S.Amdt. 4100

SA 4100. Mrs. ERNST submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by
her to the bill S. 2943, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year
2017 for military activities of the Department of Defense, for military
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy,
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

Strike section 549 and insert the following:

SEC. 549. CAREER MILITARY JUSTICE LITIGATION TRACK FOR JUDGE
ADVOCATES.

(a) Career Litigation Track Required.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary of each military department
shall establish a career military justice litigation track
for judge advocates in the Armed Forces under the
jurisdiction of the Secretary.
(2) Consultation.--The Secretary of the Army and the
Secretary of the Air Force shall establish the litigation
track required by this section in consultation with the Judge
Advocate General of the Army and the Judge Advocate General
of the Air Force, respectively. The Secretary of the Navy
shall establish the litigation track in consultation with the
Judge Advocate General of the Navy and the Staff Judge
Advocate to the Commandant of the Marine Corps.
(b) Elements.--Each career litigation track under this
section shall provide for the following:
(1) Assignment and advancement of qualified judge advocates
in and through assignments and billets relating to the
practice of military justice under chapter 47 of title 10,
United States Code (the Uniform Code of Military Justice).

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(2) Establishing for each Armed Force the assignments and
billets covered by paragraph (1), which shall include trial
counsel, defense counsel, military trial judge, military
appellate judge, academic instructor, all positions within
criminal law offices or divisions of such Armed Force,
Special Victims Prosecutor, Victims' Legal Counsel, Special
Victims' Counsel, and such other positions as the Secretary
of the military department concerned shall specify.
(3) For judge advocates participating in such litigation
track, mechanisms as follows:
(A) To prohibit a judge advocate from more than a total of
four years of duty or assignments outside such litigation
track
(B) To prohibit any adverse assessment of a judge advocate
so participating by reason of such participation in the
promotion of officers through grade O-6 (or such higher grade
as the Secretary of the military department concerned shall
specify for purposes of such litigation track).
(4) Such additional requirements and qualifications for the
litigation track as the Secretary of the military department
concerned considers appropriate, including requirements and
qualifications that take into account the unique personnel
needs and requirement of an Armed Force.
(c) Implementation Deadline.--Each Secretary of a military
department shall implement the career litigation track
required by this section for the Armed Forces under the
jurisdiction of such Secretary by not later than 18 months
after the date of the enactment of this Act.
(d) Report.--Not later than one year after the date of the
enactment of this Act, each Secretary of a military
department shall submit to the Committees on Armed Services
of the Senate and the House of Representatives a report on
the progress of such Secretary in implementing the career
litigation track required under this section for the Armed
Forces under the jurisdiction of such Secretary.
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