Harmony’s Law

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2388 To amend the Uniform Code of Military Justice to eliminate the statute of limitations for child abuse offenses, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 29, 2019 Mr. MAST (for himself, Ms. STEVENS, Mr. POSEY, Mr. BILIRAKIS, Mr. GAETZ, Mr. SOTO, Mr. CISNEROS, Ms. KUSTER of New Hampshire, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Mr. DIAZ-BALART, and Mrs. DEMINGS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Serv- ices, and in addition to the Committee on Rules, for a period to be subse- quently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To amend the Uniform Code of Military Justice to eliminate the statute of limitations for child abuse offenses, 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 ‘‘Harmony’s Law’’. 4 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:43 May 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2388.IH H2388 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 2388 IH SEC. 2. ELIMINATION OF STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS FOR 1 CHILD ABUSE OFFENSES. 2 (a) ELIMINATION OF LIMITATION PERIOD.—Sub- 3 paragraph (A) of section 843(b)(2) of title 10, United 4 States Code (article 43(b)(2) of the Uniform Code of Mili- 5 tary Justice), is amended to read as follows: ‘‘(A) A person 6 charged with having committed a child abuse offense 7 against a child may be tried and punished at any time 8 without limitation.’’. 9 (b) APPLICATION.—The amendment made by sub- 10 section (a) shall apply to the prosecution of any child 11 abuse offense (as that term is defined in section 843(b)(2) 12 of title 10, United States Code (article 43(b)(2) of the 13 Uniform Code of Military Justice)) committed before, on, 14 or after the date of the enactment of this Act if the appli- 15 cable limitation period has not yet expired. 16 SEC. 3. PARTICIPATION OF HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 17 IN CASES INVOLVING STATUTE OF LIMITA- 18 TIONS FOR RAPE OR SEXUAL ASSAULT. 19 The Office of General Counsel of the House of Rep- 20 resentatives, under the direction of the Bipartisan Legal 21 Advisory Group established under clause 8(b) of rule II 22 of the Rules of the House of Representatives, is authorized 23 to take steps to protect the institutional interests of the 24 House of Representatives in any case in which the opinion 25 of the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:43 May 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2388.IH H2388 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 2388 IH Forces regarding the statute of limitations for rape or sex- 1 ual assault under U.S. v. Mangahas, No. 17–0434–AF, 2 is invoked in a defendant’s appeal, including filing amicus 3 briefs and providing other support for the position that 4 the prosecution of an individual under the Uniform Code 5 of Military Justice for a rape or sexual assault committed 6 before January 6, 2006, should not be time-barred based 7 on such opinion. 8 SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS 9 FOR RAPE OR SEXUAL ASSAULT. 10 It is the sense of Congress that— 11 (1) the passage of time should not bar the pros- 12 ecution of rape or sexual assault under the Uniform 13 Code of Military Justice; and 14 (2) the prosecution of an individual under such 15 Code for a rape or sexual assault committed before 16 January 6, 2006, should not be time-barred based 17 on the opinion of the United States Court of Ap- 18 peals for the Armed Forces in the case U.S. v. 19 Mangahas. 20 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:43 May 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2388.IH H2388 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS