[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5447 Introduced in House (IH)]






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 
   Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committee on 
Education and the Workforce, 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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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 Representatives 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 Women'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 become pregnant.
            (3) The response to such possibilities and actualities was 
        Executive Order 10240, signed by President Harry S. Truman in 
        1951, which granted the Armed Forces the authority to 
        involuntarily discharge a woman if she became pregnant, gave 
        birth to a child, or became a parent by adoption or a 
        stepparent.
            (4) The Armed Forces responded to the Executive Order by 
        systematically discharging any woman in the Armed Forces who 
        became pregnant, regardless of whether the pregnancy was 
        intentional, unintentional, 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 retention in the military, many of the 
        women who were involuntarily discharged were not offered such 
        opportunity.
            (6) The Armed Forces did not provide required separation 
        benefits, counseling, or assistance to the service women who 
        were discharged due to pregnancy.
            (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 children up for adoption, and that, in some cases, 
        some women committed suicide as a result of their involuntary 
        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 mandatory 
        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 Congress 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 expresses deep remorse 
for the women who patriotically served in the Armed Forces, but were 
forced, by official United States policy, to endure unnecessary and 
discriminatory actions, including the violation of their constitutional 
right to due process of law, simply because they became 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 allowances 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 Secretary 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 earlier 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 involuntary 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, insured, 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 guaranteed 
        under such part before the date of the enactment 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 prescribed 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 offspring 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 discharge of indebtedness of individuals described in 
subsection (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 required by this section.

SEC. 6. HEALTH BENEFITS.

     Health benefits shall be available under section 1086 of title 10, 
United States Code, to eligible persons described 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 VETERANS INVOLUNTARILY 
              DISCHARGED DUE TO PREGNANCY.

    The Secretary of Defense shall establish a standard discharge code 
(including a discharge ``cause'' reenlistment code and other related 
information) for women veterans 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 application 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 Defense should 
establish policies to encourage women veterans who before 1976 were 
involuntarily discharged from the Armed Forces due to pregnancy to 
continue to serve the Nation.
                                 <all>