Representation for Exceptional Military Families Act

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4021 To amend title 10, United States Code, to establish the Exceptional Family Member Program Advisory Council of the Department of Defense, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 17, 2021 Mr. WILSON of South Carolina (for himself and Mrs. LURIA) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services A BILL To amend title 10, United States Code, to establish the Exceptional Family Member Program Advisory Council of the Department of Defense, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Representation for Ex- 4 ceptional Military Families Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:59 Jul 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4021.IH H4021 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4021 IH SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF EXCEPTIONAL FAMILY MEM- 1 BER PROGRAM ADVISORY COUNCIL. 2 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Chapter 7 of title 10, United 3 States Code, is amended by inserting before section 187 4 the following new section 186: 5 ‘‘§ 186. Exceptional Family Member Program Advi- 6 sory Council 7 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is an Exceptional 8 Family Member Program Advisory Council in the Depart- 9 ment of Defense (in this section referred to as the ‘Coun- 10 cil’). 11 ‘‘(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Council is to 12 provide, to the Subcommittees on Military Personnel of 13 the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and 14 House of Representatives, the Secretary of Defense, and 15 the chiefs of the covered armed forces, recommendations 16 regarding how to improve the Exceptional Family Member 17 Program. The Council shall provide such recommenda- 18 tions not less than once every six months. 19 ‘‘(c) COMPOSITION.—The Council shall be composed 20 of the following: 21 ‘‘(1) One member of each covered armed 22 force— 23 ‘‘(A) serving on active duty; 24 ‘‘(B) who has a dependent— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:59 Jul 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4021.IH H4021 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4021 IH ‘‘(i) enrolled in the Exceptional Fam- 1 ily Member Program; and 2 ‘‘(ii) with an individualized education 3 program; and 4 ‘‘(C) appointed by the Vice Chief of Staff 5 of the covered armed force concerned. 6 ‘‘(2) Two military spouses— 7 ‘‘(A) of members eligible to be appointed 8 under paragraph (1); 9 ‘‘(B) who are not civilian employees of the 10 Department of Defense; 11 ‘‘(C) one of whom is married to an enlisted 12 member and one of whom is married to an offi- 13 cer; and 14 ‘‘(D) appointed by the Vice Chief of Staff 15 of the covered armed force concerned. 16 ‘‘(3) One adult dependent— 17 ‘‘(A) enrolled in the Exceptional Family 18 Member Program; and 19 ‘‘(B) appointed by the Vice Chief of Staff 20 of the covered armed force concerned. 21 ‘‘(4) One representative of the Exceptional 22 Family Member Program Coalition. 23 ‘‘(5) One member of the Defense Health Agen- 24 cy. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:59 Jul 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4021.IH H4021 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4021 IH ‘‘(6) One member of the Department of De- 1 fense Education Activity. 2 ‘‘(7) One member of the Office of Special 3 Needs. 4 ‘‘(d) APPOINTMENTS.—In making appointments 5 under subsection (c), the Vice Chief of Staff of the covered 6 armed force concerned shall seek to represent the diversity 7 of the disability community. 8 ‘‘(e) TERMS.—Each member of the Council shall 9 serve a term of two years, except one of the original mem- 10 bers appointed under subsection (c)(2), selected by the 11 Secretary of Defense at the time of appointment, shall be 12 appointed for a term of three years. 13 ‘‘(f) MEETINGS.—The Council shall meet at least 14 once every calendar quarter, in person or by teleconfer- 15 ence. 16 ‘‘(g) COVERED ARMED FORCE DEFINED.—In this 17 section, the term ‘covered armed force’ means an armed 18 force under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of a military 19 department.’’. 20 (b) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 21 (1) TABLE OF SECTIONS.—The table of sections 22 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by in- 23 serting before the item relating to section 187 the 24 following new item: 25 ‘‘186. Exceptional Family Member Program Advisory Council.’’. VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:59 Jul 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\H4021.IH H4021 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4021 IH (2) TERMINATION OF ADVISORY PANEL ON 1 COMMUNITY SUPPORT FOR MILITARY FAMILIES WITH 2 SPECIAL NEEDS.—Section 563 of the National De- 3 fense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 (Pub- 4 lic Law 111–84; 10 U.S.C. 1781c note) is amended 5 by striking subsection (d). 6 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:59 Jul 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4021.IH H4021 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS