II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2188 

To establish the Commission to Study the Stigmatization, Criminalization, 

and Ongoing Exclusion and Inequity for LGBTQ Servicemembers and 

Veterans. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 23, 2021 

Mr. BLUMENTHAL (for himself, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. MARKEY, 

and Mr. WHITEHOUSE) introduced the following bill; which was read 

twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To establish the Commission to Study the Stigmatization, 

Criminalization, and Ongoing Exclusion and Inequity for 

LGBTQ Servicemembers and Veterans. 

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 ‘‘Commission to Study 

5 the Stigmatization, Criminalization, and Ongoing Exclu6 sion and Inequity for LGBTQ Servicemembers and Vet7 erans Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT AND DUTIES. 

2 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established the Com3 mission to Study the Stigmatization, Criminalization, and 

4 Ongoing Exclusion and Inequity for LGBTQ Servicemem5 bers and Veterans (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Com6 mission’’). 

7 (b) DUTIES.—The Commission shall perform the fol8 lowing duties: 

9 (1) Identify and compile a corpus of informa10 tion about the history of military policy regarding 

11 homosexuality, from 1778 onward. The Commis12 sion’s documentation shall include facts related to— 

13 (A) the history of military policy regarding 

14 LGBTQ sexual orientation and gender identity, 

15 including— 

16 (i) ‘‘blue discharges’’ and other forms 

17 of discharge based on sexual orientation 

18 that rendered former members of the 

19 Armed Forces ineligible for veterans’ bene20 fits; 

21 (ii) military documents published in 

22 1942 that linked homosexuality to psy23 chopathy; 

24 (iii) 1963 Army Regulation 40-501, 

25 which banned gender transitioned or 

26 transitioning members of the Armed 


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1 Forces under the reasoning that they were 

2 ‘‘mentally unfit’’; and 

3 (iv) the Department of Defense direc4 tive dated 1981 that unequivocally stated 

5 that homosexuality was incompatible with 

6 military service and banning all homo7 sexual individuals from service; and 

8 (B) the arguments that led to the creation 

9 of the ‘‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’’ policy, including 

10 the claims that openly homosexual members of 

11 the military inhibited combat-readiness and unit 

12 cohesion. 

13 (2) Hold public hearings in such cities of the 

14 United States as it finds appropriate, and do com15 munity outreach and other public relations efforts in 

16 order to advertise such hearings and the opportunity 

17 to give testimony. 

18 (3) Gather testimonies, written and oral, from 

19 LGBTQ members of the Armed Forces and veterans 

20 about their experiences, both anonymously and with 

21 names given. 

22 (4) Examine the impacts that discriminatory 

23 policy had on the physical and mental well-being of 

24 members of the Armed Forces. 


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1 (5) Examine the lasting impacts, including psy2 chological, financial, and employment-related, that 

3 military policy has had on veterans and members of 

4 the Armed Forces who were discharged due to their 

5 sexual orientation or gender identity. 

6 (6) Examine disparate impact that policies such 

7 as the ‘‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’’ policy and the 

8 Transgender Service Ban had on minority groups in 

9 the Armed Forces, particularly racial minorities and 

10 women. 

11 (7) Recommend appropriate ways to educate 

12 the American public about institutionalized and Gov13 ernment-sanctioned discrimination. 

14 (8) Recommend appropriate remedies to ad15 dress findings of the Commission, including how— 

16 (A) the Government may offer an apology 

17 for enforcing discrimination that led to psycho18 logical, emotional, and physical harm of United 

19 States troops and their families; 

20 (B) discharge upgrades and record amend21 ment may be streamlined through the Boards 

22 for Correction of Military Records, including 

23 improving the transparency and accessibility of 

24 records by the members of the Armed Forces to 

25 whom they pertain; 


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1 (C) the service of LGBTQ individuals in 

2 the Armed Forces may be made more visible in 

3 materials distributed by the Secretaries of De4 fense and Veterans Affairs; 

5 (D) diversity and inclusion policies of the 

6 Department of Defense may be revised, and 

7 how resources may be committed to diversity 

8 training; and 

9 (E) health care, furnished by such Secre10 taries to members of the Armed Forces and for 

11 veterans, may include more resources to meet12 ing the needs of LGBTQ patients, including im13 proved data collection on LGBTQ patients, 

14 mental health counseling, and other medical ne15 cessities. 

16 (9) Submit a written report of its findings to 

17 Congress not later than one year after the date of 

18 the first meeting of the Commission. 

19 SEC. 3. MEMBERSHIP. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall be com21 posed of 16 members, appointed not later than 30 days 

22 after the date of the enactment of this Act, as follows: 

23 (1) Seven members appointed by the President, 

24 at least four of whom shall represent historical sociVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:15 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2188.IS S2188

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1 eties, nonprofits, research institutions, or advocacy 

2 organizations— 

3 (A) that represent veterans from a diver4 sity of service populations, across age range, 

5 tour of service, and era served; and 

6 (B) at least two of which represent organi7 zations that focus on transgender veterans and 

8 members of the Armed Forces. 

9 (2) Three members appointed by the Speaker of 

10 the House of Representatives, including one member 

11 each from— 

12 (A) the Committee on Armed Services of 

13 the House of Representatives; 

14 (B) the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of 

15 the House of Representatives; and 

16 (C) the Congressional LGBTQ+ Equality 

17 Caucus. 

18 (3) Two members appointed by the President 

19 pro tempore of the Senate. 

20 (4) Two members appointed by the Secretary of 

21 Defense. 

22 (5) Two members appointed by the Secretary of 

23 Veterans Affairs. 

24 (b) QUALIFICATIONS.—All members of the Commis25 sion shall be persons who are exceptionally qualified to 


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1 serve on the Commission by virtue of their education, 

2 training, activism, or experience, particularly in the fields 

3 of advocating for LGBTQ members of the Armed Forces 

4 and veterans. 

5 (c) TERMS.—Each member shall be appointed for the 

6 life of the Commission. A vacancy in the Commission shall 

7 not affect the powers of the Commission and shall be filled 

8 in the same manner in which the original appointment was 

9 made. 

10 (d) FIRST MEETING.—The President shall call the 

11 first meeting of the Commission not later than 120 days 

12 after the date of the enactment of this Act or 30 days 

13 after the date of the enactment of legislation making ap14 propriations to carry out this Act, whichever date is later. 

15 (e) QUORUM.—Nine members of the Commission 

16 shall constitute a quorum, but a lesser number may hold 

17 hearings. 

18 (f) CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR.—The Commission shall 

19 elect a Chair and Vice Chair from among its members. 

20 The term of office for each shall be for the life of the 

21 Commission. 

22 (g) COMPENSATION.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para24 graph (2), each member of the Commission shall be 

25 compensated at a rate equal to the daily equivalent 


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1 of the annual rate of basic pay established for a po2 sition at level V of the Executive Schedule under 

3 section 5316 of title 5, United States Code, for each 

4 day (including travel time) during which such mem5 ber is engaged in the performance of duties vested 

6 in the Commission. 

7 (2) FEDERAL EMPLOYEES.—A member of the 

8 Commission who is a full-time officer or employee of 

9 the United States or a Member of Congress shall re10 ceive no additional pay, allowances, or benefits by 

11 reason of the member’s service to the Commission. 

12 (3) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—All members of the 

13 Commission shall be reimbursed for travel, subsist14 ence, and other necessary expenses incurred by the 

15 members in the performance of their duties to the 

16 extent authorized by chapter 57 of title 5, United 

17 States Code. 

18 SEC. 4. POWERS OF THE COMMISSION. 

19 (a) HEARINGS AND MEETINGS.—The Commission 

20 may, for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this 

21 Act, hold such hearings and meet and act at such times 

22 and at such places in the United States, and request the 

23 attendance and testimony of such witnesses and the pro24 duction of such books, records, correspondence, memo25 randa, papers, and documents, as the Commission conVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:15 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2188.IS S2188

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1 siders appropriate. The Commission may invoke the aid 

2 of an appropriate United States district court to require, 

3 by subpoena or otherwise, such attendance, testimony, or 

4 production. 

5 (b) POWERS OF SUBCOMMITTEES AND MEMBERS.— 

6 Any subcommittee or member of the Commission may, if 

7 authorized by the Commission, take any action which the 

8 Commission is authorized to take under this section. 

9 (c) OBTAINING OFFICIAL DATA.—The Commission 

10 may acquire directly from the head of any department, 

11 agency, or instrumentality of the executive branch of the 

12 Federal Government, available information which the 

13 Commission considers useful in the discharge of its duties. 

14 All departments, agencies, and instrumentalities of the ex15 ecutive branch of the Government shall cooperate with the 

16 Commission with respect to such information and shall 

17 furnish all information requested by the Commission to 

18 the extent permitted by law. 

19 SEC. 5. ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS. 

20 (a) STAFF.—The Commission may, without regard to 

21 the civil service laws and regulations, appoint and fix the 

22 compensation of such personnel as the Commission con23 siders appropriate. 

24 (b) APPLICABILITY OF CERTAIN CIVIL SERVICE

25 LAWS.—The personnel of the Commission may be apVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:15 Jul 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2188.IS S2188

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1 pointed without regard to the provisions of title, United 

2 States Code, governing appointments in the competitive 

3 service, and without regard to the provisions of chapter 

4 51 and subchapter III of chapter 53 of such title, relating 

5 to classification and General Schedule pay rates, except 

6 that the rate of basic pay of any employee of the Commis7 sion may not exceed the rate of basic pay established for 

8 a position at level V of the Executive Schedule under sec9 tion 5316 of such title. 

10 (c) EXPERTS AND CONSULTANTS.—The Commission 

11 may procure the services of experts and consultants in ac12 cordance with the provisions of section 3109(b) of title 5, 

13 United States Code, but at rates for individuals not to 

14 exceed the daily equivalent of the annual rate of basic pay 

15 established for a position at level V of the Executive 

16 Schedule under section 5316 of such title. 

17 (d) ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT SERVICES.—The 

18 Commission may enter into agreements with the Adminis19 trator of General Services for procurement of financial 

20 and administrative services necessary for the discharge of 

21 the duties of the Commission. Payment for such services 

22 shall be made by reimbursement from funds of the Com23 mission in such amounts as may be agreed upon by the 

24 Chairman of the Commission and the Administrator. 

25 (e) CONTRACTS.—The Commission may— 


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1 (1) procure supplies, services, and property by 

2 contract in accordance with applicable laws and reg3 ulations and to the extent or in such amounts as are 

4 provided in appropriations Acts; and 

5 (2) enter into contracts with departments, 

6 agencies, and instrumentalities of the Federal Gov7 ernment, State agencies, and private firms, institu8 tions, and agencies, for the conduct of research or 

9 surveys, the preparation of reports, and other activi10 ties necessary for the discharge of the duties of the 

11 Commission, to the extent or in such amounts as are 

12 provided in appropriations Acts. 

13 SEC. 6. TERMINATION. 

14 The Commission shall terminate 90 days after the 

15 date on which the Commission submits its report to Con16 gress under section 2(b)(9). 

Æ 


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