Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Foreign Overseas Residence Conditions Enhancement Act” or the “FORCE Act”.
Foreign Overseas Residence Conditions Enhancement Act
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.
Sec. 2 Findings
Congress finds the following:
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.
The Department of Defense also does not have complete visibility into the funding needed for construction and maintenance of unaccompanied housing facilities.
The Department of Defense does not conduct sufficient oversight needed to address long-standing challenges with conditions in barracks.
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.
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
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:
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).
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.
An assessment to determine the funding needed to apply the standards for habitability described in paragraph (2) to such housing.
An assessment of how habitability standards and the condition of such housing affect force readiness, broken down by combatant command.
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.