I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6470 

To provide for outreach to build awareness among former members of the 

Armed Forces of the process established pursuant to section 527 of 

the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 for the 

review of discharge characterizations, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 21, 2023 

Mr. POCAN (for himself and Mr. TAKANO) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the 

Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To provide for outreach to build awareness among former 

members of the Armed Forces of the process established 

pursuant to section 527 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 for the review of discharge characterizations, 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 of 2023’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. TIGER TEAM FOR OUTREACH TO FORMER MEM2 BERS. 

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF TIGER TEAM.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after 

5 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

6 of Defense shall establish a team (commonly known 

7 as a ‘‘tiger team’’ and referred to in this section as 

8 the ‘‘Tiger Team’’) responsible for conducting out9 reach to build awareness among former members of 

10 the Armed Forces of the process established pursu11 ant to section 527 of the National Defense Author12 ization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 (Public Law 116– 

13 92; 10 U.S.C. 1552 note) for the review of discharge 

14 characterizations by appropriate discharge boards. 

15 The Tiger Team shall consist of appropriate per16 sonnel of the Department of Defense assigned to the 

17 Tiger Team by the Secretary for purposes of this 

18 section. 

19 (2) TIGER TEAM LEADER.—One of the individ20 uals assigned to the Tiger Team under paragraph 

21 (1) shall be a senior-level officer or employee of the 

22 Department who shall serve as the lead official of 

23 the Tiger Team (in this section referred to as the 

24 ‘‘Tiger Team Leader’’) and who shall be accountable 

25 for the activities of the Tiger Team under this sec26 tion. 


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1 (3) REPORT ON COMPOSITION.—Not later than 

2 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

3 the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report set4 ting forth the names of the personnel of the Depart5 ment assigned to the Tiger Team pursuant to this 

6 subsection, including the positions to which such 

7 personnel are assigned. The report shall specify the 

8 name of the individual assigned as Tiger Team 

9 Leader. 

10 (b) DUTIES.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Tiger Team shall con12 duct outreach to build awareness among veterans of 

13 the process established pursuant to section 527 of 

14 the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 

15 Year 2020 for the review of discharge characteriza16 tions by appropriate discharge boards. 

17 (2) COLLABORATION.—In conducting activities 

18 under this subsection, the Tiger Team Leader shall 

19 identify appropriate external stakeholders with 

20 whom the Tiger Team shall work to carry out such 

21 activities. Such stakeholders shall include the fol22 lowing: 

23 (A) The Secretary of Veterans Affairs. 

24 (B) The Archivist of the United States. 


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1 (C) Representatives of veterans service or2 ganizations. 

3 (D) Such other stakeholders as the Tiger 

4 Team Leader considers appropriate. 

5 (3) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later than 210 days 

6 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec7 retary of Defense shall submit to Congress the fol8 lowing: 

9 (A) A plan setting forth the following: 

10 (i) A description of the manner in 

11 which the Secretary, working through the 

12 Tiger Team and in collaboration with ex13 ternal stakeholders described in paragraph 

14 (2), shall identify individuals who meet the 

15 criteria in section 527(b) of the National 

16 Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 

17 2020 for review of discharge characteriza18 tion. 

19 (ii) A description of the manner in 

20 which the Secretary, working through the 

21 Tiger Team and in collaboration with the 

22 external stakeholders, shall improve out23 reach to individuals who meet the criteria 

24 in section 527(b) of the National Defense 

25 Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 for 


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1 review of discharge characterization, in2 cluding through— 

3 (I) obtaining contact information 

4 on such individuals; and 

5 (II) contacting such individuals 

6 on the process established pursuant to 

7 section 527 of the National Defense 

8 Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 

9 2020 for the review of discharge char10 acterizations. 

11 (B) A description of the manner in which 

12 the work described in clauses (i) and (ii) of sub13 paragraph (A) will be carried out, including an 

14 allocation of the work among the Tiger Team 

15 and the external stakeholders. 

16 (C) A schedule for the implementation, 

17 carrying out, and completion of the plan re18 quired under subparagraph (A). 

19 (D) A description of the additional fund20 ing, personnel, or other resources of the De21 partment required to carry out the plan re22 quired under subparagraph (A), including any 

23 modification of applicable statutory or adminis24 trative authorities. 

25 (4) IMPLEMENTATION OF PLAN.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall im2 plement and carry out the plan submitted under 

3 subparagraph (A) of paragraph (3) in accord4 ance with the schedule submitted under sub5 paragraph (C) of that paragraph. 

6 (B) UPDATES.—Not less frequently than 

7 once every 90 days after the submittal of the 

8 report under paragraph (3), the Tiger Team 

9 shall submit to Congress an update on the car10 rying out of the plan submitted under subpara11 graph (A) of that paragraph. 

12 (5) FINAL REPORT.—Not later than 3 years 

13 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

14 Tiger Team shall submit to the Committees on 

15 Armed Services of the Senate and the House of Rep16 resentatives a final report on the activities of the 

17 Tiger Team under this subsection. The report shall 

18 set forth the following: 

19 (A) The number of individuals discharged 

20 under former section 654 or a similar policy 

21 prior to the enactment of former section 654. 

22 (B) The number of individuals described in 

23 subparagraph (A) who availed themselves of a 

24 review of discharge characterization (whether 

25 through discharge review or correction of miliVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:45 Nov 28, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6470.IH H6470

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1 tary records) through a process established 

2 prior to the enactment of this Act. 

3 (C) The number of individuals contacted 

4 through outreach conducted pursuant to this 

5 section. 

6 (D) The number of individuals described in 

7 subparagraph (A) who availed themselves of a 

8 review of discharge characterization through the 

9 process established pursuant to section 527 of 

10 the National Defense Authorization Act for Fis11 cal Year 2020. 

12 (E) The number of individuals described in 

13 subparagraph (D) whose review of discharge 

14 characterization resulted in a change of charac15 terization to honorable discharge. 

16 (F) The total number of individuals de17 scribed in subparagraph (A), including individ18 uals also covered by subparagraph (E), whose 

19 review of discharge characterization since Sep20 tember 20, 2011, resulted in a change of char21 acterization to honorable discharge. 

22 (6) TERMINATION.—On the date that is 60 

23 days after the date on which the final report re24 quired by paragraph (5) is submitted, the Secretary 

25 shall terminate the Tiger Team. 


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1 (c) ADDITIONAL REPORTS.— 

2 (1) REVIEW.—The Secretary of Defense shall 

3 conduct a review of the consistency and uniformity 

4 of the reviews conducted pursuant to section 527 of 

5 the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 

6 Year 2020. 

7 (2) REPORTS.—Not later than 270 days after 

8 the date of the enactment of this Act, and each year 

9 thereafter for a four-year period, the Secretary of 

10 Defense shall submit to Congress a report on the re11 views under paragraph (1). Such reports shall in12 clude any comments or recommendations for contin13 ued actions. 

14 (d) FORMER SECTION 654 DEFINED.—In this sec15 tion, the term ‘‘former section 654’’ means section 654 

16 of title 10, United States Code, as in effect before such 

17 section was repealed pursuant to Public Law 111–321 (10 

18 U.S.C. 654 note). 

19 SEC. 3. RELIEF FOR IMPACTED FORMER MEMBERS. 

20 (a) REVIEW OF DISCHARGE.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense 

22 shall review and update existing guidance to ensure 

23 that the appropriate discharge board for the military 

24 departments concerned shall review a discharge 

25 characterization of the covered member as required 


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1 under section 527 of the National Defense Author2 ization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 at the request of 

3 a covered member, or their representative, notwith4 standing any requirements to provide documentation 

5 necessary to initiate a review of a discharge charac6 terization. 

7 (2) EXCEPTION.—The appropriate discharge 

8 board for the military departments concerned shall 

9 not be required to initiate a request for a review of 

10 a discharge as described in paragraph (1) if there is 

11 evidence available to the discharge board that is un12 related to the material request of the covered mem13 ber or the representative of the covered member but 

14 that would have reasonably substantiated the dis15 charge decision of the military department. 

16 (b) VETERANS BENEFITS.— 

17 (1) EFFECTIVE DATE OF CHANGE OF CHARAC18 TERIZATION FOR VETERANS BENEFITS.—For pur19 poses of the provision of benefits to which veterans 

20 are entitled under the laws administered by the Sec21 retary of Veterans Affairs to a covered member 

22 whose discharge characterization is changed pursu23 ant to section 527 of the National Defense Author24 ization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 (Public Law 116– 

25 92; 10 U.S.C. 1552 note), the date of discharge of 


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1 the member from the Armed Forces shall be deemed 

2 to be the effective date of the change of discharge 

3 characterization under that section. 

4 (2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this 

5 subsection shall be construed to authorize any ben6 efit to a covered member in connection with the 

7 change of discharge characterization of the member 

8 under section 527 of the National Defense Author9 ization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 (Public Law 116– 

10 92; 10 U.S.C. 1552 note) for any period before the 

11 effective date of the change of discharge character12 ization. 

Æ 


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