[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1670 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1670

 To amend title 10, United States Code, to require that advance notice 
of the results of any Department of Defense review of the circumstances 
surrounding the death of a member of the armed forces by friendly fire 
be given to the primary next of kin of the member before public release 
                             of the review.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 23, 2007

Ms. Zoe Lofgren of California introduced the following bill; which was 
              referred to the Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend title 10, United States Code, to require that advance notice 
of the results of any Department of Defense review of the circumstances 
surrounding the death of a member of the armed forces by friendly fire 
be given to the primary next of kin of the member before public release 
                             of the review.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. ADVANCE NOTICE TO PRIMARY NEXT OF KIN OF RESULTS OF 
              DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE REVIEW OF FRIENDLY FIRE DEATHS.

    (a) Advance Notice .--Subchapter I of chapter 75 of title 10, 
United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new 
section:
``Sec. 1472. Members killed in action by friendly fire: advance notice 
              to primary next of kin of results of Department review
    ``(a) Advance Notice Required.--In the case of a review conducted 
by the Department of Defense regarding the circumstances surrounding 
the death of a member of the armed forces who is killed in action by 
weapon fire while directly engaged in armed conflict, other than as the 
result of an act of an enemy of the United States, the Secretary of 
Defense shall ensure that, at a minimum, a summary of the results of 
the review are provided to the primary next of kin of the member at 
least 24 hours before the results of the review (or a summary thereof) 
are released to the public. The primary next of kin may waive the 
notice requirement under this subsection to expedite the public release 
of the results of the review.
    ``(b) Primary Next of Kin Defined.--In this section, the term 
`primary next of kin' means the individual authorized to direct 
disposition of the remains of a member under section 1482(c) of this 
title.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the beginning of 
such subchapter is amended by adding at the end the following new item:

``1472. Members killed in action by friendly fire: advance notice to 
                            primary next of kin of results of 
                            Department review.''.
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