H.R. 5336 — Introduced in House

I 113th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 5336 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES July 31, 2014 Ms. Duckworth (for herself, Mr. Stivers, Mr. Cuellar, and Ms. Hahn) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services A BILL To establish or integrate an online significant event tracker (SET) system for tracking, reporting, and summarizing exposures of members of the Armed Forces, including members of the reserve components thereof, to traumatic events, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Mental Health Exposure Military Official Record Act of 2014. 2. Purpose The purpose of this Act is to implement a significant event tracker (SET) system to train and enable members of the Armed Forces, including members of the reserve components thereof, to track exposures to traumatic events and address mental health issues during and after service. 3. Definitions In this Act: (1) Unit commander defined The term unit commander means the first individual in the chain of command with authority over the member concerned under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. (2) Reportable event The term reportable event includes— (A) a kinetic combat patrol; (B) witnessed loss of life, dismemberment, or significant physical injury in a combat operation, expeditionary operation, or peacetime regular training; (C) an injury or exposure that may constitute a traumatic brain injury (TBI), including a concussive or mechanical event involving the head that occurs in a combat operation, expeditionary operation, or peacetime regular training; (D) victimization or witnessing of a sexual assault; and (E) any other event determined by the Secretary of Defense to be potentially traumatic to an affected individual. (3) Reserve component The term reserve component means a reserve component of the Armed Forces named in section 10101 of title 10, United States Code. 4. Requirement to implement SET system Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall prescribe regulations to implement the significant event tracker system described under section 5 (in this Act referred to as the SET system). 5. Significant event tracker (SET) system (a) Establishment The Secretary of Defense shall establish a SET system to track, report, and summarize individual exposures to traumatic events for the purpose of enabling former members of the Armed Forces, including members of the reserve components thereof, to show evidence of possible traumatic events incurred during their service. (b) Recording of events (1) Responsibility (A) Unit commanders A unit commander may enter reportable events that affect the entire unit and its members or delegate to a leader of a subunit of the unit commander's command the entry of reportable events affecting the subunit. (B) Individual reporting A unit commander may choose to delegate event reporting to the individual members of units who are employed as short-term, temporary (less than 30 days) detachments and individual augments which, by the nature of their mission, preclude the persistent inclusion in one common reviewing unit. The delegation may be until a predetermined date such as the end of a deployment or on a 30-day basis, as determined by the unit commander. (C) Medical treatment facility A medical treatment facility may directly enter a reportable event affecting a member of the Armed Forces undergoing treatment at such facility for an injury identified by a military medical personnel or as reported by a member of the Armed Forces to such an individual. (D) Military law enforcement Military law enforcement may directly enter a reportable event involving victimization or witnessing of a sexual assault. (E) Reporting of outside incidents The Secretary of Defense shall issue guidance regarding the entry of reportable events involving members of the Armed Forces that occur while in duty status outside of military installations and are initially reported to local non-military law enforcement or non-military medical treatment facilities. (F) Reporting of previous incidents for currently serving servicemembers The Secretary of Defense shall issue guidance regarding the potential entry of past reportable events involving currently serving members of the Armed Forces that occurred earlier in their career. (2) Included information Each entry for a reportable event shall include the following information: (A) Name, date, location, and unit. (B) Duty status. (C) Type of event. (D) Whether a physical injury was sustained as a result, and if so, the extent of such injury. (E) Other information as required by the Secretary of Defense. (c) Verification of events (1) Events reported by individuals (A) In general A reportable event entered by an individual member under subsection (b)(1)(B) shall be reviewed by the unit commander for purposes of verifying, contesting, or denying the event. (B) Verification tools In reviewing reportable events under subparagraph (A), the unit commander shall use all available verification tools, including Department of Defense reports, unit logs, reports from creditable witnesses such as patrol leaders, and any other evidence deemed appropriate by the unit commander. (C) Guidance The Secretary of Defense shall issue guidance designed to ensure that entries submitted to a unit commander for review are handled accurately with discretion and in a timely fashion while recognizing the challenges posed by operational tempo and competing time demands. (2) Events reported by the unit commanders or delegates Reportable events entered by a unit commander or delegate under subsection (b)(1)(A), other than reportable events involving victimization or witnessing of a sexual assault, shall be submitted directly to the respective unit’s commanding officer for review under subsection (d). Reportable events involving victimization or witnessing of a sexual assault shall be submitted directly to the secure central tracking database under subsection (e). (3) Events reported by medical treatment facilities Reportable events entered by medical treatment facilities under subsection (b)(1)(C) shall be submitted directly to the secure central tracking database under subsection (e). (4) Events reported by military law enforcement Reportable events entered by military law enforcement under subsection (b)(1)(D) shall be submitted directly to the secure central tracking database under subsection (e). (d) Command review (1) Authority and responsibility The commanding officer shall have responsibility for reviewing and determining the disposition of a reportable event involving the member submitted pursuant to paragraph (1) or (2) of subsection (c), other than a reportable event involving victimization or witnessing of a sexual assault, and submitting the event and such determination to the secure central tracking database under subsection (e). (2) Disposition The commanding officer shall, in accordance with guidance issued by the Secretary of Defense, assign to each such reportable event one of the following designations: (A) Approved, in the case of clear documentation and verification of the facts and the individual’s exposure. (B) Approved/Contested, in the case of clear documentation and verification of the occurrence of the event, but where the commanding officer has reasonable doubt for approval of the reportable event. (C) Denied/Contested, in the case of questionable documentation or verification, but where the commanding officer has reasonable doubt for denial of the reportable event. (D) Denied, in the case of no clear evidence of the facts or the member's exposure. (3) Non-removal of designation Each reportable entry reviewed under this subsection shall be entered into the secure central tracking database and may not be removed or deleted, regardless of designation. (e) Secure central tracking database (1) Storage of information (A) In general All reportable events shall be submitted to a secure central tracking database, either indirectly pursuant to subsection (d), or directly pursuant to paragraph (3) or (4) of subsection (c) or, in the case of a reportable event involving victimization or witnessing of a sexual assault, paragraph (2) of subsection (c). The database shall serve as the central repository for all reportable events relating to a member of the Armed Forces, including for purposes of preparing the member's official SET record upon separation from service. (B) Treatment of information (i) Classified and sensitive operations The secure central tracking database shall include measures to ensure that information related to classified and sensitive operations is coded so as to document the event without violating operational security concerns. (ii) Sexual assault cases The secure central tracking database shall include measures to ensure that information related to sexual assault cases in the secure central tracking database is coded in order to protect privacy and to correctly reflect the status, and protect the integrity, of ongoing investigations. (iii) Confidentiality of individual records An individual member’s complete SET record and individual entries may not be reviewed by the member's unit commander or the chain of command, and may not be used by anyone for the purpose of evaluating promotion, reenlistment, or assignment issues. (C) Use by medical treatment facilities Medical treatment facilities shall be provided access to the secure central tracking database for purposes of entering reportable events under subsection (b)(1)(C) and consulting for diagnoses. (D) Use by military law enforcement and criminal investigative services Military law enforcement and criminal investigative services shall be provided general access to the secure central tracking database for purposes of entering reportable events under section (b)(1)(D) and to a limited summary for purposes of diagnosing patterns and trends related to crimes committed inside their jurisdiction. The summary shall not include specific information about events, evidence, or individual members, including private personal information such as names and social security numbers. (E) Access to individual records for purposes of military and non-military disciplinary and judicial proceedings (i) In general An individual member’s complete SET record and individual entries may, with the explicit consent of the member, be reviewed, evaluated, and shared with— (I) in the case of a military disciplinary or judicial hearing or proceeding, the member’s military and civilian legal representative or representatives, unit commander, or military judge for the purpose of addressing concerns related to such hearing or proceeding; and (II) in the case of a non-military disciplinary or judicial hearing or proceeding, the member’s civilian legal representative or representatives for the purpose of addressing concerns related to such hearing or proceeding. (ii) Access in cases of mental incapacity The Secretary of Defense shall provide guidance for questions related to the accessing a servicemember’s SET record for servicemembers who have been determined to be mentally incapable and thus are unable to provide their own consent or objection to the release of personal information. (F) Unit commander review (i) In general Except as provided in clause (ii), unit commanders may only view individual pending entries that have been submitted to them for review and designation, and may not view previous entries that have already been reviewed and designated. (ii) Administrative access Unit commanders may only access entries that have already been reviewed, designated, and entered into the secure central database by that individual commander in order to correct roster entries for subunits, provide additional post-incident documentation, or take such other administrative actions as may be determined appropriate by the Secretary of Defense. In no instance may such access permit the removal of any entry, regardless of designation. (G) Statistical analysis and evaluation of unit commanders (i) Information sharing The Secretary of Defense shall issue guidance governing the sharing of SET entry statistics among unit commands and other Department of Defense individuals, offices, activities, and agencies for purposes of analyzing the number and types of entries generated over time. Information so shared may not include specific information about events, evidence, or individual members, including private personal information such as names and social security numbers. (ii) Evaluation on unit commanders Unit commanders may not be evaluated by their superiors for the number and types of entries generated by their command, but may be evaluated by their superior officer in the chain of command for the speed and accuracy of their entries, and the review of their entries. (H) Additional limitations on access No non-Department of Defense agencies, organizations, or individuals, such as veterans’ service organizations, local law enforcement, judicial courts, or civilian medical treatment facilities, shall be granted access to the secure central tracking database. Department of Defense medical officers may only review an individual member’s entire SET record for the medical purposes set forth in subsection (e)(2)(A) and such other purposes as may be determined appropriate by the Secretary of Defense. (2) Distribution and control (A) Pre-discharge (i) Medical retirements In the case of a member of the Armed Services preparing for medical retirement due to injury or other conditions, the official SET record shall be provided to and used by the Medical Evaluation Board or Physical Evaluation Board. (ii) Non-medical discharges and retirements In the case of a member of the Armed Services preparing for a non-medical discharge or retirement, the official SET record shall be reviewed by the medical officer of the member’s parent unit and serve as the basis for any follow-on actions as determined by the medical officer. (iii) Benefits Delivery at Discharge Claims In the case of a member of the Armed Services initiating a Benefits Delivery at Discharge (BDD) claim, the BDD Specialist shall be provided with the official SET record in order to file a fully developed claim for the member. (B) Upon discharge Upon a member's separation from service in the Armed Forces, including a member of a reserve component thereof, copies of the member's official SET record, including a compilation of all reported events and a summary prepared by an authorizing agent with cleared access to the secure central tracking database, shall be distributed in accordance with the procedures of the military service in which the individual served, including copies to the following recipients: (i) The separating member. (ii) The separating member's Service Personnel and Medical File, or other relevant record as determined under the Secretary of Defense's guidance. (iii) The Department of Veterans Affairs, and if specifically designated by the member, the veteran affairs agency of the State that is the separating member's relevant home of record or intended new residence and such other veterans service organization as may be designated by the member. 6. Authorization of appropriations There are authorized to be appropriated out of funds available to the Department of Defense such sums as may be necessary for fiscal year 2015 and fiscal years thereafter to carry out activities under this Act. 7. Rule of construction Nothing in this Act shall be construed as limiting the ability of current and former members of the Armed Forces to provide documentation other than the SET record, including handwritten statements, for purposes of appealing, documenting, or presenting evidence related to post traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injury claims.