I
107TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 5447
To express the remorse of Congress for the policy of the Department of
Defense in effect until 1976 providing for involuntary separation of
female members of the Armed Forces who became pregnant while in
service and to take certain steps to make amends for the effects of
that policy.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
SEPTEMBER 24, 2002
Ms. MCKINNEY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committee on Edu-
cation and the Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined by
the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall with-
in the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To express the remorse of Congress for the policy of the
Department of Defense in effect until 1976 providing
for involuntary separation of female members of the
Armed Forces who became pregnant while in service
and to take certain steps to make amends for the effects
of that policy.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Women Discharged
From the Military Due to Pregnancy Relief Act of 2002’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) In June 1948, Congress enacted the Wom-
en’s Armed Services Integration Act of 1948, which
formally authorized the appointment and enlistment
of women in the regular components of the United
States Armed Forces.
(2) With the expansion of the Armed Forces to
include women, the possibility arose for the first
time that members of the Armed Forces could be-
come pregnant.
(3) The response to such possibilities and actu-
alities was Executive Order 10240, signed by Presi-
dent Harry S. Truman in 1951, which granted the
Armed Forces the authority to involuntarily dis-
charge a woman if she became pregnant, gave birth
to a child, or became a parent by adoption or a step-
parent.
(4) The Armed Forces responded to the Execu-
tive Order by systematically discharging any woman
in the Armed Forces who became pregnant, regard-
less of whether the pregnancy was intentional, unin-
tentional, or the result of sexual abuse.
(5) Although the Armed Forces were required
to offer women who were involuntarily discharged
due to pregnancy the opportunity to request reten-
tion in the military, many of the women who were
involuntarily discharged were not offered such op-
portunity.
(6) The Armed Forces did not provide required
separation benefits, counseling, or assistance to the
service women who were discharged due to preg-
nancy.
(7) It is documented that as many as 7,000
service women were involuntarily discharged from
the Armed Forces as a result of pregnancy.
(8) There are reports that the practice of the
Armed Forces to systematically discharge pregnant
women from the service caused some women to seek
abortions (illegal at the time) or to put their chil-
dren up for adoption, and that, in some cases, some
women committed suicide as a result of their invol-
untary discharge from the Armed Forces.
(9) Such involuntary discharge from the Armed
Forces on the basis of pregnancy was challenged in
Federal district court by Stephanie Crawford in
1975, whose legal argument stated that the practice
of this type of discharge violated her constitutional
right to due process of law.
(10) The United States Court of Appeals for
the Second Circuit ruled in Stephanie Crawford’s
favor in 1976 and found that the Executive Order
and any regulations within the Armed Forces that
made discharge from the military services manda-
tory due to pregnancy were unconstitutional.
(11) By 1976, all regulations that permitted
discharge of a servicewoman from the Armed Forces
because of pregnancy or any form of parenthood had
been rescinded.
SEC. 3. EXPRESSION OF CONGRESSIONAL REMORSE FOR
POLICY OF INVOLUNTARY DISCHARGES DUE
TO PREGNANCY.
(a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-
gress that the women who served in the United States
Armed Forces before February 23, 1976, and who were
involuntarily discharged due to pregnancy should not have
been involuntarily discharged due to the physical status
of pregnancy.
(b) EXPRESSION OF REMORSE.—Congress hereby ex-
presses deep remorse for the women who patriotically
served in the Armed Forces, but were forced, by official
United States policy, to endure unnecessary and discrimi-
natory actions, including the violation of their constitu-
tional right to due process of law, simply because they be-
came pregnant while a member of the Armed Forces.
SEC. 4. PAYMENT OF PAY AND ALLOWANCES NOT PAID BY
REASON OF INVOLUNTARY DISCHARGE DUE
TO PREGNANCY.
(a) DETERMINATION OF ELIGIBLE PERSONS.—The
Secretary of Defense shall identify each woman who was
involuntarily discharged or separated from the Armed
Forces due to pregnancy during the period beginning on
June 12, 1948 (the date of the enactment of the Women’s
Armed Services Integration Act of 1948), and ending on
February 23, 1976.
(b) PAYMENT OF MISSED PAY AND ALLOWANCES.—
(1) ENLISTED
MEMBERS.—The Secretary of
Defense shall pay to each woman identified under
subsection (a) (or to the estate of such woman, if
deceased) who was an enlisted member of the Armed
Forces at the time of her involuntary discharge an
amount equal to the total amount of pay and allow-
ances that the Secretary estimates would have been
paid to the woman during the remainder of her term
of enlistment or period of obligated service (if any)
had she not been involuntarily discharged due to
pregnancy.
(2) OFFICERS.—The Secretary of Defense shall
pay to each woman identified under subsection (a)
(or to the estate of such woman, if deceased) who
was an officer in the Armed Forces at the time of
her involuntary separation an amount equal to the
total amount of pay and allowances that the Sec-
retary estimates would have been paid to the woman
during a period of active duty beginning on the date
of her involuntary separation and ending on the ear-
lier of the following:
(A) The completion of five additional years
of service on active duty.
(B) The date on which she would have
completed a period of active duty equal to her
service in the Armed Forces before her involun-
tary separataion.
(3) ADJUSTMENT.—Each amount determined
under this subsection shall be adjusted for inflation,
as determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, to
the date of the payment.
SEC. 5. LOAN FORGIVENESS FOR CERTAIN STUDENT
LOANS.
(a) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section:
(1) ELIGIBLE OFFSPRING.—The term ‘‘eligible
offspring’’ means any child of an eligible person
under section 4(a) that is determined, in accordance
with regulations prescribed by the Secretary, to be
the offspring of such person from the pregnancy
that was the cause of such person’s discharge or
separation from the Armed Forces. For purposes of
this definition, it does not matter whether the child
was raised by the eligible person or adopted and
raised by another person.
(2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means
the Secretary of Education.
(3) FEDERAL
STUDENT
LOAN.—The term
‘‘Federal student loan’’ means any loan made, in-
sured, or guaranteed under part B, D, or E of title
IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, regardless
of whether the loan was made, insured, or guaran-
teed under such part before the date of the enact-
ment of this Act or is made, insured, or guaranteed
under such part on or after such date.
(b) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide for
the discharge or cancellation of the Federal student loan
indebtedness of an eligible offspring in the same manner
as is required by sections 437(a), 455(a)(1), and
464(c)(1)(F) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20
U.S.C. 1087(a), 1087e(a)(1), 1087dd(c)(1)(F)), as the
case may be.
(c) FACILITATION
OF
CLAIMS.—The Secretary
shall—
(1) by regulation, establish procedures for the
filing of applications for discharge or cancellation
under this section, which regulations shall be pre-
scribed and published within 30 days after the date
of enactment of this Act and without regard to the
requirements of section 553 of title 5, United States
Code; and
(2) take such actions as may be necessary to
publicize the availability of discharge or cancellation
of Federal student loan indebtedness for eligible off-
spring under this section.
(d) AVAILABILITY
OF FUNDS
FOR PAYMENTS.—
Funds available for the purposes of making payments to
lenders in accordance with section 437(a) for the dis-
charge of indebtedness of individuals described in sub-
section (a)(1) of this section shall be available for making
payments under section 437(a) as required by this section.
(e) NO DELAY IN REGULATIONS.—Sections 482(c)
and 492 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.
1089(c), 1098a) shall not apply to the regulations re-
quired by this section.
SEC. 6. HEALTH BENEFITS.
Health benefits shall be available under section 1086
of title 10, United States Code, to eligible persons de-
scribed in section 4(a) and eligible offspring as defined
by section 5(a) in the same manner as health benefits are
available under such section 1086 for persons covered by
subsection (c) of that section.
SEC. 7. STANDARD FORM OF DISCHARGE FOR WOMEN VET-
ERANS INVOLUNTARILY DISCHARGED DUE
TO PREGNANCY.
The Secretary of Defense shall establish a standard
discharge code (including a discharge ‘‘cause’’ reenlist-
ment code and other related information) for women vet-
erans who were involuntarily discharged from the Armed
Forces due to pregnancy between 1951 and 1976. Such
discharge code shall provide a single, uniform discharge
code, applicable to each of the Armed Forces, indicating
that the discharge was an involuntary discharge due to
pregnancy. The Secretary shall develop a means by which
each such involuntarily discharged female veteran may
apply to the Secretary to have that veteran’s discharge
documents revised to reflect the new standard discharge
code. The Secretary shall promptly issue revised discharge
documents to each female veteran submitting such an ap-
plication who the Secretary determines is eligible for such
revised documents.
SEC. 8. SENSE OF CONGRESS CONCERNING CONTINUED
SERVICE TO THE NATION.
It is the sense of Congress that the Secretary of De-
fense should establish policies to encourage women vet-
erans who before 1976 were involuntarily discharged from
the Armed Forces due to pregnancy to continue to serve
the Nation.
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