II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1668 

To require a Comptroller General of the United States report on the impact 

of certain mental and physical trauma on the discharge of members 

of the Armed Forces for misconduct. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 7, 2013 

Mr. BENNET introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To require a Comptroller General of the United States report 

on the impact of certain mental and physical trauma 

on the discharge of members of the Armed Forces for 

misconduct. 

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


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•S 1668 IS

1 SECTION 1. COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF THE UNITED 

2 STATES REPORT ON IMPACT OF CERTAIN 

3 MENTAL AND PHYSICAL TRAUMA ON DIS4 CHARGES FROM MILITARY SERVICE FOR MIS5 CONDUCT. 

6 (a) REPORT REQUIRED.—The Comptroller General 

7 of the United States shall submit to Congress a report 

8 on the impact of mental and physical trauma relating to 

9 Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Traumatic 

10 Brain Injury (TBI), behavioral health matters not related 

11 to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and other neurological 

12 combat traumas (in this section referred to as ‘‘covered 

13 traumas’’) on the discharge of members of the Armed 

14 Forces from the Armed Forces for misconduct. 

15 (b) ELEMENTS.—The report required by subsection 

16 (a) shall include the following: 

17 (1) An assessment of the extent to which the 

18 Armed Forces have in place processes for the consid19 eration of the impact of mental and physical trauma 

20 relating to covered traumas on members of the 

21 Armed Forces who are being considered for dis22 charge from the Armed Forces for misconduct, in23 cluding the compliance of the Armed Forces with 

24 such processes and mechanisms in the Department 

25 of Defense for ensuring the compliance of the Armed 

26 Forces with such processes. 


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•S 1668 IS

1 (2) An assessment of the extent to which the 

2 Armed Forces provide members of the Armed 

3 Forces, including commanding officers, junior offi4 cers, and noncommissioned officers, training on the 

5 symptoms of covered traumas and the identification 

6 of the presence of such conditions in members of the 

7 Armed Forces. 

8 (3) An assessment of the extent to which mem9 bers of the Armed Forces who receive treatment for 

10 a covered trauma before discharge from the Armed 

11 Forces are later discharged from the Armed Forces 

12 for misconduct. 

13 (4) An identification of the number of members 

14 of the Armed Forces discharged as described in 

15 paragraph (3) who are ineligible for benefits from 

16 the Department of Veterans Affairs based on char17 acterization of discharge. 

18 (5) An assessment of the extent to which mem19 bers of the Armed Forces who accept a discharge 

20 from the Armed Forces for misconduct in lieu of 

21 trial by court-martial are counseled on the potential 

22 for ineligibility for benefits from the Department of 

23 Veterans Affairs as a result of such discharge before 

24 acceptance of such discharge. 

Æ 


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