Turner, Andrews joined by full House Armed Services Committee in call for action on military child custody

Congressmen Mike Turner (OH-3) and Rob Andrews (NJ-1) have sent a letter to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, requesting his support for protecting the child custody rights of our men and women in uniform.

The lawmakers were joined by every member of the House Armed Services Committee in supporting the request. Legislative language addressing this issue has passed the House of Representatives on six separate occasions.

“Our men and women in uniform sacrifice much in the service of our nation. They shouldn’t also have to live with the constant fear that their custody rights as parents could be in jeopardy due to their service. This legislation would ensure that being deployed, or the possibility of deployed is not used against them when child custody decisions are made by the courts,” said Turner.

Specifically, the Servicemember Family Protection Act (H.R. 4201) would amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to provide for the protection of child custody arrangements for parents who are deployed in support of a contingency operation.

"If a motion for change of custody of a child of a servicemember is filed while they are deployed, no court may modify or amend a previous child custody judgment, except if there is clear and convincing evidence that it is in the best interest of the child. The bill also prohibits any court from considering a member's past absence due to deployment, or possible future deployment, in support of a contingency operation in determining child custody disputes.

“The parental rights of our men and women in uniform should not be jeopardized simply because they made the meaningful and courageous decision to protect our freedoms,” said Andrews. “We must ensure that when custody decisions are rendered that they made in accordance with the child’s best interest rather than based solely on a parent’s absence due to his or her military service.”

In 2011, both Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Clifford Stanley, provided letters of support for the legislation. “As we move forward with the current legislative session, we look forward to the same level of support from the DoD in addressing this important issue and ensuring that our men and women in uniform have their parental rights protected,” wrote the lawmakers.

The full text of Congressmen Turner and Andrew’s letter follows:

Mr. Leon Panetta
Secretary of Defense
1000 Defense Pentagon
Washington, D.C. 20301-1000

Dear Secretary Panetta,

We appreciate your interest stated during the February 15, 2012 House Armed Services Committee (HASC) hearing in protecting child custody rights for our men and women in uniform.

As you know, legislative language addressing this issue has already passed the House of Representatives on six separate occasions. It has passed five times as part of the National Defense Authorization Act, every year from 2008 through 2012. Additionally, in 2008 this language passed the House as a stand-alone bill (HR 6048) by voice both. Sixty members from both sides of the aisle signed on to HR 6048 as co-sponsors. Most recently, the bill was included in the Managers Package in the FY12 House NDAA and was supported by the Department of Defense (DoD).

Enclosed are letters of support that both Secretary Gates and Secretary Stanley provided for this legislation last year. Also enclosed is the 2012 HASC letter to Secretary Gates. As we move forward with the current legislative session, we look forward to the same level of support from the DoD in addressing this important issue and ensuring that our men and women in uniform have their parental rights protected.

Learn more about military child custody at: http://turner.house.gov/militarychildcustody/