I 
113TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2839 
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 
JULY 25, 2013 
Mr. POCAN (for himself, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. ANDREWS, Mr. BISHOP of New 
York, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Ms. BROWNLEY of California, Mrs. 
BUSTOS, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Mr. 
CARTWRIGHT, Ms. CASTOR
of Florida, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, Mr. 
CICILLINE, Ms. CLARKE, Mr. CLAY, Mr. COHEN, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. 
CONYERS, Mr. CROWLEY, Mr. CUMMINGS, Ms. DELAURO, Ms. 
DELBENE, Mr. DEUTCH, Mr. DINGELL, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. ENGEL, Ms. 
ESTY, Mr. FARR, Mr. FATTAH, Ms. FRANKEL of Florida, Ms. GABBARD, 
Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. GUTIE´RREZ, Ms. HAHN, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, 
Mr. HIGGINS, Mr. HIMES, Mr. HOLT, Mr. HORSFORD, Mr. ISRAEL, Ms. 
JACKSON LEE, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. KENNEDY, 
Mr. KILDEE, Mr. KILMER, Mr. KIND, Ms. KUSTER, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. 
LARSEN of Washington, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. LEWIS, Ms. LOF-
GREN, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. BEN RAY LUJA´N of New 
Mexico, Ms. MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM of New Mexico, Mr. MAFFEI, 
Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY 
of New York, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. 
MICHAUD, Ms. MOORE, Mr. MORAN, Mr. MURPHY of Florida, Mrs. 
NAPOLITANO, Mr. NOLAN, Ms. NORTON, Mr. O’ROURKE, Mr. PASTOR of 
Arizona, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. PETERS of California, Ms. PINGREE of Maine, 
Mr. POLIS, Mr. QUIGLEY, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. RUSH, Mr. RYAN of 
Ohio, Ms. LINDA T. SA´NCHEZ of California, Mr. SARBANES, Ms. SCHA-
KOWSKY, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. SCHNEIDER, Ms. SCHWARTZ, Ms. SHEA-POR-
TER, Ms. SINEMA, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Ms. SPEIER, Mr. TAKANO, Ms. 
TITUS, Mr. TONKO, Ms. TSONGAS, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. VARGAS, Mr. 
VEASEY, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. WELCH, and Ms. WILSON 
of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Armed Services 
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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. 
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 ‘‘Restore Honor to Serv-
ice Members Act’’. 
SEC. 2. REVIEW OF DISCHARGE CHARACTERIZATION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—In accordance with this section, 
the appropriate discharge boards— 
(1) shall review the discharge characterization 
of covered members at the request of the covered 
member; and 
(2) if such characterization is any characteriza-
tion except honorable, may change such character-
ization to honorable. 
(b) CRITERIA.—In changing the discharge character-
ization of a covered member to honorable under subsection 
(a)(2), the Secretary of Defense shall ensure that such 
changes are carried out consistently and uniformly across 
the military departments using the following criteria: 
(1) The original discharge must be based on 
Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (in this Act referred to as 
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‘‘DADT’’) or a similar policy in place prior to the 
enactment of DADT. 
(2) Such discharge characterization shall be so 
changed if, with respect to the original discharge, 
there were no aggravating circumstances, such as 
misconduct, that would have independently led to a 
discharge characterization that was any character-
ization except honorable. For purposes of this para-
graph, such aggravating circumstances may not in-
clude— 
(A) an offense under section 925 of title 
10, United States Code (article 125 of the Uni-
form Code of Military Justice), committed by a 
covered member against a person of the same 
sex with the consent of such person; or 
(B) statements, consensual sexual conduct, 
or consensual acts relating to sexual orientation 
or identity, or the disclosure of such state-
ments, conduct, or acts, that were prohibited at 
the time of discharge but after the date of such 
discharge became permitted. 
(3) When requesting a review, a covered mem-
ber, or their representative, shall be required to pro-
vide either— 
(A) documents consisting of— 
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(i) a copy of the DD–214 form of the 
member; 
(ii) a personal affidavit of the cir-
cumstances surrounding the discharge; and 
(iii) any relevant records pertaining to 
the discharge; or 
(B) an affidavit certifying that the mem-
ber, or their representative, does not have the 
documents specified in subparagraph (A). 
(4) If a covered member provides an affidavit 
described in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (3)— 
(A) the appropriate discharge board shall 
make every effort to locate the documents speci-
fied in subparagraph (A) of such paragraph 
within the records of the Department of De-
fense; and 
(B) the absence of such documents may 
not be considered a reason to deny a change of 
the discharge characterization under subsection 
(a)(2). 
(c) REQUEST FOR REVIEW.—The appropriate dis-
charge board shall ensure the mechanism by which covered 
members, or their representative, may request to have the 
discharge characterization of the covered member reviewed 
under this section is simple and straightforward. 
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(d) REVIEW.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—After a request has been 
made under subsection (c), the appropriate dis-
charge board shall review all relevant laws, records 
of oral testimony previously taken, service records, 
or any other relevant information regarding the dis-
charge characterization of the covered member. 
(2) ADDITIONAL
MATERIALS.—If additional 
materials are necessary for the review, the appro-
priate discharge board— 
(A) may request additional information 
from the covered member or their representa-
tive, in writing, and specifically detailing what 
is being requested; and 
(B) shall be responsible for obtaining a 
copy of the necessary files of the covered mem-
ber from the member, or when applicable, from 
the Department of Defense. 
(e) CHANGE OF CHARACTERIZATION.—The appro-
priate discharge board shall change the discharge charac-
terization of a covered member to honorable if such change 
is determined to be appropriate after a review is conducted 
under subsection (d) pursuant to the criteria under sub-
section (b). A covered member, or the representative of 
the member, may appeal a decision by the appropriate dis-
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charge board to not change the discharge characterization 
by using the regular appeals process of the board. 
(f) CHANGE OF RECORDS.—For each covered mem-
ber whose discharge characterization is changed under 
subsection (e), or for each covered member who was hon-
orably discharged but whose DD–214 form reflects the 
sexual orientation of the member, the Secretary of Defense 
shall reissue to the member or their representative a re-
vised DD–214 form that reflects the following: 
(1) For each covered member discharged, the 
Separation Code, Reentry Code, Narrative Code, and 
Separation Authority shall not reflect the sexual ori-
entation of the member and shall be placed under 
secretarial authority. Any other similar indication of 
the sexual orientation or reason for discharge shall 
be removed or changed accordingly to be consistent 
with this paragraph. 
(2) For each covered member whose discharge 
occurred prior to the creation of general secretarial 
authority, the sections of the DD–214 form referred 
to paragraph (1) shall be changed to similarly reflect 
a universal authority with codes, authorities, and 
language applicable at the time of discharge. 
(g) STATUS.— 
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(1) IN GENERAL.—Each covered member whose 
discharge characterization is changed under sub-
section (e) shall be treated without regard to the 
original discharge characterization of the member, 
including for purposes of— 
(A) benefits provided by the Federal Gov-
ernment to an individual by reason of service in 
the Armed Forces; and 
(B) all recognitions and honors that the 
Secretary of Defense provides to members of 
the Armed Forces. 
(2) REINSTATEMENT.—In carrying out para-
graph (1)(B), the Secretary shall reinstate all rec-
ognitions and honors of a covered member whose 
discharge characterization is changed under sub-
section (e) that the Secretary withheld because of 
the original discharge characterization of the mem-
ber. 
(h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) The term ‘‘appropriate discharge board’’ 
means the boards for correction of military records 
under section 1552 of title 10, United States Code, 
or the discharge review boards under section 1553 
of such title, as the case may be. 
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(2) The term ‘‘covered member’’ means any 
former member of the Armed Forces who was dis-
charged from the Armed Forces because of the sex-
ual orientation of the member. 
(3) The term ‘‘discharge characterization’’ 
means the characterization under which a member 
of the Armed Forces is discharged or released, in-
cluding ‘‘dishonorable’’, ‘‘general’’, ‘‘other than hon-
orable’’, and ‘‘honorable’’. 
(4) The term ‘‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’’ means 
section 654 of title 10, United States Code, as in ef-
fect before such section was repealed pursuant to the 
Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal Act of 2010 (Public 
Law 111–321). 
(5) The term ‘‘representative’’ means the sur-
viving spouse, next of kin, or legal representative of 
a covered member. 
SEC. 3. REPORTS. 
(a) REVIEW.—The Secretary of Defense shall con-
duct a review of the consistency and uniformity of the re-
views conducted under section 2. 
(b) REPORTS.—Not later than 270 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, and each year thereafter 
for a four-year period, the Secretary shall submit to Con-
gress a report on the reviews under subsection (a). Such 
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