#aacth ,,congress  #b;d ,session  ,s4   
#aiag  ,,an ,,act  ,to provide for      
additional enhancements of the sexual   
assault prevention and response         
activities of the ,armed ,forces4  #a4  
,short title ,this ,act may be cited as 
the ,victims ,protection ,act of #bjad4 
#b4 ,inclusion of senior trial counsel  
determinations on referral of cases to  
trial by court-martial in cases reviewed
 by ,secretaries of military departments
 ,section #agdd of the ,national        
,defense ,authorization ,act for ,fiscal
 ,year #bjad is amended-- 7#a7 in       
subsection 7c7-- 7,a7 in the subsection 
heading1 by inserting or senior trial   
counsel after staff judge advocate2 and 
7,b7 by inserting or the senior trial   
counsel detailed to the case after      
,military ,justice712 and  7#b7 in      
subsection 7d7-- 7,a7 in the subsection 
heading1 by inserting or senior trial   
counsel after staff judge advocate2 and 
7,b7 by inserting or the senior trial   
counsel detailed to the case after      

,military ,justice714  #c4 ,additional  
enhancements of military department     
actions on sexual assault prevention and
 response  7a7 ,additional duty of      
,special ,victims' ,counsel ,in addition
 to any duties authorized by section    
#ajdd;e of title #aj1 ,united ,states   
,code 7as added by section #agaf of the 
,national ,defense ,authorization ,act  
for ,fiscal ,year #bjad71 a ,special    
,victims' ,counsel designated under     
subsection 7a7 of such section #ajdd;e  
shall provide advice to victims of      
sexual assault on the advantages and    
disadvantages of prosecution of the     
offense concerned by court-martial or by
 a civilian court with jurisdiction over
 the offense before such victims express
 their preference as to the prosecution 
of the offense under subsection 7b74    
7b7 ,consultation with victims regarding
 preference in prosecution of certain   
sexual offenses  7#a7 ,in general ,the  
,secretaries of the military departments
 shall each establish a process to      

ensure consultation with the victim of a
 covered sexual offense that occurs in  
the ,united ,states with respect to the 
victim's preference as to whether the   
offense should be prosecuted by         
court-martial or by a civilian court    
with jurisdiction over the offense4     
7#b7 ,weight afforded preference ,the   
preference expressed by a victim under  
paragraph 7#a7 with respect to the      
prosecution of an offense1 while not    
binding1 should be afforded great weight
 in the determination whether to        
prosecute the offense by court-martial  
or by a civilian court4  7#c7 ,notice to
 victim of lack of civilian criminal    
prosecution after preference for such   
prosecution ,in the event a victim      
expresses a preference under paragraph  
7#a7 in favor of prosecution of an      
offence by civilian court and the       
civilian authorities determine to       
decline prosecution1 or defer to        
prosecution by court-martial1 the victim
 shall be promptly notified of that     

determination4  7c7 ,performance        
appraisals of members of the ,armed     
,forces  7#a7 ,appraisals of all members
 on compliance with sexual assault      
prevention and response programs ,the   
,secretaries of the military departments
 shall each ensure that the written     
performance appraisals of members of the
 ,armed ,forces 7whether officers or    
enlisted members7 under the jurisdiction
 of such ,secretary include an          
assessment of the extent to which each  
such member supports the sexual assault 
prevention and response program of the  
,armed ,force concerned4  7#b7          
,performance appraisals of commanding   
officers ,the ,secretaries of the       
military departments shall each ensure  
that the performance appraisals of      
commanding officers under the           
jurisdiction of such ,secretary indicate
 the extent to which each such          
commanding officer has or has not       
established a command climate in which--
 7,a7 allegations of sexual assault are 

properly managed and fairly evaluated2  
and  7,b7 a victim can report criminal  
activity1 including sexual assault1     
without fear of retaliation1 including  
ostracism and group pressure from other 
members of the command4  7d7 ,command   
climate assessments following incidents 
of certain sexual offenses  7#a7        
,assessments required ,the ,secretaries 
of the military departments shall each  
establish a process whereby a command   
climate assessment is performed         
following an incident involving a       
covered sexual offense for each of the  
command of the accused and the command  
of the victim4 ,if the accused and the  
victim are within the same command1 only
 a single climate assessment is         
required4 ,the process shall ensure the 
timely completion of command climate    
assessments for provision to military   
criminal investigation organizations and
 commanders pursuant to paragraph 7#b74 
7#b7 ,provision to military criminal    
investigation organizations and         

commanders ,a command climate assessment
 performed pursuant to paragraph 7#a7   
shall be provided to the following3 7,a7
 ,the military criminal investigation   
organization conducting the             
investigation of the offense concerned4 
7,b7 ,the commander next higher in the  
chain of command of the command covered 
by the climate assessment4  7e7         
,confidential review of characterization
 of terms of discharge of victims of    
sexual offenses  7#a7 ,in general ,the  
,secretaries of the military departments
 shall each establish a confidential    
process1 through boards for the         
correction of military records of the   
military department concerned1 by which 
an individual who was the victim of a   
covered sexual offense during service in
 the ,armed ,forces may challenge1 on   
the basis of being the victim of such an
 offense1 the terms or characterization 
of the individual's discharge or        
separation from the ,armed ,forces4     
7#b7 ,consideration of individual       

experiences in connection with offenses 
,in deciding whether to modify the terms
 or characterization of an individual's 
discharge or separation pursuant to the 
process required by paragraph 7#a71 the 
,secretary of the military department   
concerned shall instruct boards to give 
due consideration to the psychological  
and physical aspects of the individual's
 experience in connection with the      
offense concerned1 and to what bearing  
such experience may have had on the     
circumstances surrounding the           
individual's discharge or separation    
from the ,armed ,forces4  7#c7          
,preservation of confidentiality        
,documents considered and decisions     
rendered pursuant to the process        
required by paragraph 7#a7 shall not be 
made available to the public1 except    
with the consent of the individual      
concerned4  7f7 ,covered sexual offense 
defined ,in subsections 7a7 through 7e71
 the term covered sexual offense means  
any of the following3 7#a7 ,rape or     

sexual assault under subsection 7a7 or  
7b7 of section #ibj of title #aj1       
,united ,states ,code 7article #abj of  
the ,uniform ,code of ,military         
,justice74  7#b7 ,forcible sodomy under 
section #ibe of title #aj1 ,united      
,states ,code 7article #abe of the      
,uniform ,code of ,military ,justice74  
7#c7 ,an attempt to commit an offense   
specified in paragraph 7#a7 or 7#b7 as  
punishable under section #hhj of title  
#aj1 ,united ,states ,code 7article #hj 
of the ,uniform ,code of ,military      
,justice74  7g7 ,modification of        
,military ,rules of ,evidence relating  
to admissibility of general military    
character toward probability of         
innocence ,not later than #ahj days     
after the date of the enactment of this 
,act1 ,rule #djd7;a7 of the ,military   
,rules of ,evidence shall be modified to
 clarify that the general military      
character of an accused is not          
admissible for the purpose of showing   
the probability of innocence of the     

accused1 except that evidence of a trait
 of the military character of an accused
 may be offered in evidence by the      
accused when that trait is relevant to  
an element of an offense for which the  
accused has been charged4  #d4          
,applicability of sexual assault        
prevention and response and related     
military justice enhancements to        
military service academies  7a7         
,military service academies ,the        
,secretary of the military department   
concerned shall ensure that the         
provisions of title ,,xvii of the       
,national ,defense ,authorization ,act  
for ,fiscal ,year #bjad 7as amended by  
this ,act7 and this ,act apply to the   
,united ,states ,military ,academy1 the 
,naval ,academy1 and the ,air ,force    
,academy1 as applicable4  7b7 ,coast    
,guard ,academy ,the ,secretary of      
,homeland ,security shall ensure that   
the provisions of title ,,xvii of the   
,national ,defense ,authorization ,act  
for ,fiscal ,year #bjad 7as so amended7 

and this ,act apply to the ,coast ,guard
 ,academy4  #e4 ,collaboration between  
the ,department of ,defense and the     
,department of ,justice in efforts to   
prevent and respond to sexual assault   
7a7 ,strategic framework on             
collaboration required ,not later than  
#bgj days after the date of the         
enactment of this ,act1 the ,secretary  
of ,defense and the ,attorney ,general  
shall jointly develop a strategic       
framework for ongoing collaboration     
between the ,department of ,defense and 
the ,department of ,justice in their    
efforts to prevent and respond to sexual
 assault4 ,the framework shall be based 
on and include the following3 7#a7 ,an  
assessment of the role of the           
,department of ,justice in              
investigations and prosecutions of      
sexual assault cases in which the       
,department of ,defense and the         
,department of ,justice have concurrent 
jurisdiction1 with the assessment to    
include a review of and list of         

recommended revisions to relevant       
,memoranda of ,understanding and related
 documents between the ,department of   
,justice and the ,department of         
,defense4  7#b7 ,an assessment of the   
feasibility of establishing the position
 of advisor on military sexual assaults 
within the ,department of ,justice      
7using existing ,department resources   
and personnel7 to assist in the         
activities required under paragraph 7#a7
 and provide to the ,department of      
,defense investigative and other        
assistance in sexual assault cases      
occurring on domestic and overseas      
military installations over which the   
,department of ,defense has primary     
jurisdiction1 with the assessment to    
address the feasibility of maintaining  
representatives or designees of the     
advisor at military installations for   
the purpose of reviewing cases of sexual
 assault and providing assistance with  
the investigation and prosecution of    
sexual assaults4  7#c7 ,an assessment of

 the number of unsolved sexual assault  
cases that have occurred on military    
installations1 and a plan1 with         
appropriate benchmarks1 to review those 
cases using currently available civilian
 and military law enforcement resources1
 such as new technology and forensics   
information4  7#d7 ,a strategy to       
leverage efforts by the ,department of  
,defense and the ,department of         
,justice-- 7,a7 to improve the quality  
of investigations1 prosecutions1        
specialized training1 services to       
victims1 awareness1 and prevention      
regarding sexual assault2 and  7,b7 to  
address social conditions that relate to
 sexual assault4  7#e7 ,mechanisms to   
promote information sharing and best    
practices between the ,department of    
,defense and the ,department of ,justice
 on prevention and response to sexual   
assault1 including victim assistance    
through the ,violence against ,women    
,act and ,office for ,victims of ,crime 
programs of the ,department of ,justice4

  7b7 ,report ,the ,secretary of        
,defense and the ,attorney ,general     
shall jointly submit to the appropriate 
committees of ,congress a report on the 
framework required by subsection 7a74   
,the report shall-- 7#a7 describe the   
manner in which the ,department of      
,defense and ,department of ,justice    
will collaborate on an ongoing basis    
under the framework2  7#b7 explain      
obstacles to implementing the framework2
 and  7#c7 identify changes in laws     
necessary to achieve the purpose of this
 section4  7c7 ,appropriate committees  
of ,congress defined ,in this section1  
the term appropriate committees of      
,congress means-- 7#a7 the ,committee on
 ,armed ,services and the ,committee on 
the ,judiciary of the ,senate2 and  7#b7
 the ,committee on ,armed ,services and 
the ,committee on the ,judiciary of the 
,house of ,representatives4  #f4        
,modification of deadline for report on 
need for punitive ,,ucmj article on     
inappropriate contact with prospective  

and new members of the ,armed ,forces   
,section #agda7;d7 of the ,national     
,defense ,authorization ,act for ,fiscal
 ,year #bjad is amended by striking #abj
 days and inserting #fj days4  #g4      
,sense of ,senate on independent panel  
on review and assessment on response    
systems to sexual assault crimes ,it is 
the sense of the ,senate that-- 7#a7 the
 panel to review and assess the systems 
used to respond to sexual assault       
established by section #egf of the      
,national ,defense ,authorization ,act  
for ,fiscal ,year #bjac 7,public ,law   
#aab-bci2 #abf ,stat4 #ageh7 is         
conducting an independent assessment of 
the systems used to investigate1        
prosecute1 and adjudicate crimes        
involving adult sexual assault and      
related offenses2  7#b7 the work of the 
panel will be critical in informing the 
efforts of ,congress to combat rape1    
sexual assault1 and other sex-related   
crimes in the ,armed ,forces2  7#c7 the 
panel should include in its assessment  

under subsection 7d77#a7 of section #egf
 of the ,national ,defense              
,authorization ,act for ,fiscal ,year   
#bjac a review of the reforms that will 
be enacted pursuant to title ,,xvii of  
the ,national ,defense ,authorization   
,act for ,fiscal ,year #bjad 7as amended
 by this ,act7 and this ,act2 and  7#d7 
the views of the victim advocate        
community should continue to be         
well-represented on the panel1 and input
 from victims should continue to play a 
central role in informing the work of   
the panel4  ,passed the ,senate ,march  
#aj1 #bjad4,secretary