[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6574 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6574

   To amend title 10, United States Code, to require a review of the 
  separation of members of the Armed Forces on the basis of a mental 
  condition not amounting to disability, including separation on the 
             basis of a personality or adjustment disorder.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 12, 2012

  Mr. Walz of Minnesota (for himself, Mr. Rooney, Mr. Denham, and Ms. 
Pingree of Maine) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
                    the Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend title 10, United States Code, to require a review of the 
  separation of members of the Armed Forces on the basis of a mental 
  condition not amounting to disability, including separation on the 
             basis of a personality or adjustment disorder.

    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 ``Servicemember Mental Health Review 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

            (1) Since September 11, 2001, approximately 30,000 veterans 
        have been separated from the Armed Forces on the basis of a 
        personality disorder or adjustment disorder.
            (2) Nearly all veterans who are separated on the basis of a 
        personality or adjustment disorder are prohibited from 
        accessing service-connected disability compensation, disability 
        severance pay, and disability retirement pay.
            (3) Many veterans who are separated on the basis of a 
        personality or adjustment disorder are unable to find 
        employment because of the ``personality disorder'' or 
        ``adjustment disorder'' label on their Certificate of Release 
        or Discharge from Active Duty.
            (4) The Government Accountability Office has found that the 
        regulatory compliance of the Department of Defense in 
        separating members of the Armed Forces on the basis of a 
        personality or adjustment disorder was as low as 40 percent 
        between 2001 and 2007.
            (5) The establishment of a Mental Health Discharge Board of 
        Review to review the separation of veterans who are separated 
        on the basis of a personality or adjustment disorder is 
        warranted to ensure that any veteran wrongly separated on such 
        basis will have the ability to access disability benefits and 
        employment opportunities available to veterans.

SEC. 3. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE REVIEW OF MILITARY SEPARATION ON BASIS OF 
              A MENTAL CONDITION NOT AMOUNTING TO DISABILITY.

    (a) Review Required.--Chapter 79 of title 10, United States Code, 
is amended by inserting after section 1554a the following new section:
``Sec. 1554b. Review of separation on basis of mental condition not 
              amounting to disability
    ``(a) In General.--(1) The Secretary of Defense shall oversee the 
establishment within the Office of the Secretary of each military 
department a board of review to review determinations previously made 
that covered individuals separated from the armed forces have a mental 
condition not amounting to disability. The board of each military 
department shall be known as the `Mental Health Discharge Board of 
Review'.
    ``(2) Each Mental Health Discharge Board of Review shall consist of 
not less than five members appointed by the Secretary. At least one 
licensed psychologist and one licensed psychiatrist who has not had any 
fiduciary responsibility to the Department of Defense since December 
31, 2001, shall be appointed to the board.
    ``(3) The Secretary of a military department shall equip the Mental 
Health Discharge Board of Review established for that department with 
adequate administrative and behavioral health support staff.
    ``(b) Covered Individuals.--For purposes of this section, covered 
individuals are members and former members of the armed forces who have 
been separated from the armed forces since September 11, 2001, because 
of unfitness for duty because of a mental condition not amounting to 
disability, including separation on the basis of a personality disorder 
or adjustment disorder.
    ``(c) Notification of Availability of Review.--(1) The Secretary of 
Defense shall ensure, to the greatest extent practicable, that each 
covered individual receives oral and written notification of the right 
of the covered individual to the review by the appropriate Mental 
Health Discharge Board of Review of the separation of the covered 
individual from the armed forces.
    ``(2) The Secretary of the military department with jurisdiction 
over the armed force in which a covered individual served immediately 
before separation shall be responsible for providing to the covered 
individual the notification required by this subsection. The Secretary 
of Defense shall monitor compliance with this notification requirement 
and promptly notify Congress of any failures to comply.
    ``(3) If a covered individual does not receive notification under 
this subsection, the covered individual or a surviving spouse, next of 
kin, or legal representative of the covered individual may file a 
request for the Mental Health Discharge Board of Review to review the 
separation of the covered individual from the armed forces.
    ``(d) Legal Counsel.--The notification required by subsection (c) 
shall--
            ``(1) inform the covered individual of the right to obtain 
        private counsel to represent the covered individual before the 
        Mental Health Discharge Board of Review; and
            ``(2) include a list of organizations that may provide 
        counsel at no cost to the covered individual.
    ``(e) Review.--(1) For each covered individual, the Mental Health 
Discharge Board of Review shall review--
            ``(A) the findings of the psychologist or psychiatrist of 
        the Department of Defense who diagnosed the mental condition;
            ``(B) the findings and decisions of the separation 
        authority with respect to the covered individual; and
            ``(C) whether the separation authority correctly followed 
        the process for separation as set forth in law, including 
        regulations.
    ``(2) The review by the Mental Health Discharge Board of Review 
under paragraph (1) shall be based on the records of the Department of 
Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs and such other evidence 
as may be presented to the Mental Health Discharge Board of Review. The 
board shall consider any and all evidence to be considered, including 
private mental health records submitted by the covered individual in 
support of the claim.
    ``(3) If the Mental Health Discharge Board of Review proposes, upon 
its own motion, to conduct a review under paragraph (1) with respect to 
a covered individual, the Mental Health Discharge Board of Review shall 
notify the covered individual, or a surviving spouse, next of kin, or 
legal representative of the covered individual, of the proposed review 
and obtain the consent of the covered individual or a surviving spouse, 
next of kin, or legal representative of the covered individual before 
proceeding with the review.
    ``(4) After the Mental Health Discharge Board of Review has 
completed the review under this subsection with respect to the 
separation of a covered individual, the board must provide the claimant 
with a statement of reasons concerning the board's decision. The 
covered individual has the right to raise with the board a motion for 
reconsideration if new evidence can be presented that would address the 
issues raised in the board's statement of reasons.
    ``(f) Authorized Recommendations.--The Mental Health Discharge 
Board of Review may, as a result of its findings in a review under 
subsection (e), recommend to the Secretary of the military department 
concerned the following (as applicable) with respect to a covered 
individual:
            ``(1) No negative recharacterization of the separation of 
        such individual or modification of the disability rating 
        previously assigned such individual.
            ``(2) The recharacterization of the separation of such 
        individual to retirement for disability.
            ``(3) The recharacterization of the separation of such 
        individual--
                    ``(A) to separation for disability with entitlement 
                to receive severance pay;
                    ``(B) to separation upon expiration of term of 
                service; or
                    ``(C) to separation for convenience of the 
                Government.
            ``(4) The issuance of a new disability rating for such 
        individual.
    ``(g) Compliance With Administrative Procedure Act Transparency 
Requirement.--If the Mental Health Discharge Board of Review does not 
recommend under subsection (f)(2) a recharacterization of the 
separation of a covered individual to retirement for disability, the 
Mental Health Discharge Board of Review shall include a brief statement 
of the reasons why such a recommendation was not made. The 
recommendation and, if applicable, the brief statement shall be mailed 
to the covered individual or a surviving spouse, next of kin, or legal 
representative of the covered individual.
    ``(h) Correction of Military Records.--(1) The Secretary of the 
military department concerned shall correct the military records of a 
covered individual in accordance with the recommendation made by the 
Mental Health Discharge Board of Review under subsection (f). Any such 
correction shall be made effective as of the date of the separation of 
the covered individual.
    ``(2) In the case of a covered individual previously separated with 
a lump-sum or other payment of back pay and allowances at separation, 
the amount of pay or other monetary benefits to which such individual 
would be entitled based on the individual's military record as 
corrected shall be reduced to take into account receipt of such lump-
sum or other payment in such manner as the Secretary of the military 
department concerned considers appropriate.
    ``(i) Regulations.--(1) This section shall be carried out in 
accordance with regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Defense.
    ``(2) The regulations under paragraph (1) shall specify reasonable 
deadlines for the performance of reviews required by this section.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the beginning of 
such chapter is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 
1554a the following new item:

``1554b. Review of separation on basis of mental condition not 
                            amounting to disability.''.
    (c) Implementation.--Not later than 90 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall require the 
establishment of the Mental Health Discharge Boards of Review required 
under section 1554b of title 10, United States Code, as added by 
subsection (a) and prescribe the regulations required by subsection (i) 
of such section.
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