II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1991 

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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 26, 2019 

Mr. SCHATZ (for himself, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. BENNET, Mr. 

BROWN, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. CARPER, Mr. CASEY, Mr. COONS, Ms. 

DUCKWORTH, Mr. DURBIN, Ms. HARRIS, Ms. HIRONO, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, 

Mr. LEAHY, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. MURPHY, 

Mrs. SHAHEEN, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. TESTER, Mr. UDALL, Ms. WARREN, 

Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. WYDEN, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, and Mr. PETERS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services 

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’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REVIEW OF DISCHARGE CHARACTERIZATION. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—In accordance with this section, 

3 the appropriate discharge boards— 

4 (1) shall review the discharge characterization 

5 of covered members at the request of the covered 

6 member; and 

7 (2) if such characterization is any characteriza8 tion except honorable, may change such character9 ization to honorable. 

10 (b) CRITERIA.—In changing the discharge character11 ization of a covered member to honorable under subsection 

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

13 changes are carried out consistently and uniformly across 

14 the military departments using the following criteria: 

15 (1) The original discharge must be based on 

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

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

18 enactment of DADT. 

19 (2) Such discharge characterization shall be so 

20 changed if, with respect to the original discharge, 

21 there were no aggravating circumstances, such as 

22 misconduct, that would have independently led to a 

23 discharge characterization that was any character24 ization except honorable. For purposes of this para25 graph, such aggravating circumstances may not in26 clude— 


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1 (A) an offense under section 925 of title 

2 10, United States Code (article 125 of the Uni3 form Code of Military Justice), committed by a 

4 covered member against a person of the same 

5 sex with the consent of such person; or 

6 (B) statements, consensual sexual conduct, 

7 or consensual acts relating to sexual orientation 

8 or identity, or the disclosure of such state9 ments, conduct, or acts, that were prohibited at 

10 the time of discharge but after the date of such 

11 discharge became permitted. 

12 (3) When requesting a review, a covered mem13 ber, or the member’s representative, shall be re14 quired to provide either— 

15 (A) documents consisting of— 

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

17 member; 

18 (ii) a personal affidavit of the cir19 cumstances surrounding the discharge; and 

20 (iii) any relevant records pertaining to 

21 the discharge; or 

22 (B) an affidavit certifying that the mem23 ber, or the member’s representative, does not 

24 have the documents specified in subparagraph 

25 (A). 


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1 (4) If a covered member provides an affidavit 

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

3 (A) the appropriate discharge board shall 

4 make every effort to locate the documents speci5 fied in subparagraph (A) of such paragraph 

6 within the records of the Department of De7 fense; and 

8 (B) the absence of such documents may 

9 not be considered a reason to deny a change of 

10 the discharge characterization under subsection 

11 (a)(2). 

12 (c) REQUEST FOR REVIEW.—The appropriate dis13 charge board shall ensure the mechanism by which covered 

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

15 discharge characterization of the covered member reviewed 

16 under this section is simple and straightforward. 

17 (d) REVIEW.— 

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

19 made under subsection (c), the appropriate dis20 charge board shall review all relevant laws, records 

21 of oral testimony previously taken, service records, 

22 or any other relevant information regarding the dis23 charge characterization of the covered member. 


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1 (2) ADDITIONAL MATERIALS.—If additional 

2 materials are necessary for the review, the appro3 priate discharge board— 

4 (A) may request additional information 

5 from the covered member or the member’s rep6 resentative, in writing, and specifically detailing 

7 what is being requested; and 

8 (B) shall be responsible for obtaining a 

9 copy of the necessary files of the covered mem10 ber from the member, or when applicable, from 

11 the Department of Defense. 

12 (e) CHANGE OF CHARACTERIZATION.—The appro13 priate discharge board shall change the discharge charac14 terization of a covered member to honorable if such change 

15 is determined to be appropriate after a review is conducted 

16 under subsection (d) pursuant to the criteria under sub17 section (b). A covered member, or the member’s represent18 ative, may appeal a decision by the appropriate discharge 

19 board to not change the discharge characterization by 

20 using the regular appeals process of the board. 

21 (f) CHANGE OF RECORDS.—For each covered mem22 ber whose discharge characterization is changed under 

23 subsection (e), or for each covered member who was hon24 orably discharged but whose DD–214 form reflects the 

25 sexual orientation of the member, the Secretary of Defense 


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1 shall reissue to the member or the member’s representa2 tive a revised DD–214 form that reflects the following: 

3 (1) For each covered member discharged, the 

4 Separation Code, Reentry Code, Narrative Code, and 

5 Separation Authority shall not reflect the sexual ori6 entation of the member and shall be placed under 

7 secretarial authority. Any other similar indication of 

8 the sexual orientation or reason for discharge shall 

9 be removed or changed accordingly to be consistent 

10 with this paragraph. 

11 (2) For each covered member whose discharge 

12 occurred prior to the creation of general secretarial 

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

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

15 a universal authority with codes, authorities, and 

16 language applicable at the time of discharge. 

17 (g) STATUS.— 

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

19 discharge characterization is changed under sub20 section (e) shall be treated without regard to the 

21 original discharge characterization of the member, 

22 including for purposes of— 

23 (A) benefits provided by the Federal Gov24 ernment to an individual by reason of service in 

25 the Armed Forces; and 


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1 (B) all recognitions and honors that the 

2 Secretary of Defense provides to members of 

3 the Armed Forces. 

4 (2) REINSTATEMENT.—In carrying out para5 graph (1)(B), the Secretary shall reinstate all rec6 ognitions and honors of a covered member whose 

7 discharge characterization is changed under sub8 section (e) that the Secretary withheld because of 

9 the original discharge characterization of the mem10 ber. 

11 (3) EFFECTIVE DATE OF CHANGE OF CHARAC12 TERIZATION FOR VETERANS BENEFITS.—For pur13 poses of the provision of benefits to which veterans 

14 are entitled under the laws administered by the Sec15 retary of Veterans Affairs to a covered member 

16 whose discharge characterization is changed under 

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

18 from the Armed Forces shall be deemed to be the 

19 effective date of the change of discharge character20 ization under that subsection. 

21 (4) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sub22 section shall be construed to authorize any benefit to 

23 a covered member in connection with the change of 

24 discharge characterization of the member under subVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:00 Jul 01, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1991.IS S1991

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1 section (e) for any period before the effective date of 

2 the change of discharge characterization. 

3 (h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

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

5 means the boards for correction of military records 

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

7 or the discharge review boards under section 1553 

8 of such title, as the case may be. 

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

10 former member of the Armed Forces who was dis11 charged from the Armed Forces because of the sex12 ual orientation of the member. 

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

14 means the characterization under which a member 

15 of the Armed Forces is discharged or released, in16 cluding ‘‘dishonorable’’, ‘‘general’’, ‘‘other than hon17 orable’’, and ‘‘honorable’’. 

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

19 section 654 of title 10, United States Code, as in ef20 fect before such section was repealed pursuant to the 

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

22 Law 111–321). 

23 (5) The term ‘‘representative’’ means the sur24 viving spouse, next of kin, or legal representative of 

25 a covered member. 


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1 SEC. 3. TIGER TEAM FOR OUTREACH TO FORMER MEM2 BERS. 

3 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con4 gress that— 

5 (1) the mission of the Department of Defense 

6 is to provide the military forces needed to deter war 

7 and to protect the security of the United States; 

8 (2) expanding outreach to veterans impacted by 

9 DADT or a similar policy prior to the enactment of 

10 DADT is important to closing a period of history 

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

12 of the military; 

13 (3) the Department is responsible for providing 

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

15 the appropriate discharge review board or, when 

16 more than 15 years has passed, board of correction 

17 for military or naval records; and 

18 (4) the Secretary of Defense should, wherever 

19 possible, coordinate and conduct outreach to im20 pacted veterans through the veterans community 

21 and networks, including through the Department of 

22 Veterans Affairs and veterans service organizations, 

23 to ensure that veterans understand the review proc24 esses that are available to them for upgrading mili25 tary records. 

26 (b) TIGER TEAM.— 


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

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

3 of Defense shall establish a team (commonly known 

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

5 the ‘‘Tiger Team’’) responsible for conducting out6 reach to build awareness among former members of 

7 the Armed Forces of the process established pursu8 ant to section 2 for the review of discharge charac9 terizations by appropriate discharge boards. The 

10 Tiger Team shall consist of appropriate personnel of 

11 the Department of Defense assigned to the Tiger 

12 Team by the Secretary for purposes of this section. 

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

14 assigned to the Tiger Team under paragraph (1) 

15 shall be a senior-level officer or employee of the De16 partment who shall serve as the lead official of the 

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

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

19 activities of the Tiger Team under this section. 

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

21 60 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

22 the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report set23 ting forth the names of the personnel of the Depart24 ment assigned to the Tiger Team pursuant to this 

25 subsection, including the positions to which assigned. 


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1 The report shall specify the name of the individual 

2 assigned as Tiger Team Leader. 

3 (c) DUTIES.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Tiger Team shall con5 duct outreach to build awareness among veterans of 

6 the process established pursuant to section 2 for the 

7 review of discharge characterizations by appropriate 

8 discharge boards. 

9 (2) COLLABORATION.—In conducting activities 

10 under this subsection, the Tiger Team Leader shall 

11 identify appropriate external stakeholders with 

12 whom the Tiger Team shall work to carry out such 

13 activities. Such stakeholders shall include the fol14 lowing: 

15 (A) The Secretary of Veterans Affairs. 

16 (B) The Archivist of the United States. 

17 (C) Representatives of veterans service or18 ganizations. 

19 (D) Such other stakeholders as the Tiger 

20 Team Leader considers appropriate. 

21 (3) INITIAL REPORT.—Not later than 180 days 

22 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec23 retary of Defense shall submit to Congress the fol24 lowing: 

25 (A) A plan setting forth the following: 


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1 (i) A description of the manner in 

2 which the Secretary, working through the 

3 Tiger Team and in collaboration with ex4 ternal stakeholders described in paragraph 

5 (2), shall identify individuals who meet the 

6 criteria in section 2(b) for review of dis7 charge characterization. 

8 (ii) A description of the manner in 

9 which the Secretary, working through the 

10 Tiger Team and in collaboration with the 

11 external stakeholders, shall improve out12 reach to individuals who meet the criteria 

13 in section 2(b) for review of discharge 

14 characterization, including through— 

15 (I) obtaining contact information 

16 on such individuals; and 

17 (II) contacting such individuals 

18 on the process established pursuant to 

19 section 2 for the review of discharge 

20 characterizations. 

21 (B) A description of the manner in which 

22 the work described in clauses (i) and (ii) of sub23 paragraph (A) will be carried out, including an 

24 allocation of the work among the Tiger Team 

25 and the external stakeholders. 


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1 (C) A schedule for the implementation, 

2 carrying out, and completion of the plan re3 quired under subparagraph (A). 

4 (D) A description of the additional fund5 ing, personnel, or other resources of the De6 partment required to carry out the plan re7 quired under subparagraph (A), including any 

8 modification of applicable statutory or adminis9 trative authorities. 

10 (4) IMPLEMENTATION OF PLAN.— 

11 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall im12 plement and carry out the plan submitted under 

13 subparagraph (A) of paragraph (3) in accord14 ance with the schedule submitted under sub15 paragraph (C) of that paragraph. 

16 (B) UPDATES.—Not less frequently than 

17 once every 90 days after the submittal of the 

18 report under paragraph (3), the Tiger Team 

19 shall submit to Congress an update on the car20 rying out of the plan submitted under subpara21 graph (A) of that paragraph. 

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

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

24 Tiger Team shall submit to the appropriate commit25 tees of Congress a final report on the activities of 


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1 the Tiger Team under this subsection. The report 

2 shall set forth the following: 

3 (A) The number of individuals discharged 

4 under DADT or a similar policy prior to the en5 actment of DADT. 

6 (B) The number of individuals described in 

7 subparagraph (A) who availed themselves of a 

8 review of discharge characterization (whether 

9 through discharge review or correction of mili10 tary records) through a process established 

11 prior to the enactment of this Act. 

12 (C) The number of individuals contacted 

13 through outreach conducted pursuant to this 

14 section. 

15 (D) The number of individuals described in 

16 subparagraph (A) who availed themselves of a 

17 review of discharge characterization through the 

18 process established pursuant to section 2. 

19 (E) The number of individuals described in 

20 subparagraph (D) whose review of discharge 

21 characterization resulted in a change of charac22 terization to honorable discharge. 

23 (F) The total number of individuals de24 scribed in subparagraph (A), including individ25 uals also covered by subparagraph (E), whose 


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1 review of discharge characterization since Sep2 tember 20, 2011 (the date of repeal of DADT), 

3 resulted in a change of characterization to hon4 orable discharge. 

5 (6) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CONGRESS

6 DEFINED.—In this subsection, the term ‘‘appro7 priate committees of Congress’’ means— 

8 (A) the Committee on Armed Services of 

9 the Senate; and 

10 (B) the Committee on Armed Services of 

11 the House of Representatives. 

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

13 the date on which the final report required by paragraph 

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

15 Team. 

16 SEC. 4. REPORTS. 

17 (a) REVIEW.—The Secretary of Defense shall con18 duct a review of the consistency and uniformity of the re19 views conducted under section 2. 

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

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

22 for a four-year period, the Secretary shall submit to Con23 gress a report on the reviews under subsection (a). Such 

24 reports shall include any comments or recommendations 

25 for continued actions. 


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1 SEC. 5. HISTORICAL REVIEW. 

2 The Secretary of each military department shall en3 sure that oral historians of the department— 

4 (1) review the facts and circumstances sur5 rounding the estimated 100,000 members of the 

6 Armed Forces discharged from the Armed Forces 

7 between World War II and September 2011 because 

8 of the sexual orientation of the member; and 

9 (2) receive oral testimony of individuals who 

10 personally experienced discrimination and discharge 

11 because of the actual or perceived sexual orientation 

12 of the individual so that such testimony may serve 

13 as an official record of these discriminatory policies 

14 and their impact on American lives. 

Æ 


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