I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8268 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans 

Affairs to furnish mental and behavioral health care to certain individuals 

discharged or released from the active military, naval, or air service 

under conditions other than honorable, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 16, 2020 

Ms. ESCOBAR introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to furnish mental and behavioral health care to certain individuals discharged or 

released from the active military, naval, or air service 

under conditions other than honorable, 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 ‘‘Honor Our Commit5 ment Act of 2020’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ACCESS TO DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS 

2 MENTAL AND BEHAVIORAL HEALTH CARE 

3 FOR CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS DISCHARGED OR 

4 RELEASED FROM THE ACTIVE MILITARY, 

5 NAVAL, OR AIR SERVICE UNDER CONDITIONS 

6 OTHER THAN HONORABLE. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 17 of 

8 title 38, United States Code, is amended by inserting after 

9 section 1712C the following new section: 

10 ‘‘§ 1712D. Mental and behavioral health care for cer11 tain individuals discharged or released 

12 from the active military, naval, or air 

13 service under conditions other than hon14 orable 

15 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 5303(a) 

16 of this title and subject to subsection (c), the Secretary 

17 shall furnish to an eligible individual covered mental and 

18 behavioral health care. 

19 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUALS.—For purposes of this 

20 section, an eligible individual is any of the following: 

21 ‘‘(1) An individual who— 

22 ‘‘(A) served in the active military, naval, or 

23 air service for a period of more than 180 days 

24 and was deployed in a theater of combat oper25 ations or an area at a time during which hosVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:45 Sep 25, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8268.IH H8268

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1 tilities are occurring in that area for a period 

2 of more than 30 days during such service; 

3 ‘‘(B) was discharged or released from such 

4 service by reason of committing a covered of5 fense; and 

6 ‘‘(C) was diagnosed by a qualified mental 

7 health care provider with a mental or behavioral 

8 health condition before committing the covered 

9 offense. 

10 ‘‘(2) An individual who— 

11 ‘‘(A) served in the active military, naval, or 

12 air service for a period of more than 180 days 

13 and was deployed in a theater of combat oper14 ations or an area at a time during which hos15 tilities are occurring in that area for a period 

16 of more than 30 days during such service; 

17 ‘‘(B) was discharged or released from such 

18 service by reason of committing a covered of19 fense; 

20 ‘‘(C) is diagnosed with a mental or behav21 ioral health condition after committing such 

22 covered offense but before the expiration of the 

23 five-year period beginning on the later of— 

24 ‘‘(i) the date of the enactment of the 

25 Honor Our Commitment Act of 2020; or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the date on which the individual 

2 is discharged or released from such service; 

3 ‘‘(D) submits to the Secretary— 

4 ‘‘(i) a certification from a qualified 

5 mental health care provider that the pro6 vider believes such condition may have led 

7 the individual to commit such offense; and 

8 ‘‘(ii) the Certificate of Release or Dis9 charge from Active Duty (DD Form 214) 

10 of the individual; and 

11 ‘‘(E) is determined by the Secretary pursu12 ant to subsection (c) to have had a mental or 

13 behavioral health condition at the time the indi14 vidual committed the covered offense that con15 tributed to the commission of the offense. 

16 ‘‘(c) DETERMINATION BY SECRETARY.—(1) Not later 

17 than 90 days after receiving the information submitted 

18 under subsection (b)(2)(D) with respect to an individual, 

19 the Secretary shall determine whether, at the time of com20 mitting the covered offense, the individual had a mental 

21 or behavioral health condition that contributed to the com22 mission of the offense. 

23 ‘‘(2) If the Secretary does not make a determination 

24 under paragraph (1) with respect to a mental or behav25 ioral health condition of an individual before the end of 


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1 the 90-day period beginning on the date of the submittal 

2 of the information described in subsection (b)(2)(D), the 

3 condition is deemed to be a mental or behavioral health 

4 condition that contributed to the commission of the of5 fense until such time as the Secretary makes the deter6 mination. 

7 ‘‘(d) INITIAL MENTAL HEALTH SCREENING.—(1) 

8 The Secretary may furnish to each individual described 

9 in paragraph (2) an initial mental health screening not 

10 later than the later of— 

11 ‘‘(A) five years after the date of the enactment 

12 of the Honor Our Commitment Act of 2020; or 

13 ‘‘(B) five years after the date on which the indi14 vidual was discharged or released from the active 

15 military, naval, or air service. 

16 ‘‘(2) Individuals described in this paragraph are the 

17 following: 

18 ‘‘(A) Eligible individuals described in subsection 

19 (b)(1). 

20 ‘‘(B) Individuals described in subparagraphs 

21 (A), (B), and (C) of subsection (b)(2). 

22 ‘‘(3) The mental health screening provided to an indi23 vidual under paragraph (1) shall be at no cost to the indi24 vidual. 


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1 ‘‘(e) NOTIFICATION OF ELIGIBILITY.—The Secretary 

2 shall notify each eligible individual described in subsection 

3 (b)(1) about the eligibility of the individual for covered 

4 mental and behavioral health care under this section not 

5 later than the later of— 

6 ‘‘(1) 180 days after the date of the enactment 

7 of the Honor Our Commitment Act of 2020; or 

8 ‘‘(2) 180 days after the date on which the indi9 vidual was discharged or released from the active 

10 military, naval, or air service. 

11 ‘‘(f) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not less frequently than an12 nually, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on 

13 Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Vet14 erans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives a report 

15 that includes, with respect to the year preceding the sub16 mittal of the report, the following: 

17 ‘‘(1) The number of eligible individuals who 

18 were furnished covered mental and behavioral health 

19 care under this section. 

20 ‘‘(2) The number of individuals who the Sec21 retary determined under subsection (c) did not have 

22 a mental or behavioral health condition at the time 

23 of committing a covered offense that contributed to 

24 the commission of the offense. 


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1 ‘‘(3) The number of individuals who requested 

2 an initial mental health screening under subsection 

3 (d). 

4 ‘‘(4) The number of individuals who were fur5 nished an initial mental health screening under sub6 section (d). 

7 ‘‘(g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

8 ‘‘(1) The term ‘covered mental and behavioral 

9 health care’ means the same types of medical serv10 ices furnished by the Department to individuals with 

11 service-connected mental or behavioral health condi12 tions to treat such conditions. 

13 ‘‘(2) The term ‘covered offense’ means an of14 fense for which an individual is discharged or sepa15 rated from the active military, naval, or air service 

16 under conditions other than honorable but not a dis17 honorable discharge or a discharge by court-martial. 

18 ‘‘(3) The term ‘qualified mental health care 

19 provider’ means a licensed or certified health care 

20 provider whose scope of practice includes diagnosing 

21 mental or behavioral health conditions and includes 

22 physicians, psychologists, psychiatric nurse practi23 tioners, physician assistants, clinical social workers, 

24 and licensed professional counselors.’’. 


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1 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

2 at the beginning of chapter 17 of such title is amended 

3 by inserting after the item relating to section 1712C the 

4 following new item: 

‘‘1712D. Mental and behavioral health care for certain individuals discharged 

or released from the active military, naval, or air service under 

conditions other than honorable.’’. 

5 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Section 1712D of title 38, 

6 United States Code, as added by subsection (a), shall take 

7 effect on the date that is 120 days after the date of the 

8 enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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