Track It to Prevent It Act - Directs: (1) the Secretary of Defense to ensure that the results of command climate assessments are provided to the relevant individual commander and to the next higher level of command, (2) the Secretary of each military department to include in performance evaluations and assessments used by each Armed Force a designated form where senior commanders can indicate whether the commander has conducted the required climate assessments and to require that any failure to do so be noted in the commander's performance evaluation and considered a serious factor for any subsequent promotion, and (3) the Inspector General of the Department of Defense (DOD) to develop a system to track whether commanders are conducting such climate assessments.
Requires unit commanders, working with the Inspector General, to gather all climate assessments from the unit and develop a compliance report that includes: (1) a comprehensive overview of the concerns members of the unit expressed, (2) data showing how leadership is perceived in the unit, and (3) a detailed strategic plan on how leadership plans to address the expressed concerns.
Directs the Defense Secretary to require commanders to include letters of reprimand, non-punitive letters of actions, and counseling statements involving substantiated cases of sexual harassment or sexual assault in the performance evaluation report of a member of the Armed Forces for the purpose of: (1) providing commanders increased visibility of the background information of unit members, (2) identifying and preventing trends of bad behavior early and effectively disciplining repeated actions which hinder units from fostering a healthy climate, and (3) preventing the transfer of sexual offenders.
Requires the Secretary of each military department to: (1) develop an assessment program modeled after the current Department of the Army Multi-Source Assessment and Feedback Program, (2) include individual counseling as part of the performance evaluation process, and (3) conduct health welfare inspections on a monthly basis and provide the results to both the commander and senior commander.
Directs the Defense Secretary to: (1) conduct a review of security measures and identify security gaps on military installations; (2) evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of using 24-hour electronic monitoring or placing security personnel at all points of entry into barracks and multi-family residences; and (3) conduct a review of the Office of Diversity Management and Equal Opportunity to identify and evaluate the resource and personnel gaps in the Office, identify and evaluate the Office's role in sexual harassment cases, and evaluate how the Office works with the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office to address sexual harassment in the Armed Forces.
[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2230 Introduced in House (IH)]
113th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2230
To address the prevalence of sexual harassment and sexual assault in
the Armed Forces.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 3, 2013
Ms. Loretta Sanchez of California introduced the following bill; which
was referred to the Committee on Armed Services
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To address the prevalence of sexual harassment and sexual assault in
the Armed Forces.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Track It to
Prevent It Act''.
(b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act is as
follows:
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings.
Sec. 3. Definitions.
Sec. 4. Improved climate assessments and dissemination and tracking of
results.
Sec. 5. Inclusion of letter of reprimands, nonpunitive letter of
reprimands and counseling statements.
Sec. 6. Service-wide 360 assessments.
Sec. 7. Health welfare inspections.
Sec. 8. Review of security of military installations, including
barracks and multi-family residences.
Sec. 9. Review of the Office of Diversity Management and Equal
Opportunity role in sexual harassment
cases.
Sec. 10. Authorization of appropriations.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) According to the Department of Defense, 3,374 sexual
assault cases involving a member of the Armed Forces were
reported in fiscal year 2012, a 6 percent increase in the
number of reported cases in fiscal year 2011.
(2) However, approximately 26,000 members of the Armed
Forces made an anonymous report of a sexual assault in fiscal
year 2012, a substantial increase from fiscal year 2011.
(3) According to the Department of Defense, of the 6.1
percent of female members of the Armed Forces who experienced
``unwanted sexual contact'' in fiscal year 2012, 77 percent
also experienced sexual harassment and, of the 1.2 percent of
male members of the Armed Forces who experienced ``unwanted
sexual contact'' in fiscal year 2012, 52 percent also
experienced sexual harassment.
(4) Sixty-two percent of those members who experienced
unwanted sexual contact also perceived some form of social,
administrative, or professional retaliation.
(5) Climate assessments are required by law and commanders
at all levels must comply as it is their core responsibility to
create a safe and healthy environment for the unit.
(6) Trends in bad behavior and reoccurring actions that
harm the members of the unit, such as sexual harassment and
sexual assault, must be identified earlier through improved
performance assessments and better reporting by commanders at
all levels.
(7) According to a recent Government Accountability Office
report, two of the primary reasons why members decide not to
report sexual harassment and sexual assault incidents are
because they do not think anything will be done about the
incident if they report it and they think that reporting the
incident will adversely impact their military career.
(8) As long as commanders at any level continue to condone
or ignore certain types of sexual misconduct, this behavior
will continue to be prevalent in the military obstructing the
change in culture.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act
(1) The term ``sexual harassment'' has the meaning given
such term in Department of Defense Directive 1350.2, Department
of Defense Military Equal Opportunity Program.
(2) The term ``sexual assault'' means any of the offenses
described in section 920 of title 10, United States Code
(article 120 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice).
SEC. 4. IMPROVED CLIMATE ASSESSMENTS AND DISSEMINATION AND TRACKING OF
RESULTS.
(a) Improved Dissemination of Results in Chain of Command.--The
Secretary of Defense shall ensure that the results of command climate
assessments are provided to the relevant individual commander and to
the next higher level of command.
(b) Performance Tracking.--
(1) Evidence of compliance.--The Secretary of each military
department shall include in the performance evaluations and
assessments used by each Armed Force under the jurisdiction of
the Secretary a designated form where senior commanders can
indicate whether the commander has conducted the required
climate assessments.
(2) Effect of failure to conduct assessment.--If a
commander is found to not have conducted the required climate
assessments, the failure shall be noted in the commander's
performance evaluation and be considered a serious factor
during consideration for any subsequent promotion.
(c) Tracking System.--The Inspector General of the Department of
Defense shall develop a system to track whether commanders are
conducting command climate assessments.
(d) Unit Compliance Reports.--Working with the Inspector General of
the Department of Defense, unit commanders shall gather all the climate
assessments from the unit and develop a compliance report that, at a
minimum, shall include the following:
(1) A comprehensive overview of the concerns members of the
unit expressed in the climate assessments.
(2) Data showing how leadership is perceived in the unit.
(3) A detailed strategic plan on how leadership plans to
address the expressed concerns.
SEC. 5. INCLUSION OF LETTER OF REPRIMANDS, NONPUNITIVE LETTER OF
REPRIMANDS AND COUNSELING STATEMENTS.
The Secretary of Defense shall require commanders to include letter
of reprimands, nonpunitive letter of actions and counseling statements
involving substantiated cases of sexual harassment or sexual assault in
the performance evaluation report of a member of the Armed Forces for
the purpose of--
(1) providing commanders increased visibility of the
background information of members of the unit;
(2) identifying and preventing trends of bad behavior early
and effectively disciplining repeated actions which hinder
units from fostering a healthy climate; and
(3) preventing the transfer of sexual offenders.
SEC. 6. SERVICE-WIDE 360 ASSESSMENTS.
(a) Adoption of 360-Degree Approach.--The Secretary of each
military department shall develop an assessment program modeled after
the current Department of the Army Multi-Source Assessment and Feedback
(MSAF) Program, known in this section as the ``360-degree approach''.
(b) Report on Inclusion in Performance Evaluation Reports.--Not
later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the
Secretary of Defense shall submit to Congress a report containing the
results of an assessment of the feasibility of including the 360-degree
approach as part of the performance evaluation reports.
(c) Individual Counseling.--The Secretary of each military
department shall include individual counseling as part of the
performance evaluation process.
SEC. 7. HEALTH WELFARE INSPECTIONS.
The Secretary of each military department shall conduct health
welfare inspections on a monthly basis in order to ensure and maintain
security, military readiness, good order, and discipline of all units
of the Armed Forces under the jurisdiction of the Secretary. Results of
the Health Welfare Inspections shall be provided to both the commander
and senior commander.
SEC. 8. REVIEW OF SECURITY OF MILITARY INSTALLATIONS, INCLUDING
BARRACKS AND MULTI-FAMILY RESIDENCES.
(a) Review of Security Measures.--The Secretary of Defense shall
conduct a review of security measures on United States military
installations, specifically with regard to barracks and multi-family
residences on military installations, for the purpose of ensuring the
safety of members of the Armed Forces and their dependents who reside
on military installations.
(b) Elements of Study.--In conducting the review under subsection
(a), the Secretary of Defense shall--
(1) identify security gaps on military installations; and
(2) evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of using 24-
hour electronic monitoring or placing security personnel at all
points of entry into barracks and multi-family residences on
military installation.
(c) Submission of Results.--Not later than 90 days after the date
of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to
Congress a report containing the results of the study conducted under
subsection (a), including an estimate of the costs--
(1) to eliminate all security gaps identified under
subsection (b)(1); and
(2) to provide 24-hour security monitoring as evaluated
under subsection (b)(2).
SEC. 9. REVIEW OF THE OFFICE OF DIVERSITY MANAGEMENT AND EQUAL
OPPORTUNITY ROLE IN SEXUAL HARASSMENT CASES.
(a) Review Required.--The Secretary of Defense shall conduct a
review of the Office of Diversity Management and Equal Opportunity for
the purposes specified in subsection (b).
(b) Elements of Study.--In conducting the review under subsection
(a), the Secretary of Defense shall--
(1) identify and evaluate the resource and personnel gaps
in the Office;
(2) identify and evaluate the role of the Office in sexual
harassment cases; and
(3) evaluate how the Office works with the Sexual Assault
Prevention and Response Office to address sexual harassment in
the Armed Forces.
SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of Defense
such sums as may be necessary to carry out this Act for fiscal year
2014.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Armed Services.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Military Personnel.
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