II 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1956 

To direct the Secretary of Defense to review the discharge characterization 

of former members of the Armed Forces who were discharged by reason 

of the sexual orientation of the member, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 16, 2014 

Mr. SCHATZ (for himself, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, and Mr. UDALL of Colorado) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Defense to review the discharge 

characterization of former members of the Armed Forces 

who were discharged by reason of the sexual orientation 

of the member, 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 ‘‘Restore Honor to Serv5 ice Members Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. REVIEW OF DISCHARGE CHARACTERIZATION. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—In accordance with this section, 

8 the appropriate discharge boards— 

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1 (1) shall review the discharge characterization 

2 of covered members at the request of the covered 

3 member; and 

4 (2) if such characterization is any characteriza5 tion except honorable, may change such character6 ization to honorable. 

7 (b) CRITERIA.—In changing the discharge character8 ization of a covered member to honorable under subsection 

9 (a)(2), the Secretary of Defense shall ensure that such 

10 changes are carried out consistently and uniformly across 

11 the military departments using the following criteria: 

12 (1) The original discharge must be based on 

13 Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (in this Act referred to as 

14 ‘‘DADT’’) or a similar policy in place prior to the 

15 enactment of DADT. 

16 (2) Such discharge characterization shall be so 

17 changed if, with respect to the original discharge, 

18 there were no aggravating circumstances, such as 

19 misconduct, that would have independently led to a 

20 discharge characterization that was any character21 ization except honorable. For purposes of this para22 graph, such aggravating circumstances may not in23 clude— 

24 (A) an offense under section 925 of title 

25 10, United States Code (article 125 of the Unimstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

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1 form Code of Military Justice), committed by a 

2 covered member against a person of the same 

3 sex with the consent of such person; or 

4 (B) statements, consensual sexual conduct, 

5 or consensual acts relating to sexual orientation 

6 or identity, or the disclosure of such state7 ments, conduct, or acts, that were prohibited at 

8 the time of discharge but after the date of such 

9 discharge became permitted. 

10 (3) When requesting a review, a covered mem11 ber, or the member’s representative, shall be re12 quired to provide either— 

13 (A) documents consisting of— 

14 (i) a copy of the DD–214 form of the 

15 member; 

16 (ii) a personal affidavit of the cir17 cumstances surrounding the discharge; and 

18 (iii) any relevant records pertaining to 

19 the discharge; or 

20 (B) an affidavit certifying that the mem21 ber, or the member’s representative, does not 

22 have the documents specified in subparagraph 

23 (A). 

24 (4) If a covered member provides an affidavit 

25 described in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (3)— 

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1 (A) the appropriate discharge board shall 

2 make every effort to locate the documents speci3 fied in subparagraph (A) of such paragraph 

4 within the records of the Department of De5 fense; and 

6 (B) the absence of such documents may 

7 not be considered a reason to deny a change of 

8 the discharge characterization under subsection 

9 (a)(2). 

10 (c) REQUEST FOR REVIEW.—The appropriate dis11 charge board shall ensure the mechanism by which covered 

12 members, or their representative, may request to have the 

13 discharge characterization of the covered member reviewed 

14 under this section is simple and straightforward. 

15 (d) REVIEW.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—After a request has been 

17 made under subsection (c), the appropriate dis18 charge board shall review all relevant laws, records 

19 of oral testimony previously taken, service records, 

20 or any other relevant information regarding the dis21 charge characterization of the covered member. 

22 (2) ADDITIONAL MATERIALS.—If additional 

23 materials are necessary for the review, the appro24 priate discharge board— 

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1 (A) may request additional information 

2 from the covered member or the member’s rep3 resentative, in writing, and specifically detailing 

4 what is being requested; and 

5 (B) shall be responsible for obtaining a 

6 copy of the necessary files of the covered mem7 ber from the member, or when applicable, from 

8 the Department of Defense. 

9 (e) CHANGE OF CHARACTERIZATION.—The appro10 priate discharge board shall change the discharge charac11 terization of a covered member to honorable if such change 

12 is determined to be appropriate after a review is conducted 

13 under subsection (d) pursuant to the criteria under sub14 section (b). A covered member, or the member’s represent15 ative, may appeal a decision by the appropriate discharge 

16 board to not change the discharge characterization by 

17 using the regular appeals process of the board. 

18 (f) CHANGE OF RECORDS.—For each covered mem19 ber whose discharge characterization is changed under 

20 subsection (e), or for each covered member who was hon21 orably discharged but whose DD–214 form reflects the 

22 sexual orientation of the member, the Secretary of Defense 

23 shall reissue to the member or the member’s representa24 tive a revised DD–214 form that reflects the following: 

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1 (1) For each covered member discharged, the 

2 Separation Code, Reentry Code, Narrative Code, and 

3 Separation Authority shall not reflect the sexual ori4 entation of the member and shall be placed under 

5 secretarial authority. Any other similar indication of 

6 the sexual orientation or reason for discharge shall 

7 be removed or changed accordingly to be consistent 

8 with this paragraph. 

9 (2) For each covered member whose discharge 

10 occurred prior to the creation of general secretarial 

11 authority, the sections of the DD–214 form referred 

12 to paragraph (1) shall be changed to similarly reflect 

13 a universal authority with codes, authorities, and 

14 language applicable at the time of discharge. 

15 (g) STATUS.— 

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each covered member whose 

17 discharge characterization is changed under sub18 section (e) shall be treated without regard to the 

19 original discharge characterization of the member, 

20 including for purposes of— 

21 (A) benefits provided by the Federal Gov22 ernment to an individual by reason of service in 

23 the Armed Forces; and 

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1 (B) all recognitions and honors that the 

2 Secretary of Defense provides to members of 

3 the Armed Forces. 

4 (2) REINSTATEMENT.—In carrying out para5 graph (1)(B), the Secretary shall reinstate all rec6 ognitions and honors of a covered member whose 

7 discharge characterization is changed under sub8 section (e) that the Secretary withheld because of 

9 the original discharge characterization of the mem10 ber. 

11 (h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

12 (1) The term ‘‘appropriate discharge board’’ 

13 means the boards for correction of military records 

14 under section 1552 of title 10, United States Code, 

15 or the discharge review boards under section 1553 

16 of such title, as the case may be. 

17 (2) The term ‘‘covered member’’ means any 

18 former member of the Armed Forces who was dis19 charged from the Armed Forces because of the sex20 ual orientation of the member. 

21 (3) The term ‘‘discharge characterization’’ 

22 means the characterization under which a member 

23 of the Armed Forces is discharged or released, in24 cluding ‘‘dishonorable’’, ‘‘general’’, ‘‘other than hon25 orable’’, and ‘‘honorable’’. 

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1 (4) The term ‘‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’’ means 

2 section 654 of title 10, United States Code, as in ef3 fect before such section was repealed pursuant to the 

4 Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal Act of 2010 (Public 

5 Law 111–321). 

6 (5) The term ‘‘representative’’ means the sur7 viving spouse, next of kin, or legal representative of 

8 a covered member. 

9 SEC. 3. REPORTS. 

10 (a) REVIEW.—The Secretary of Defense shall con11 duct a review of the consistency and uniformity of the re12 views conducted under section 2. 

13 (b) REPORTS.—Not later than 270 days after the 

14 date of the enactment of this Act, and each year thereafter 

15 for a four-year period, the Secretary shall submit to Con16 gress a report on the reviews under subsection (a). Such 

17 reports shall include any comments or recommendations 

18 for continued actions. 

19 SEC. 4. HISTORICAL REVIEW. 

20 The Secretary of each military department shall en21 sure that oral historians of the department— 

22 (1) review the facts and circumstances sur23 rounding the estimated 100,000 members of the 

24 Armed Forces discharged from the Armed Forces 

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1 between World War II and September 2011 because 

2 of the sexual orientation of the member; and 

3 (2) receive oral testimony of individuals who 

4 personally experienced discrimination and discharge 

5 because of the actual or perceived sexual orientation 

6 of the individual so that such testimony may serve 

7 as an official record of these discriminatory policies 

8 and their impact on American lives. 

Æ 

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