[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7419 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7419

 To require the Secretary of Defense to submit a report on the quality 
   of overseas covered military unaccompanied housing, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 20, 2024

 Mrs. Kiggans of Virginia (for herself and Ms. Jacobs) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To require the Secretary of Defense to submit a report on the quality 
   of overseas covered military unaccompanied housing, and for other 
                               purposes.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Foreign Overseas Residence 
Conditions Enhancement Act'' or the ``FORCE Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) According to a September 2023 Government Accountability 
        Office report (23-107038) that surveyed 31 military 
        installations within the United States, the Department of 
        Defense does not reliably assess the conditions of barracks on 
        installations, many of which are substandard and pose 
        potentially serious health and safety risks to residents.
            (2) The Department of Defense also does not have complete 
        visibility into the funding needed for construction and 
        maintenance of unaccompanied housing facilities.
            (3) The Department of Defense does not conduct sufficient 
        oversight needed to address long-standing challenges with 
        conditions in barracks.
            (4) The purview of this report related to barracks on 
        installations within the United States, but did not survey any 
        overseas barracks facilities operated by the Department of 
        Defense.
            (5) It is the opinion of Congress that American 
        servicemembers deserve the highest possible quality of 
        residential facilities that do not endanger mission readiness 
        or capability.

SEC. 3. REPORT ON OVERSEAS COVERED MILITARY UNACCOMPANIED HOUSING.

    (a) Report Requirements.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the 
Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and House of Representatives 
a report on the quality of all covered military unaccompanied housing 
not located in the United States that shall include the following:
            (1) The results of an evaluation the condition of such 
        housing using the uniform index developed under section 2838 of 
        the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024 
        (Public Law 118-31).
            (2) A explanation of how the standards for habitability 
        established under section 2856b of title 10, United States Code 
        (as added by section 2832 of the National Defense Authorization 
        Act for Fiscal Year 2024 (Public Law 118-31)), are applied to 
        such housing.
            (3) An assessment to determine the funding needed to apply 
        the standards for habitability described in paragraph (2) to 
        such housing.
            (4) An assessment of how habitability standards and the 
        condition of such housing affect force readiness, broken down 
        by combatant command.
    (b) Covered Military Unaccompanied Housing Defined.--In this 
subsection, the term ``covered military unaccompanied housing'' has the 
meaning given in section 2856 of title 10, United States Code.
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