I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3517 

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 

JUNE 26, 2019 

Mr. POCAN (for himself, Ms. HILL of California, Mr. BEYER, Mr. PAPPAS, 

Ms. LEE of California, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Mr. DEUTCH, Ms. TITUS, 

Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. TONKO, Mrs. MURPHY, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. COHEN, Mr. AGUILAR, Ms. BROWNLEY of California, Mr. 

HIMES, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Ms. SCANLON, Mr. PETERS, Mrs. WATSON

COLEMAN, Mr. CA ́RDENAS, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. WELCH, Mr. SOTO, 

Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. SCHNEIDER, Ms. MOORE, Ms. 

DELBENE, Mr. YARMUTH, Ms. FRANKEL, Mr. HIGGINS of New York, 

Mr. PANETTA, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. RUSH, Miss RICE of New York, Mr. 

SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. GALLEGO, 

Ms. NORTON, Ms. MENG, Mr. KIND, Mr. DESAULNIER, Mr. KILMER, Mr. 

SWALWELL of California, Mr. PERLMUTTER, Ms. HAALAND, Ms. BLUNT

ROCHESTER, Mr. RYAN, Mr. LIPINSKI, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. 

KHANNA, Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts, Mr. KENNEDY, Mrs. CAROLYN

B. MALONEY of New York, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. RASKIN, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, 

Mr. TAKANO, Ms. SA ́NCHEZ, Mr. FOSTER, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. LAWSON

of Florida, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. SCHRADER, Mr. BROWN of Maryland, 

Mr. GARCI ́A of Illinois, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. CASE, Mr. HECK, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mrs. BEATTY, Mr. MORELLE, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. 

SCHIFF, Ms. WILD, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. 

COX of California, Ms. OMAR, Ms. STEVENS, Mr. CRIST, Ms. ESCOBAR, 

Mr. VEASEY, Ms. BASS, Ms. PORTER, Mr. LANGEVIN, Ms. PRESSLEY, 

Mr. CONNOLLY, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. ROSE of New York, Ms. CASTOR of 

Florida, Ms. SHERRILL, Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Ms. 

SLOTKIN, Mr. SARBANES, Mrs. TORRES of California, Mr. STANTON, and 

Ms. TORRES SMALL of New Mexico) 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 


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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 


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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 the member’s representative, shall be re24 quired to provide either— 

25 (A) documents consisting of— 


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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 the member’s representative, does not 

9 have the documents specified in subparagraph 

10 (A). 

11 (4) If a covered member provides an affidavit 

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

13 (A) the appropriate discharge board shall 

14 make every effort to locate the documents speci15 fied in subparagraph (A) of such paragraph 

16 within the records of the Department of De17 fense; and 

18 (B) the absence of such documents may 

19 not be considered a reason to deny a change of 

20 the discharge characterization under subsection 

21 (a)(2). 

22 (c) REQUEST FOR REVIEW.—The appropriate dis23 charge board shall ensure the mechanism by which covered 

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


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1 discharge characterization of the covered member reviewed 

2 under this section is simple and straightforward. 

3 (d) REVIEW.— 

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

5 made under subsection (c), the appropriate dis6 charge board shall review all relevant laws, records 

7 of oral testimony previously taken, service records, 

8 or any other relevant information regarding the dis9 charge characterization of the covered member. 

10 (2) ADDITIONAL MATERIALS.—If additional 

11 materials are necessary for the review, the appro12 priate discharge board— 

13 (A) may request additional information 

14 from the covered member or the member’s rep15 resentative, in writing, and specifically detailing 

16 what is being requested; and 

17 (B) shall be responsible for obtaining a 

18 copy of the necessary files of the covered mem19 ber from the member, or when applicable, from 

20 the Department of Defense. 

21 (e) CHANGE OF CHARACTERIZATION.—The appro22 priate discharge board shall change the discharge charac23 terization of a covered member to honorable if such change 

24 is determined to be appropriate after a review is conducted 

25 under subsection (d) pursuant to the criteria under subVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:49 Jul 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3517.IH H3517

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1 section (b). A covered member, or the member’s represent2 ative, may appeal a decision by the appropriate discharge 

3 board to not change the discharge characterization by 

4 using the regular appeals process of the board. 

5 (f) CHANGE OF RECORDS.—For each covered mem6 ber whose discharge characterization is changed under 

7 subsection (e), or for each covered member who was hon8 orably discharged but whose DD–214 form reflects the 

9 sexual orientation of the member, the Secretary of Defense 

10 shall reissue to the member or the member’s representa11 tive a revised DD–214 form that reflects the following: 

12 (1) For each covered member discharged, the 

13 Separation Code, Reentry Code, Narrative Code, and 

14 Separation Authority shall not reflect the sexual ori15 entation of the member and shall be placed under 

16 secretarial authority. Any other similar indication of 

17 the sexual orientation or reason for discharge shall 

18 be removed or changed accordingly to be consistent 

19 with this paragraph. 

20 (2) For each covered member whose discharge 

21 occurred prior to the creation of general secretarial 

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

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

24 a universal authority with codes, authorities, and 

25 language applicable at the time of discharge. 


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1 (g) STATUS.— 

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

3 discharge characterization is changed under sub4 section (e) shall be treated without regard to the 

5 original discharge characterization of the member, 

6 including for purposes of— 

7 (A) benefits provided by the Federal Gov8 ernment to an individual by reason of service in 

9 the Armed Forces; and 

10 (B) all recognitions and honors that the 

11 Secretary of Defense provides to members of 

12 the Armed Forces. 

13 (2) REINSTATEMENT.—In carrying out para14 graph (1)(B), the Secretary shall reinstate all rec15 ognitions and honors of a covered member whose 

16 discharge characterization is changed under sub17 section (e) that the Secretary withheld because of 

18 the original discharge characterization of the mem19 ber. 

20 (3) EFFECTIVE DATE OF CHANGE OF CHARAC21 TERIZATION FOR VETERANS BENEFITS.—For pur22 poses of the provision of benefits to which veterans 

23 are entitled under the laws administered by the Sec24 retary of Veterans Affairs to a covered member 

25 whose discharge characterization is changed under 


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1 subsection (e), the date of discharge of the member 

2 from the Armed Forces shall be deemed to be the 

3 effective date of the change of discharge character4 ization under that subsection. 

5 (4) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sub6 section shall be construed to authorize any benefit to 

7 a covered member in connection with the change of 

8 discharge characterization of the member under sub9 section (e) for any period before the effective date of 

10 the change of discharge characterization. 

11 (h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

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

13 means the boards for correction of military records 

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

15 or the discharge review boards under section 1553 

16 of such title, as the case may be. 

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

18 former member of the Armed Forces who was dis19 charged from the Armed Forces because of the sex20 ual orientation of the member. 

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

22 means the characterization under which a member 

23 of the Armed Forces is discharged or released, in24 cluding ‘‘dishonorable’’, ‘‘general’’, ‘‘other than hon25 orable’’, and ‘‘honorable’’. 


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

2 section 654 of title 10, United States Code, as in ef3 fect before such section was repealed pursuant to the 

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

5 Law 111–321). 

6 (5) The term ‘‘representative’’ means the sur7 viving spouse, next of kin, or legal representative of 

8 a covered member. 

9 SEC. 3. TIGER TEAM FOR OUTREACH TO FORMER MEM10 BERS. 

11 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con12 gress that— 

13 (1) the mission of the Department of Defense 

14 is to provide the military forces needed to deter war 

15 and to protect the security of the United States; 

16 (2) expanding outreach to veterans impacted by 

17 DADT or a similar policy prior to the enactment of 

18 DADT is important to closing a period of history 

19 harmful to the creed of integrity, respect, and honor 

20 of the military; 

21 (3) the Department is responsible for providing 

22 for the review of a veteran’s military record before 

23 the appropriate discharge review board or, when 

24 more than 15 years has passed, board of correction 

25 for military or naval records; and 


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1 (4) the Secretary of Defense should, wherever 

2 possible, coordinate and conduct outreach to im3 pacted veterans through the veterans community 

4 and networks, including through the Department of 

5 Veterans Affairs and veterans service organizations, 

6 to ensure that veterans understand the review proc7 esses that are available to them for upgrading mili8 tary records. 

9 (b) TIGER TEAM.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after 

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

12 of Defense shall establish a team (commonly known 

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

14 the ‘‘Tiger Team’’) responsible for conducting out15 reach to build awareness among former members of 

16 the Armed Forces of the process established pursu17 ant to section 2 for the review of discharge charac18 terizations by appropriate discharge boards. The 

19 Tiger Team shall consist of appropriate personnel of 

20 the Department of Defense assigned to the Tiger 

21 Team by the Secretary for purposes of this section. 

22 (2) TIGER TEAM LEADER.—One of the persons 

23 assigned to the Tiger Team under paragraph (1) 

24 shall be a senior-level officer or employee of the De25 partment who shall serve as the lead official of the 


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1 Tiger Team (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Tiger 

2 Team Leader’’) and who shall be accountable for the 

3 activities of the Tiger Team under this section. 

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

5 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

6 the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report set7 ting forth the names of the personnel of the Depart8 ment assigned to the Tiger Team pursuant to this 

9 subsection, including the positions to which assigned. 

10 The report shall specify the name of the individual 

11 assigned as Tiger Team Leader. 

12 (c) DUTIES.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Tiger Team shall con14 duct outreach to build awareness among veterans of 

15 the process established pursuant to section 2 for the 

16 review of discharge characterizations by appropriate 

17 discharge boards. 

18 (2) COLLABORATION.—In conducting activities 

19 under this subsection, the Tiger Team Leader shall 

20 identify appropriate external stakeholders with 

21 whom the Tiger Team shall work to carry out such 

22 activities. Such stakeholders shall include the fol23 lowing: 

24 (A) The Secretary of Veterans Affairs. 

25 (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 180 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 2(b) for review of dis16 charge characterization. 

17 (ii) A description of the manner in 

18 which the Secretary, working through the 

19 Tiger Team and in collaboration with the 

20 external stakeholders, shall improve out21 reach to individuals who meet the criteria 

22 in section 2(b) for review of discharge 

23 characterization, including through— 

24 (I) obtaining contact information 

25 on such individuals; and 


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1 (II) contacting such individuals 

2 on the process established pursuant to 

3 section 2 for the review of discharge 

4 characterizations. 

5 (B) A description of the manner in which 

6 the work described in clauses (i) and (ii) of sub7 paragraph (A) will be carried out, including an 

8 allocation of the work among the Tiger Team 

9 and the external stakeholders. 

10 (C) A schedule for the implementation, 

11 carrying out, and completion of the plan re12 quired under subparagraph (A). 

13 (D) A description of the additional fund14 ing, personnel, or other resources of the De15 partment required to carry out the plan re16 quired under subparagraph (A), including any 

17 modification of applicable statutory or adminis18 trative authorities. 

19 (4) IMPLEMENTATION OF PLAN.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall im21 plement and carry out the plan submitted under 

22 subparagraph (A) of paragraph (3) in accord23 ance with the schedule submitted under sub24 paragraph (C) of that paragraph. 


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1 (B) UPDATES.—Not less frequently than 

2 once every 90 days after the submittal of the 

3 report under paragraph (3), the Tiger Team 

4 shall submit to Congress an update on the car5 rying out of the plan submitted under subpara6 graph (A) of that paragraph. 

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

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

9 Tiger Team shall submit to the appropriate commit10 tees of Congress a final report on the activities of 

11 the Tiger Team under this subsection. The report 

12 shall set forth the following: 

13 (A) The number of individuals discharged 

14 under DADT or a similar policy prior to the en15 actment of DADT. 

16 (B) The number of individuals described in 

17 subparagraph (A) who availed themselves of a 

18 review of discharge characterization (whether 

19 through discharge review or correction of mili20 tary records) through a process established 

21 prior to the enactment of this Act. 

22 (C) The number of individuals contacted 

23 through outreach conducted pursuant to this 

24 section. 


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1 (D) The number of individuals described in 

2 subparagraph (A) who availed themselves of a 

3 review of discharge characterization through the 

4 process established pursuant to section 2. 

5 (E) The number of individuals described in 

6 subparagraph (D) whose review of discharge 

7 characterization resulted in a change of charac8 terization to honorable discharge. 

9 (F) The total number of individuals de10 scribed in subparagraph (A), including individ11 uals also covered by subparagraph (E), whose 

12 review of discharge characterization since Sep13 tember 20, 2011 (the date of repeal of DADT), 

14 resulted in a change of characterization to hon15 orable discharge. 

16 (6) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CONGRESS

17 DEFINED.—In this subsection, the term ‘‘appro18 priate committees of Congress’’ means— 

19 (A) the Committee on Armed Services of 

20 the Senate; and 

21 (B) the Committee on Armed Services of 

22 the House of Representatives. 

23 (d) TERMINATION.—On the date that is 60 days after 

24 the date on which the final report required by paragraph 


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1 (5) is submitted, the Secretary shall terminate the Tiger 

2 Team. 

3 SEC. 4. REPORTS. 

4 (a) REVIEW.—The Secretary of Defense shall con5 duct a review of the consistency and uniformity of the re6 views conducted under section 2. 

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

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

9 for a four-year period, the Secretary shall submit to Con10 gress a report on the reviews under subsection (a). Such 

11 reports shall include any comments or recommendations 

12 for continued actions. 

13 SEC. 5. HISTORICAL REVIEW. 

14 The Secretary of each military department shall en15 sure that oral historians of the department— 

16 (1) review the facts and circumstances sur17 rounding the estimated 100,000 members of the 

18 Armed Forces discharged from the Armed Forces 

19 between World War II and September 2011 because 

20 of the sexual orientation of the member; and 

21 (2) receive oral testimony of individuals who 

22 personally experienced discrimination and discharge 

23 because of the actual or perceived sexual orientation 

24 of the individual so that such testimony may serve 


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1 as an official record of these discriminatory policies 

2 and their impact on American lives. 

Æ 


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