[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6209 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 6209
To improve information collection and reporting on sexual assaults and
racial and ethnic demographics in the military justice system, and for
other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
December 9, 2021
Mr. Brown of Maryland (for himself, Ms. Strickland, and Mr. Jones)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Armed Services
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To improve information collection and reporting on sexual assaults and
racial and ethnic demographics in the military justice system, 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 ``Military Justice Reporting
Improvement Act''.
SEC. 2. INCLUSION OF RACE AND ETHNICITY IN ANNUAL REPORTS ON SEXUAL
ASSAULTS; REPORTING ON RACIAL AND ETHNIC DEMOGRAPHICS IN
THE MILITARY JUSTICE SYSTEM.
(a) Annual Reports on Racial and Ethnic Demographics in the
Military Justice System.--
(1) In general.--Chapter 23 of title 10, United States
Code, is amended by inserting after section 485 the following
new section:
``Sec. 486. Annual reports on racial and ethnic demographics in the
military justice system
``(a) In General.--Not later than March 1 of each year, the
Secretary of each military department shall submit to the Secretary of
Defense a report on racial, ethnic, and sex demographics in the
military justice system during the preceding year. In the case of the
Secretary of the Navy, separate reports shall be prepared for the Navy
and for the Marine Corps. In the case of the Secretary of the Air
Force, separate reports shall be prepared for the Air Force and for the
Space Force.
``(b) Contents.--The report of a Secretary of a military department
for an Armed Force under subsection (a) shall contain, to the extent
possible, statistics on offenses under chapter 47 of this title (the
Uniform Code of Military Justice), during the year covered by the
report, including--
``(1) the number of offenses in the Armed Force that were
reported to military officials, disaggregated by--
``(A) statistical category as related to the
victim; and
``(B) statistical category as related to the
principal;
``(2) the number of offenses in the Armed Forces that were
investigated, disaggregated by statistical category as related
to the principal;
``(3) the number of offenses in which administrative action
was imposed, disaggregated by statistical category as related
to the principal and each type of administrative action
imposed;
``(4) the number of offenses in which nonjudicial
punishment was imposed under section 815 of this title (article
15 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice), disaggregated by
statistical category as related to the principal;
``(5) the number of offenses in which charges were
preferred, disaggregated by statistical category as related to
the principal;
``(6) the number of offenses in which charges were referred
to court-martial, disaggregated by statistical category as
related to the principal and type of court-martial;
``(7) the number of offenses which resulted in conviction
at court-martial, disaggregated by statistical category as
related to the principal and type of court-martial; and
``(8) the number of offenses which resulted in acquittal at
court-martial, disaggregated by statistical category as related
to the principal and type of court-martial.
``(c) Submission to Congress.--Not later than April 30 of each year
in which the Secretary of Defense receives reports under subsection
(a), the Secretary of Defense shall forward the reports to the
Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and the House of
Representatives.
``(d) Definitions.--In this section:
``(1) The term `statistical category' means each of the
following categories:
``(A) Race.
``(B) Sex.
``(C) Ethnicity.
``(D) Rank.
``(E) offense enumerated under chapter 47 of this
title (the Uniform Code of Military Justice).
``(2) The term `principal' has the meaning given that term
in section 877 of this title (article 77 of the Uniform Code of
Military Justice).''.
(2) Clerical amendment.--The table of sections at the
beginning of chapter 23 of such title is amended by inserting
after the item relating to section 485 the following new item:
``486. Annual reports on racial and ethnic demographics in the military
justice system.''.
(b) Policy Required.--
(1) Requirement.--Not later than two years after the date
of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall
prescribe a policy requiring information on the race and
ethnicity of accused individuals to be included to the maximum
extent practicable in the annual report required under section
1631 of the Ike Skelton National Defense Authorization Act for
Fiscal Year 2011 (Public Law 111-383; 10 U.S.C. 1561 note).
(2) Exclusion.--The policy prescribed under paragraph (1)
may provide for the exclusion of such information based on
privacy concerns, impacts on accountability efforts, or other
matters of importance as determined and identified in such
policy by the Secretary.
(3) Publicly available.--The Secretary of Defense shall
make publicly available the information described in paragraph
(1), subject to the exclusion of such information pursuant to
paragraph (2).
(4) Sunset.--The requirements of this subsection shall
terminate on May 1, 2028.
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