II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4172 

To amend the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022 

to modify the limitation on discharge of members of the Armed Forces 

solely on the basis of failure to obey a lawful order to receive a vaccine 

for COVID–19, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 10, 2022 

Mr. CRUZ (for himself, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. HAWLEY, Mr. MARSHALL, Mr. SCOTT

of Florida, Mr. JOHNSON, Mr. CRAPO, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. PAUL, Mr. 

HOEVEN, Mr. LANKFORD, Mr. RISCH, Mr. BRAUN, and Mr. DAINES) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To amend the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal 

Year 2022 to modify the limitation on discharge of members of the Armed Forces solely on the basis of failure 

to obey a lawful order to receive a vaccine for COVID– 

19, 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 ‘‘Allowing Military Ex5 emptions, Recognizing Individual Concerns About New 

6 Shots Act of 2022’’ or the ‘‘AMERICANS Act’’. 


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•S 4172 IS

1 SEC. 2. MODIFICATION OF LIMITATION ON ACTIONS BASED 

2 SOLELY ON FAILURE TO OBEY AN ORDER TO 

3 RECEIVE A VACCINE FOR COVID–19. 

4 Section 736 of the National Defense Authorization 

5 Act for Fiscal Year 2022 (Public Law 117–81) is amend6 ed— 

7 (1) by amending the section heading to read as 

8 follows: ‘‘LIMITATIONS ON PUNISHMENT SOLELY

9 ON BASIS OF FAILURE TO OBEY ORDER TO RE10 CEIVE COVID–19 VACCINE’’; 

11 (2) in subsection (a)— 

12 (A) by striking ‘‘a lawful’’ and inserting 

13 ‘‘an’’; and 

14 (B) by striking ‘‘shall be’’ and all that fol15 lows through the period at the end and insert16 ing ‘‘shall be an honorable discharge’’; 

17 (3) by redesignating subsection (b) as sub18 section (f); 

19 (4) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol20 lowing new subsections: 

21 ‘‘(b) PROHIBITION ON ADVERSE ACTION.—The Sec22 retary of Defense may not take any adverse action against 

23 a covered member based solely on the refusal of such 

24 member to receive a vaccine for COVID–19. 

25 ‘‘(c) REMEDIES AVAILABLE FOR A COVERED MEM26 BER DISCHARGED OR PUNISHED BASED ON COVID–19 


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•S 4172 IS

1 STATUS.—At the election of a covered member and upon 

2 application through a process established by the Secretary 

3 of Defense, the Secretary shall— 

4 ‘‘(1) adjust to ‘honorable discharge’ the status 

5 of the member if— 

6 ‘‘(A) the member was separated from the 

7 Armed Forces based solely on the failure of the 

8 member to obey an order to receive a vaccine 

9 for COVID–19; and 

10 ‘‘(B) the discharge status of the member 

11 would have been an ‘honorable discharge’ but 

12 for the refusal to obtain such vaccine; 

13 ‘‘(2) reinstate the member at the grade held by 

14 the member immediately prior to the involuntary 

15 separation of the member; 

16 ‘‘(3) expunge from the service record of the 

17 member any reference to any adverse action based 

18 solely on COVID–19 status, including involuntary 

19 separation; and 

20 ‘‘(4) include the time of involuntary separation 

21 of the member reinstated under paragraph (2) in the 

22 computation of the retired or retainer pay of the 

23 member. 

24 ‘‘(d) ATTEMPT TO AVOID DISCHARGE.—The Sec25 retary of Defense shall— 


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•S 4172 IS

1 ‘‘(1) make every effort to retain members of the 

2 Armed Forces who are not vaccinated against 

3 COVID–19; 

4 ‘‘(2) create an exemption to the requirement 

5 that members of the Armed Forces be vaccinated 

6 against COVID–19 for such members with natural 

7 immunity; and 

8 ‘‘(3) recognize an exemption to the requirement 

9 that members of the Armed Forces be vaccinated 

10 against COVID–19 based on an underlying health 

11 condition or the sincerely held religious beliefs of an 

12 individual member. 

13 ‘‘(e) REPORT ON RELIGIOUS EXEMPTIONS TO

14 COVID–19 VACCINE.—Not later than 90 days after the 

15 date of the enactment of the Allowing Military Exemp16 tions, Recognizing Individual Concerns About New Shots 

17 Act of 2022, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to Con18 gress a report on the number of religious exemptions sub19 mitted by members of Armed Forces for the requirement 

20 that such members be vaccinated against COVID–19, 

21 which shall include how many were approved and how 

22 many denied, disaggregated by religious denomination.’’; 

23 and 

24 (5) in subsection (f), as redesignated by para25 graph (3)— 


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•S 4172 IS

1 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and 

2 (2) as paragraphs (2) and (3), respectively; 

3 (B) inserting before paragraph (2) the fol4 lowing new paragraph (1): 

5 ‘‘(1) The term ‘adverse action’ includes dis6 charge, punishment, retaliation, disparate treatment, 

7 a requirement to wear a mask, or a requirement to 

8 reside in sub-standard housing or endure sub-stand9 ard conditions.’’; and 

10 (C) in paragraph (3), as redesignated by 

11 subparagraph (A)— 

12 (i) by striking ‘‘means a member’’ and 

13 inserting ‘‘means— 

14 ‘‘(A) a member’’; 

15 (ii) in subparagraph (A), as des16 ignated by clause (i), by striking the period 

17 at the end and insert a semicolon; and 

18 (iii) by adding at the end the fol19 lowing new subparagraphs: 

20 ‘‘(B) an individual enrolled at a military 

21 service academy; or 

22 ‘‘(C) an individual enrolled in the Junior 

23 Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC) or 


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•S 4172 IS

1 Senior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps 

2 (SROTC) program.’’. 

Æ 


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