[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 22 (Thursday, February 6, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Page S2053]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. NELSON of Florida:
  S. 326. A bill to amend the Uniform Code of Military Justice to apply 
to prosecutions of child abuse cases in courts-martial an extended 
statute of limitations applicable to prosecutions of child abuse cases 
in United States District Courts, and for other purposes; to the 
Committee on Armed Forces.
  Mr. NELSON of Florida. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce 
legislation to close a gaping loophole in the Victims of Child Abuse 
Act that currently ties the hands of military prosecutors.
  Congress passed the Victims of Child Abuse Act to extend the statute 
of limitations for prosecuting offenses involving the sexual or 
physical abuse of minor children. But the military's highest court 
recently said the VCCA's extended statute of limitations doesn't apply 
to courts martial.
  Because Congress did not expressly address the relationship of this 
provision to the Uniform Code of Military Justice serious crimes 
against children are now out of military prosecutors' reach.
  This loophole became tragically apparent to me after I was contacted 
by the father of a young girl who was sexually abused by a member of 
the military. The victim's father called my office to express his 
frustration that the Air Force couldn't properly prosecute the man for 
molesting his daughter over a 7-year period. The military couldn't 
convict the offender on the worst counts levied against him because of 
the insufficient 5-year statute of limitations provided by the Uniform 
Code of Military Justice.
  Air Force prosecutors originally used the extended statute of 
limitations provided by the Victims of Child Abuse Act to convict the 
defendant of several crimes, but the most serious convictions were 
overturned by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces which 
determined that the shorter statute of limitations provided by the UCMJ 
applied to the case instead of the extended prosecution period provided 
by the VCAA.
  The Court's narrow interpretation of the VCAA means this sex offender 
will do a very short sentence at best, even though he abused this young 
girl for years.
  The bill I introduce today is designed to ensure that kids aren't 
denied justice just because the defendant happens to be a member of the 
military. Military prosecutors need the power to put these criminals 
away for a long time.
  The statute of limitations provided by the VCAA allows prosecutions 
until the victim's 25th birthday. My bill clarifies that the VCAA's 
statute of limitations applies to courts martial whenever a case arises 
involving the sexual or physical abuse of a child.
  Child victims of sexual crimes sometimes struggle to come to terms 
with the crimes committed against them and often are not willing, or 
able, to bring the crime to the attention of authorities until they are 
much older. Applying the longer statute of limitations provided by the 
VCAA to courts martial will allow military prosecutors to throw the 
book at sexual predators.
  I strongly urge my colleagues to support this simple, but very 
important, change to the law. Our kids deserve this protection and we 
should give it to them without delay.
  I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                 S. 326

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

     SECTION 1. EXTENDED LIMITATION PERIOD FOR PROSECUTION OF 
                   CHILD ABUSE CASES IN COURTS-MARTIAL.

       Section 843(b) of title 10, United States Code (article 43 
     of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, is amended by adding 
     at the end the following new paragraph:
       ``(3) Section 3283 of title 18, relating to an extension of 
     a period of limitation for prosecution of an offense 
     involving sexual or physical abuse of a child under the age 
     of 18 years, shall apply to liability of a person for trial 
     for such an offense by a court-martial and liability of a 
     person for punishment for such an offense under section 815 
     of this title (article 15).''.
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