II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 29 

To provide remedies to members of the Armed Forces discharged or subject 

to adverse action under the COVID–19 vaccine mandate. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 24 (legislative day, JANUARY 3), 2023 

Mr. CRUZ (for himself, Mr. GRAHAM, Mr. CRAPO, Mr. RISCH, Mr. CRAMER, 

Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. MARSHALL, Mr. LEE, Mr. SCOTT of Florida, Mrs. 

HYDE-SMITH, Mr. BRAUN, Mr. DAINES, Mr. PAUL, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. 

LANKFORD, Mr. JOHNSON, Mr. HOEVEN, Mr. HAWLEY, and Ms. LUMMIS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to 

the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To provide remedies to members of the Armed Forces discharged or subject to adverse action under the COVID– 

19 vaccine mandate. 

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 ‘‘Allowing Military Ex5 emptions, Recognizing Individual Concerns About New 

6 Shots Act of 2023’’ or the ‘‘AMERICANS Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REMEDIES FOR MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES 

2 DISCHARGED OR SUBJECT TO ADVERSE AC3 TION UNDER THE COVID–19 VACCINE MAN4 DATE. 

5 (a) LIMITATION ON IMPOSITION OF NEW MAN6 DATE.—The Secretary of Defense may not issue any 

7 COVID–19 vaccine mandate as a replacement for the 

8 mandate rescinded under section 525 of the James M. 

9 Inhofe National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 

10 2023 absent a further Act of Congress expressly author11 izing a replacement mandate. 

12 (b) REMEDIES.—Section 736 of the National Defense 

13 Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022 (Public Law 117– 

14 81; 10 U.S.C. 1161 note prec.) is amended— 

15 (1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘TO

16 OBEY LAWFUL ORDER TO RECEIVE’’ and insert17 ing ‘‘TO RECEIVE’’; 

18 (2) in subsection (a)— 

19 (A) by striking ‘‘a lawful order’’ and in20 serting ‘‘an order’’; and 

21 (B) by striking ‘‘shall be’’ and all that fol22 lows through the period at the end and insert23 ing ‘‘shall be an honorable discharge.’’; 

24 (3) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub25 section (e); and 


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1 (4) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol2 lowing new subsections: 

3 ‘‘(b) PROHIBITION ON ADVERSE ACTION.—The Sec4 retary of Defense may not take any adverse action against 

5 a covered member based solely on the refusal of such 

6 member to receive a vaccine for COVID–19. 

7 ‘‘(c) REMEDIES AVAILABLE FOR A COVERED MEM8 BER DISCHARGED OR SUBJECT TO ADVERSE ACTION

9 BASED ON COVID–19 STATUS.—At the election of a cov10 ered member discharged or subject to adverse action based 

11 on the member’s COVID–19 vaccination status, and upon 

12 application through a process established by the Secretary 

13 of Defense, the Secretary shall— 

14 ‘‘(1) adjust to ‘honorable discharge’ the status 

15 of the member if— 

16 ‘‘(A) the member was separated from the 

17 Armed Forces based solely on the failure of the 

18 member to obey an order to receive a vaccine 

19 for COVID–19; and 

20 ‘‘(B) the discharge status of the member 

21 would have been an ‘honorable discharge’ but 

22 for the refusal to obtain such vaccine; 

23 ‘‘(2) reinstate the member to service at the 

24 highest grade held by the member immediately prior 

25 to the involuntary separation, allowing, however, for 


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1 any reduction in rank that was not related to the 

2 member’s COVID–19 vaccination status, with an ef3 fective date of reinstatement as of the date of invol4 untary separation; 

5 ‘‘(3) for any member who was subject to any 

6 adverse action other than involuntary separation 

7 based solely on the member’s COVID–19 vaccination 

8 status— 

9 ‘‘(A) restore the member to the highest 

10 grade held prior to such adverse action, allow11 ing, however, for any reduction in rank that 

12 was not related to the member’s COVID–19 

13 vaccination status, with an effective date of re14 instatement as of the date of involuntary sepa15 ration; and 

16 ‘‘(B) compensate such member for any pay 

17 and benefits lost as a result of such adverse ac18 tion; 

19 ‘‘(4) expunge from the service record of the 

20 member any adverse action, to include non-punitive 

21 adverse action and involuntary separation, as well as 

22 any reference to any such adverse action, based sole23 ly on COVID–19 vaccination status; and 

24 ‘‘(5) include the time of involuntary separation 

25 of the member reinstated under paragraph (2) in the 


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1 computation of the retired or retainer pay of the 

2 member. 

3 ‘‘(d) RETENTION AND DEVELOPMENT OF

4 UNVACCINATED MEMBERS.—The Secretary of Defense 

5 shall— 

6 ‘‘(1) make every effort to retain covered mem7 bers who are not vaccinated against COVID–19 and 

8 provide such members with professional develop9 ment, promotion and leadership opportunities, and 

10 consideration equal to that of their peers; 

11 ‘‘(2) only consider the COVID–19 vaccination 

12 status of a covered member in making deployment, 

13 assignment, and other operational decisions where— 

14 ‘‘(A) the law or regulations of a foreign 

15 country require covered members to be vac16 cinated against COVID–19 in order to enter 

17 that country; and 

18 ‘‘(B) the covered member’s presence in 

19 that foreign country is necessary in order to 

20 perform their assigned role; and 

21 ‘‘(3) for purposes of deployments, assignments, 

22 and operations described in paragraph (2), create a 

23 process to provide COVID–19 vaccination exemp24 tions to covered members with— 

25 ‘‘(A) a natural immunity to COVID–19; 


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1 ‘‘(B) an underlying health condition that 

2 would make COVID–19 vaccination a greater 

3 risk to that individual than the general popu4 lation; or 

5 ‘‘(C) sincerely held religious beliefs in con6 flict with receiving the COVID–19 vaccination. 

7 ‘‘(e) APPLICABILITY OF REMEDIES CONTAINED IN

8 THIS SECTION.—The prohibitions and remedies described 

9 in this section shall apply to covered members regardless 

10 of whether or not they sought an accommodation to any 

11 Department of Defense COVID–19 vaccination policy on 

12 any grounds.’’. 

Æ 


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