Updated 05/19/2012 02:04 PM
House Passes Bill To Protect Hazed Soldiers
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The House of Representatives passed a bill Friday aimed at preventing hazing in the military.
The bill, introduced by New York Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez, requires the Department of Defense to develop a process to quickly transfer victims of hazing out of their current units.
Velazquez introduced the bill in response to the suicide of Private Danny Chen, a Chinatown native who killed himself after allegedly being harassed by fellow soldiers in Afghanistan.
Chen was 19 years old at the time.
"We're providing a tool to empower soldiers to be able to go to their superiors and to say 'look, I've been harassed, I've been tortured and I want to be transferred,'" Velazquez said.
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand has a similar measure under consideration in the Senate.
It would require the Secretary of Defense come up with a uniform plan for all the Armed Services to track, prevent and punish hazing.