II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 699 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans 

Affairs to furnish mental and behavioral health care to certain individuals 

discharged or released from the active military, naval, or air service 

under conditions other than honorable, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 22, 2017 

Mr. MURPHY (for himself, Mr. TESTER, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. 

BLUMENTHAL, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. BENNET, Mr. SCHATZ, and Mr. 

FRANKEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to furnish mental and behavioral health care to certain individuals discharged or 

released from the active military, naval, or air service 

under conditions other than honorable, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Honor Our Commit5 ment Act of 2017’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ACCESS TO DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS 

2 MENTAL AND BEHAVIORAL HEALTH CARE 

3 FOR CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS DISCHARGED OR 

4 RELEASED FROM THE ACTIVE MILITARY, 

5 NAVAL, OR AIR SERVICE UNDER CONDITIONS 

6 OTHER THAN HONORABLE. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 17 of 

8 title 38, United States Code, is amended by inserting after 

9 section 1712C the following new section: 

10 ‘‘§ 1712D. Mental and behavioral health care for cer11 tain individuals discharged or released 

12 from the active military, naval, or air 

13 service under conditions other than hon14 orable 

15 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 5303(a) 

16 of this title and subject to subsection (c), the Secretary 

17 shall furnish to an eligible individual covered mental and 

18 behavioral health care. 

19 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUALS.—For purposes of this 

20 section, an eligible individual is any of the following: 

21 ‘‘(1) An individual who— 

22 ‘‘(A) served in the active military, naval, or 

23 air service for a period of more than 180 days 

24 and was deployed in a theater of combat oper25 ations, in support of a contingency operation, or 

26 in an area at a time during which hostilities are 


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1 occurring in that area, for a period of more 

2 than 30 days during such service; 

3 ‘‘(B) was discharged or released from such 

4 service by reason of committing a covered of5 fense; and 

6 ‘‘(C) was diagnosed by a qualified mental 

7 health care provider with a mental or behavioral 

8 health condition before committing the covered 

9 offense. 

10 ‘‘(2) An individual who— 

11 ‘‘(A) served in the active military, naval, or 

12 air service for a period of more than 180 days 

13 and was deployed in a theater of combat oper14 ations, in support of a contingency operation, or 

15 in an area at a time during which hostilities are 

16 occurring in that area, for a period of more 

17 than 30 days during such service; 

18 ‘‘(B) was discharged or released from such 

19 service by reason of committing a covered of20 fense; 

21 ‘‘(C) is diagnosed with a mental or behav22 ioral health condition after committing such 

23 covered offense but before the expiration of the 

24 five-year period beginning on the later of— 


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1 ‘‘(i) the date of the enactment of the 

2 Honor Our Commitment Act of 2017; or 

3 ‘‘(ii) the date on which the individual 

4 is discharged or released from such service; 

5 ‘‘(D) submits to the Secretary— 

6 ‘‘(i) a certification from a qualified 

7 mental health care provider that the pro8 vider believes such condition may have led 

9 the individual to commit such offense; and 

10 ‘‘(ii) the Certificate of Release or Dis11 charge from Active Duty (DD Form 214) 

12 of the individual; and 

13 ‘‘(E) is determined by the Secretary pursu14 ant to subsection (c) to have had a mental or 

15 behavioral health condition at the time the indi16 vidual committed the covered offense that con17 tributed to the commission of the offense. 

18 ‘‘(c) DETERMINATION BY SECRETARY.—(1) Not later 

19 than 90 days after receiving the information submitted 

20 under subsection (b)(2)(D) with respect to an individual, 

21 the Secretary shall determine whether, at the time of com22 mitting the covered offense, the individual had a mental 

23 or behavioral health condition that contributed to the com24 mission of the offense. 


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1 ‘‘(2) If the Secretary does not make a determination 

2 under paragraph (1) with respect to a mental or behav3 ioral health condition of an individual before the end of 

4 the 90-day period beginning on the date of the submittal 

5 of the information described in subsection (b)(2)(D), the 

6 condition is deemed to be a mental or behavioral health 

7 condition that contributed to the commission of the of8 fense until such time as the Secretary makes the deter9 mination. 

10 ‘‘(d) INITIAL MENTAL HEALTH SCREENING.—(1) 

11 The Secretary may furnish to each individual described 

12 in paragraph (2) an initial mental health screening not 

13 later than the later of— 

14 ‘‘(A) five years after the date of the enactment 

15 of the Honor Our Commitment Act of 2017; or 

16 ‘‘(B) five years after the date on which the indi17 vidual was discharged or released from the active 

18 military, naval, or air service. 

19 ‘‘(2) Individuals described in this paragraph are the 

20 following: 

21 ‘‘(A) Eligible individuals described in subsection 

22 (b)(1). 

23 ‘‘(B) Individuals described in subparagraphs 

24 (A), (B), and (C) of subsection (b)(2). 


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1 ‘‘(3) The mental health screening provided to an indi2 vidual under paragraph (1) shall be at no cost to the indi3 vidual. 

4 ‘‘(e) NOTIFICATION OF ELIGIBILITY.—The Secretary 

5 shall notify each eligible individual described in subsection 

6 (b)(1) about the eligibility of the individual for covered 

7 mental and behavioral health care under this section not 

8 later than the later of— 

9 ‘‘(1) 180 days after the date of the enactment 

10 of the Honor Our Commitment Act of 2017; or 

11 ‘‘(2) 180 days after the date on which the indi12 vidual was discharged or released from the active 

13 military, naval, or air service. 

14 ‘‘(f) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not less frequently than an15 nually, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on 

16 Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Vet17 erans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives a report 

18 that includes, with respect to the year preceding the sub19 mittal of the report, the following: 

20 ‘‘(1) The number of eligible individuals who 

21 were furnished covered mental and behavioral health 

22 care under this section. 

23 ‘‘(2) The number of individuals who the Sec24 retary determined under subsection (c) did not have 

25 a mental or behavioral health condition at the time 


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1 of committing a covered offense that contributed to 

2 the commission of the offense. 

3 ‘‘(3) The number of individuals who requested 

4 an initial mental health screening under subsection 

5 (d). 

6 ‘‘(4) The number of individuals who were fur7 nished an initial mental health screening under sub8 section (d). 

9 ‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

10 ‘‘(1) The term ‘covered mental and behavioral 

11 health care’ means the same types of medical serv12 ices furnished by the Department to individuals with 

13 service-connected mental or behavioral health condi14 tions to treat such conditions. 

15 ‘‘(2) The term ‘covered offense’ means an of16 fense for which an individual is discharged or sepa17 rated from the active military, naval, or air service 

18 under conditions other than honorable but not a dis19 honorable discharge or a discharge by court-martial. 

20 ‘‘(3) The term ‘qualified mental health care 

21 provider’ means a licensed or certified health care 

22 provider whose scope of practice includes diagnosing 

23 mental or behavioral health conditions and includes 

24 physicians, psychologists, psychiatric nurse practiVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:32 Mar 24, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S699.IS S699

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1 tioners, physician assistants, clinical social workers, 

2 and licensed professional counselors.’’. 

3 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

4 at the beginning of chapter 17 of such title is amended 

5 by inserting after the item relating to section 1712C the 

6 following new item: 

‘‘1712D. Mental and behavioral health care for certain individuals discharged 

or released from the active military, naval, or air service under 

conditions other than honorable.’’. 

7 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Section 1712D of title 38, 

8 United States Code, as added by subsection (a), shall take 

9 effect on the date that is 120 days after the date of the 

10 enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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