions.
``1813. Annual report.
``Sec. 1811. Office of the Victim Advocate: establishment; Director
    ``(a) Establishment.--There is in the Office of the Secretary of 
Defense an Office of the Victim Advocate. The office shall have 
responsibility for coordination of programs and activities of the 
military departments to the extent that they relate to victims of 
interpersonal violence among members of the armed forces or between 
members of the armed forces and family members and partners (including 
former spouses, children, significant others, children-in-common, girl 
friends, and boy friends.).
    ``(b) Director.--The head of the Office is a Director.
    ``(c) Victim Defined.--In this chapter, the term `victim' means a 
person who is the victim of sexual misconduct or interpersonal violence 
which--
            ``(1) in the case of a person who is a member of the armed 
        forces, is carried out by another member of the armed forces or 
        a family member or intimate partner; and
            ``(2) in the case of a person who is a not member of the 
        armed forces, is carried out by a member of the armed forces 
        who is a family member or intimate partner of that person.
``Sec. 1812. Office of the Victim Advocate: functions
    ``(a) Coordination Functions.--The Director of the Office of the 
Victim Advocate shall carry out the following coordination functions:
            ``(1) Coordinate programs and activities of the military 
        departments relative to care, services, and treatment for 
        victims.
            ``(2) Serve as headquarters program manager for the victim 
        advocates and the victim service specialists in the Department 
        of Defense authorized by law.
            ``(3) Coordinate services for victims among military and 
        civilian communities and provide guidance to victims in 
        obtaining those services.
    ``(b) Evaluation and Review Functions.--The Director of the Office 
of the Victim Advocate shall carry out the following evaluation and 
review functions:
            ``(1) Evaluate the prevalence of interpersonal violence 
        associated with members of the armed forces.
            ``(2) Evaluate the programs established by the military 
        departments providing services to victims of interpersonal 
        violence.
            ``(3) Evaluate the delivery of services by the military 
        departments to victims of interpersonal violence.
            ``(4) Review the facilities of the military departments 
        providing services to victims of interpersonal violence.
            ``(5) Review the hotline programs for victims of violence, 
        including command and installation hotlines, the National 
        Domestic Violence Hotline, and the National Sexual Assault 
        Hotline.
            ``(6) Review disciplinary actions taken against members of 
        the armed forces who commit acts of interpersonal violence.
    ``(c) Policy Functions.--The Director of the Office of the Victim 
Advocate shall carry out the following policy functions:
            ``(1) Recommend to the Secretaries of the military 
        departments policies, protocols, and programs to enhance 
        services to victims.
            ``(2) Recommend changes to policies and procedures to 
        address sexual misconduct and intimate partner violence.
            ``(3) Establish system accountability standards.
            ``(4) Develop protocols for accountability of commanders in 
        response to incidents of violence.
            ``(5) Serve, or designate a person to serve, on any 
        fatality review panel established by the Secretary of a 
        military department under section 4061, 6036, or 9061 of this 
        title.
    ``(d) Education and Training Functions.--The Director of the Office 
of the Victim Advocate shall carry out the following education and 
training functions:
            ``(1) Conduct education and training within the armed 
        forces.
            ``(2) Conduct training and technical assistance (including 
        programs referred to as Life Skills program) for commands, 
        Family Advocacy Programs, victim witness assistance liaisons, 
        commissions, medical personnel, and law enforcement, security 
        forces, and the Judge Advocate General Corps.
            ``(3) Conduct programs of public education.
``Sec. 1813. Annual report
    ``(a) Report to the Secretary of Defense.--The Director of the 
Office of the Victim Advocate shall submit to the Secretary of Defense 
an annual report containing an assessment of the current state of 
affairs within the military departments relative to interpersonal 
violence and sexual misconduct. The report shall include proposed 
initiatives to enhance the response of the military departments to 
interpersonal violence and sexual misconduct.
    ``(b) Report to Congress.--The Secretary of Defense shall transmit 
to Congress each report received from the Director under subsection 
(a), together with the Secretary's comments thereon.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendments.--The tables of chapters at the beginning 
of subtitle A, and at the beginning of part II of subtitle A, of such 
title are amended by inserting after the item relating to chapter 89 
the following new item:

``90. Office of the Victim Advocate.........................    1811''.

SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There is authorized to be appropriated for fiscal year 2005 for 
Operation and Maintenance, Defense-Wide, the amount of $10,000,000 to 
carry out the functions of the Office of the Victim Advocate in the 
Department of Defense.
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