I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7411 

To amend the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 

to improve reviews of characterizations of discharges of members of 

the Armed Forces on the basis of sexual orientation. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 20, 2024 

Mrs. CHAVEZ-DEREMER (for herself, Mr. CISCOMANI, Mr. VAN ORDEN, Mr. 

MILLER of Ohio, Mr. TURNER, Ms. MALLIOTAKIS, Mr. DUARTE, Mr. 

CAREY, Mr. AMODEI, Mr. CALVERT, Mr. GARBARINO, Mrs. CAMMACK, 

and Ms. MACE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To amend the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 

Year 2020 to improve reviews of characterizations of 

discharges of members of the Armed Forces on the basis 

of sexual orientation. 

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 ‘‘Recover Pride in Serv5 ice Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENTS TO REVIEWS OF CHARACTERIZA2 TIONS OF DISCHARGES OF MEMBERS OF THE 

3 ARMED FORCES ON THE BASIS OF SEXUAL 

4 ORIENTATION. 

5 (a) CLARIFICATION OF STANDARDS OF REVIEW.— 

6 Section 527 of the National Defense Authorization Act for 

7 Fiscal Year 2020 (Public Law 116–92; 10 U.S.C. 1552 

8 note) is amended— 

9 (1) in subsection (a)— 

10 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and 

11 (2) as subparagraphs (A) and (B); 

12 (B) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ before ‘‘In accord13 ance’’; and 

14 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

15 paragraphs: 

16 ‘‘(2) Notwithstanding section 1552(a)(3)(B) of 

17 title 10, United States Code, the appropriate board 

18 may not require a covered member to submit any 

19 documentation as a condition precedent to a review 

20 under paragraph (1).’’. 

21 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF OUTREACH UNIT; RE22 PORTS.—Such section is further amended— 

23 (1) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub24 section (f); and 

25 (2) by inserting, after subsection (c), the fol26 lowing new subsections: 


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1 ‘‘(d) OUTREACH UNIT.— 

2 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 60 days 

3 after the date of the enactment of the Recover Pride 

4 in Service Act, the Secretary of Defense shall estab5 lish an outreach unit. 

6 ‘‘(2) UNIT COMMANDER.—The commander of 

7 the unit established under this subsection shall be an 

8 officer in a grade above O–3. 

9 ‘‘(3) DUTIES.—The unit established under this 

10 subsection shall conduct outreach to inform covered 

11 members of the right to request a review under sub12 section (a). In performing such outreach, the unit 

13 commander may coordinate with stakeholders includ14 ing the following: 

15 ‘‘(A) The Secretary of Veterans Affairs. 

16 ‘‘(B) The Archivist of the United States. 

17 ‘‘(C) Representatives of organizations rec18 ognized by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 

19 under section 5902 of title 38, United States 

20 Code. 

21 ‘‘(D) Other individuals determined appro22 priate by the unit commander. 

23 ‘‘(4) REPORTING.— 

24 ‘‘(A) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later than 60 

25 days after the date of the enactment of the ReVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:03 Feb 26, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7411.IH H7411

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1 cover Pride in Service Act, the Secretary of De2 fense shall submit to the Committees on Armed 

3 Services of the Senate and House of Represent4 atives a report identifying the unit commander 

5 and 30 members of the unit established under 

6 this subsection. 

7 ‘‘(B) PLAN.—Not later than 60 days after 

8 the date of the enactment of the Recover Pride 

9 in Service Act, the Secretary shall submit to the 

10 Committees on Armed Services of the Senate 

11 and House of Representatives a plan regarding 

12 outreach to be conducted by such unit. Such 

13 plan shall include the following: 

14 ‘‘(i) How the unit shall identify and 

15 contact covered members. 

16 ‘‘(ii) An allocation of responsibilities 

17 among the unit and external stakeholders 

18 for executing the plan. 

19 ‘‘(iii) A schedule for the implementa20 tion, execution, and completion of the plan, 

21 along with any necessary funding, per22 sonnel, or resources required for its suc23 cessful implementation. 

24 ‘‘(C) PROGRESS REPORTS.—Not less than 

25 every 90 days after the submission of the plan 


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1 under subparagraph (B), the commander of 

2 such unit shall submit to the Committees on 

3 Armed Services of the Senate and House of 

4 Representatives a report on the activities of the 

5 unit during the preceding 90 days. 

6 ‘‘(D) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 

7 three years after the date of the enactment of 

8 the Recover Pride in Service Act, the Secretary 

9 of Defense shall submit to the Committees on 

10 Armed Services of the Senate and House of 

11 Representatives a final report on the unit. Such 

12 report shall include the following: 

13 ‘‘(i) The number of covered members. 

14 ‘‘(ii) The number of covered members 

15 contacted through the outreach efforts of 

16 the unit. 

17 ‘‘(iii) The number of covered members 

18 who requested a review under subsection 

19 (a) before and after the date of the enact20 ment of the Recover Pride in Service Act. 

21 ‘‘(iv) The number of covered members 

22 described in clause (iii), whose discharge 

23 characterization was upgraded to honor24 able. 


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1 ‘‘(v) The number of former members 

2 of the Armed Forces whose discharge char3 acterizations have been upgraded to honor4 able since September 20, 2011. 

5 ‘‘(5) TERMINATION.—The unit shall terminate 

6 upon submission of the final report under paragraph 

7 (4)(D). 

8 ‘‘(e) REPORTS.—The Secretary of Defense shall sub9 mit to the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate 

10 and House of Representatives four annual reports on the 

11 determination of the Secretary regarding the consistency 

12 of reviews under subsection (a). The first such report shall 

13 be due not later than one year after the date of the enact14 ment of the Recover Pride in Service Act.’’. 

15 SEC. 3. PROACTIVE UPGRADE OF DISCHARGES. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Department of Defense shall 

17 upgrade all discharges based solely on account of sexual 

18 orientation to an honorable discharge. 

19 (b) Section 527 of the National Defense Authoriza20 tion Act for Fiscal Year 2020 (Public Law 116–92; 10 

21 U.S.C. 1552) is amended— 

22 (1) by striking paragraph (b) and inserting the 

23 following: 

24 ‘‘(b) No correction may be made under subsection 

25 (a)(1) unless a claimant (or claimant’s heir, spouse, or 


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1 legal representative) or the Secretary concerned files a re2 quest for correction. The Secretary concerned may file a 

3 request for correction of a military record of their own 

4 accord or if the request is made on behalf of a group, 

5 members, or former members of the Armed Forces who 

6 were harmed by the error or injustice being claimed. A 

7 board established under subsection (a)(1) may excuse a 

8 failure to file within three years after discovery if it finds 

9 it to be in the interest of justice, and may not impose a 

10 year limit from when the claimed error or injustice oc11 curred or was discovered as it relates to individuals dis12 charged on the basis of sexual orientation.’’; 

13 (2) by inserting after subparagraph (a)(3)(A) 

14 the following: 

15 ‘‘(i) There must be established a pro16 cedure within each military department to 

17 upgrade all discharges based solely on sex18 ual orientation, without requiring affected 

19 veterans to request such an upgrade.’’; and 

20 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (a)(3)(D) 

21 the 27 following: 

22 ‘‘(i) Any request for reconsideration 

23 denied prior to January 1, 2025, regarding 

24 a claim pertaining to a discharge based on 


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1 sexual orientation, must be revisited by the 

2 respective board.’’. 

3 (c) No later than five years after the date of the en4 actment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall have 

5 approved the upgrade of all discharges which were based 

6 on sexual orientation. 

7 (d) The Secretary of Defense shall provide Congress 

8 an annual report on the progress of upgraded discharges. 

Æ 


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