I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2839 

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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 25, 2013 

Mr. POCAN (for himself, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. ANDREWS, Mr. BISHOP of New 

York, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Ms. BROWNLEY of California, Mrs. 

BUSTOS, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. CA ́RDENAS, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Mr. 

CARTWRIGHT, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, Mr. 

CICILLINE, Ms. CLARKE, Mr. CLAY, Mr. COHEN, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. 

CONYERS, Mr. CROWLEY, Mr. CUMMINGS, Ms. DELAURO, Ms. 

DELBENE, Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. DINGELL, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. ENGEL, Ms. 

ESTY, Mr. FARR, Mr. FATTAH, Ms. FRANKEL of Florida, Ms. GABBARD, 

Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. GUTIE ́RREZ, Ms. HAHN, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, 

Mr. HIGGINS, Mr. HIMES, Mr. HOLT, Mr. HORSFORD, Mr. ISRAEL, Ms. 

JACKSON LEE, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. KENNEDY, 

Mr. KILDEE, Mr. KILMER, Mr. KIND, Ms. KUSTER, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. 

LARSEN of Washington, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. LEWIS, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. BEN RAY LUJA ́N of New 

Mexico, Ms. MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM of New Mexico, Mr. MAFFEI, 

Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY

of New York, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. 

MICHAUD, Ms. MOORE, Mr. MORAN, Mr. MURPHY of Florida, Mrs. 

NAPOLITANO, Mr. NOLAN, Ms. NORTON, Mr. O’ROURKE, Mr. PASTOR of 

Arizona, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. PETERS of California, Ms. PINGREE of Maine, 

Mr. POLIS, Mr. QUIGLEY, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. RUSH, Mr. RYAN of 

Ohio, Ms. LINDA T. SA ́NCHEZ of California, Mr. SARBANES, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. SCHNEIDER, Ms. SCHWARTZ, Ms. SHEA-PORTER, Ms. SINEMA, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Ms. SPEIER, Mr. TAKANO, Ms. 

TITUS, Mr. TONKO, Ms. TSONGAS, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. VARGAS, Mr. 

VEASEY, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. WELCH, and Ms. WILSON

of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services 


rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 2839 IH

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— 

9 (1) shall review the discharge characterization 

10 of covered members at the request of the covered 

11 member; and 

12 (2) if such characterization is any characteriza13 tion except honorable, may change such character14 ization to honorable. 

15 (b) CRITERIA.—In changing the discharge character16 ization of a covered member to honorable under subsection 

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

18 changes are carried out consistently and uniformly across 

19 the military departments using the following criteria: 

20 (1) The original discharge must be based on 

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


rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 2839 IH

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

2 enactment of DADT. 

3 (2) Such discharge characterization shall be so 

4 changed if, with respect to the original discharge, 

5 there were no aggravating circumstances, such as 

6 misconduct, that would have independently led to a 

7 discharge characterization that was any character8 ization except honorable. For purposes of this para9 graph, such aggravating circumstances may not in10 clude— 

11 (A) an offense under section 925 of title 

12 10, United States Code (article 125 of the Uni13 form Code of Military Justice), committed by a 

14 covered member against a person of the same 

15 sex with the consent of such person; or 

16 (B) statements, consensual sexual conduct, 

17 or consensual acts relating to sexual orientation 

18 or identity, or the disclosure of such state19 ments, conduct, or acts, that were prohibited at 

20 the time of discharge but after the date of such 

21 discharge became permitted. 

22 (3) When requesting a review, a covered mem23 ber, or their representative, shall be required to pro24 vide either— 

25 (A) documents consisting of— 


rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 2839 IH

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

2 member; 

3 (ii) a personal affidavit of the cir4 cumstances surrounding the discharge; and 

5 (iii) any relevant records pertaining to 

6 the discharge; or 

7 (B) an affidavit certifying that the mem8 ber, or their representative, does not have the 

9 documents specified in subparagraph (A). 

10 (4) If a covered member provides an affidavit 

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

12 (A) the appropriate discharge board shall 

13 make every effort to locate the documents speci14 fied in subparagraph (A) of such paragraph 

15 within the records of the Department of De16 fense; and 

17 (B) the absence of such documents may 

18 not be considered a reason to deny a change of 

19 the discharge characterization under subsection 

20 (a)(2). 

21 (c) REQUEST FOR REVIEW.—The appropriate dis22 charge board shall ensure the mechanism by which covered 

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

24 discharge characterization of the covered member reviewed 

25 under this section is simple and straightforward. 


rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 2839 IH

1 (d) REVIEW.— 

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

3 made under subsection (c), the appropriate dis4 charge board shall review all relevant laws, records 

5 of oral testimony previously taken, service records, 

6 or any other relevant information regarding the dis7 charge characterization of the covered member. 

8 (2) ADDITIONAL MATERIALS.—If additional 

9 materials are necessary for the review, the appro10 priate discharge board— 

11 (A) may request additional information 

12 from the covered member or their representa13 tive, in writing, and specifically detailing what 

14 is being requested; and 

15 (B) shall be responsible for obtaining a 

16 copy of the necessary files of the covered mem17 ber from the member, or when applicable, from 

18 the Department of Defense. 

19 (e) CHANGE OF CHARACTERIZATION.—The appro20 priate discharge board shall change the discharge charac21 terization of a covered member to honorable if such change 

22 is determined to be appropriate after a review is conducted 

23 under subsection (d) pursuant to the criteria under sub24 section (b). A covered member, or the representative of 

25 the member, may appeal a decision by the appropriate disVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:51 Jul 30, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2839.IH H2839

rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 2839 IH

1 charge board to not change the discharge characterization 

2 by using the regular appeals process of the board. 

3 (f) CHANGE OF RECORDS.—For each covered mem4 ber whose discharge characterization is changed under 

5 subsection (e), or for each covered member who was hon6 orably discharged but whose DD–214 form reflects the 

7 sexual orientation of the member, the Secretary of Defense 

8 shall reissue to the member or their representative a re9 vised DD–214 form that reflects the following: 

10 (1) For each covered member discharged, the 

11 Separation Code, Reentry Code, Narrative Code, and 

12 Separation Authority shall not reflect the sexual ori13 entation of the member and shall be placed under 

14 secretarial authority. Any other similar indication of 

15 the sexual orientation or reason for discharge shall 

16 be removed or changed accordingly to be consistent 

17 with this paragraph. 

18 (2) For each covered member whose discharge 

19 occurred prior to the creation of general secretarial 

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

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

22 a universal authority with codes, authorities, and 

23 language applicable at the time of discharge. 

24 (g) STATUS.— 


rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 2839 IH

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

2 discharge characterization is changed under sub3 section (e) shall be treated without regard to the 

4 original discharge characterization of the member, 

5 including for purposes of— 

6 (A) benefits provided by the Federal Gov7 ernment to an individual by reason of service in 

8 the Armed Forces; and 

9 (B) all recognitions and honors that the 

10 Secretary of Defense provides to members of 

11 the Armed Forces. 

12 (2) REINSTATEMENT.—In carrying out para13 graph (1)(B), the Secretary shall reinstate all rec14 ognitions and honors of a covered member whose 

15 discharge characterization is changed under sub16 section (e) that the Secretary withheld because of 

17 the original discharge characterization of the mem18 ber. 

19 (h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

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

21 means the boards for correction of military records 

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

23 or the discharge review boards under section 1553 

24 of such title, as the case may be. 


rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
8 

•HR 2839 IH

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

2 former member of the Armed Forces who was dis3 charged from the Armed Forces because of the sex4 ual orientation of the member. 

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

6 means the characterization under which a member 

7 of the Armed Forces is discharged or released, in8 cluding ‘‘dishonorable’’, ‘‘general’’, ‘‘other than hon9 orable’’, and ‘‘honorable’’. 

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

11 section 654 of title 10, United States Code, as in ef12 fect before such section was repealed pursuant to the 

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

14 Law 111–321). 

15 (5) The term ‘‘representative’’ means the sur16 viving spouse, next of kin, or legal representative of 

17 a covered member. 

18 SEC. 3. REPORTS. 

19 (a) REVIEW.—The Secretary of Defense shall con20 duct a review of the consistency and uniformity of the re21 views conducted under section 2. 

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

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

24 for a four-year period, the Secretary shall submit to Con25 gress a report on the reviews under subsection (a). Such 


rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS
9 

•HR 2839 IH

1 reports shall include any comments or recommendations 

2 for continued actions. 

3 SEC. 4. HISTORICAL REVIEW. 

4 The Secretary of each military department shall en5 sure that oral historians of the department— 

6 (1) review the facts and circumstances sur7 rounding the estimated 100,000 members of the 

8 Armed Forces discharged from the Armed Forces 

9 between World War II and September 2011 because 

10 of the sexual orientation of the member; and 

11 (2) receive oral testimony of individuals who 

12 personally experienced discrimination and discharge 

13 because of the actual or perceived sexual orientation 

14 of the individual so that such testimony may serve 

15 as an official record of these discriminatory policies 

16 and their impact on American lives. 

17 SEC. 5. MODIFICATION OF ARTICLE 125 OF THE UNIFORM 

18 CODE OF MILITARY JUSTICE. 

19 Section 925(a) of title 10, United States Code (article 

20 125 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice) is amended 

21 by striking ‘‘with another person of the same or opposite 

22 sex or’’. 

Æ 


rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with BILLS