Sec. 1313. Women, peace, and security act implementation at military service academies

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It is the sense of Congress that $15,000,000 should annually be made available for activities that are— consistent with the Women, Peace, and Security Act of 2017 ( Public Law 115–68 ; 131 Stat. 1202) and this section; and in furtherance of the national security priorities of the United States. The Secretary of Defense shall carry out activities consistent with the Women, Peace, and Security Act of 2017 and with this section, including by ensuring that professional military education curriculum addresses— gender analysis; the meaningful participation of women in national security activities; and the relationship between such participation and security outcomes.

The Secretary of Defense shall encourage the admission of diverse individuals (including individuals who are women) to each military service academy, including by— establishing programs that hold commanding officers accountable for removing biases with respect to such individuals; ensuring that each military service academy fosters a zero tolerance environment for harassment towards such individuals; and ensuring that each military service academy fosters equal opportunities for growth that enable the full participation of such individuals in all training programs, career tracks, and elements of the Department, especially in elements of the Armed Forces previously closed to women, such as infantry and special operations forces.

The Secretary of Defense shall seek to enter into partnerships with elementary schools, secondary schools, postsecondary educational institutions, and nonprofit organizations, to support activities relating to the implementation of the Women, Peace, and Security Act of 2017. Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency shall provide to the appropriate committees of Congress a briefing on efforts made at all levels to build partner defense institution and security force capacity pursuant to this section.

In this subsection: The term appropriate committees of Congress includes— the Committee on Armed Services, the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives; and the Committee on Armed Services, the Committee on Foreign Relations, and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate. The terms elementary school and secondary school have the meanings given those terms in section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 ( 20 U.S.C. 7801 ).

The term military service academy means the following: The United States Military Academy. The United States Naval Academy. The United States Air Force Academy. The United States Coast Guard Academy. The term postsecondary educational institution has the meaning given that term in section 3 of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 ( 20 U.S.C. 2302 ). The Secretary of Defense shall carry out activities consistent with the Women, Peace, and Security Act of 2017 and this section, including by— hiring and training of full-time equivalent personnel as gender advisors of the Department; building on the implementation of the requirements of section 1210E of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 ( 10 U.S.C. 113 note) by establishing roles, responsibilities, and requirements for personnel to advance implementation of the Women, Peace, and Security Act of 2017, which efforts should include attention to commander and senior official-level engagement and support for women, peace, and security commitments; integrating gender analysis, the meaningful participation of women, and their relationship to security outcomes into relevant training for all members of the Armed Forces and civilian employees of the Department of Defense, including special emphasis on senior level training and support for women, peace, and security; developing standardized training across the Department for gender advisors, gender focal points, and women, peace, and security subject matter experts; ensuring that gender analysis and the meaningful participation of women and their relationship to security outcomes is addressed in professional military education curriculum; and building the capacity of the Department to conduct the partner country assessments described in section 1210E(b)(2) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021.

The Secretary of State, in coordination with the Secretary of Defense— shall direct and carry out a pilot program to conduct partner country assessments in each country selected in accordance with paragraph

(2)with respect to the barriers facing the participation of women in the national security forces of participating partner countries (in this subsection referred to as a pilot barrier assessment ); should seek to enter into contracts with nonprofit organizations or federally funded research and development centers independent of the Department of State and Department of Defense for the purpose of conducting the pilot barrier assessments; and shall, after a pilot barrier assessment is conducted— review the methods of research and analysis used by any entity contracted with pursuant to subparagraph

(B)in conducting such assessment and identify lessons learned from the review; and assess the ability of the Department of State and Department of Defense to conduct future pilot barrier assessments without entering into a contract described subparagraph (B), including by assessing potential costs and benefits for the Department that may arise from conducting such future assessments without such contracts. The Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense, commanders of the combatant commands, and relevant United States ambassadors, shall select one partner country from within the geographic area of responsibility of each geographic combatant command for participation in the pilot program, taking into consideration in each instance— the demonstrated political commitment of a partner country to increasing the participation of women in the security sector; and the national security priorities and theater campaign strategies of the United States. A pilot barrier assessment pursuant to this subsection shall be— adapted to the local context of the partner country being assessed; conducted in collaboration with the security sector of the partner country being assessed; and based on existing and tested methodologies. The Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense, shall use findings from each pilot barrier assessment to inform effective security cooperation activities and security sector assistance interventions by the United States in the partner country assessed. Such activities and interventions should substantially increase opportunities for the recruitment, employment, development, retention, deployment, and promotion of women in the national security forces of such partner country (including for deployments to peace operations and for participation in counterterrorism operations and activities). The Secretary of State, in coordination with the Secretary of Defense, shall develop a model barrier assessment methodology from the findings of the pilot program for use across the geographic combatant commands. Not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, in coordination with the Secretary of Defense, shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress an initial report on the implementation of the pilot program under this subsection, including an identification of the partner counties selected for participation in the program and the justifications for such selections. Not later than 2 years after the date on which the initial report under subparagraph

(A)is submitted, the Secretary of State, in coordination with the Secretary of Defense, shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress an update to the initial report. On the date on which the Secretary of State determines the pilot program to be complete, the Secretary of State, in coordination with the Secretary of Defense, shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report on the model barrier assessment methodology developed pursuant to paragraph (4)(B). For purposes of this paragraph, the term appropriate committees of Congress means— the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives; and the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate.

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