NOTICE TO CONGRESS OF PROPOSED CHANGES IN COMBAT ASSIGNMENTS TO WHICH FEMALE MEMBERS MAY BE ASSIGNED.

SEC. 542. NOTICE TO CONGRESS OF PROPOSED CHANGES IN COMBAT ASSIGNMENTS TO WHICH FEMALE MEMBERS MAY BE ASSIGNED. (a) In General. —(1) Except in a case covered by subsection (b), whenever the Secretary of Defense proposes to change military personnel policies in order to make available to female members of the Armed Forces assignment to any type of combat unit, class of combat vessel, or type of combat platform that is not open to such assignments, the Secretary shall, not less than 30 days before such change is implemented, transmit to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and House of Representatives notice of the proposed change in personnel policy. (2) If before the date of the enactment of this Act the Secretary made any change to military personnel policies in order to make available to female members of the Armed Forces assignment to any type of combat unit, class of combat vessel, or type of combat platform that was not previously open to such assignments, the 107 STAT. 1660Secretary shall, not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, transmit to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and House of Representatives notice of that change in personnel policy. (b) Special Rule for Ground Combat Exclusion Policy.— (1) If the Secretary of Defense proposes to make any change described in paragraph (2) to the ground combat exclusion policy, the Secretary shall, not less than 90 days before any such change is implemented, submit to Congress a report providing notice of the proposed change. (2) A change referred to in paragraph (1) is a change that either— (A) closes to female members of the Armed Forces any category of unit or position that at that time is open to service by such members; or (B) opens to service by such members any category of unit or position that at that time is closed to service by such members. (3) The Secretary shall include in any report under paragraph (1)— (A) a detailed description of, and justification for, the proposed change to the ground combat exclusion policy; and (B) a detailed analysis of legal implication of the proposed change with respect to the constitutionality of the application of the Military Selective Service Act to males only. (4) For purposes of this subsection, the term “ground combat exclusion policy” means the military personnel policies of the Department of Defense and the military departments, as in effect on January 1, 1993, by which female members of the Armed Forces are restricted from assignment to units and positions whose mission requires routine engagement in direct combat on the ground.