[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7411 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7411

To amend the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 to 
 improve reviews of characterizations of discharges of members of the 
            Armed Forces on the basis of sexual orientation.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 20, 2024

  Mrs. Chavez-DeRemer (for herself, Mr. Ciscomani, Mr. Van Orden, Mr. 
Miller of Ohio, Mr. Turner, Ms. Malliotakis, Mr. Duarte, Mr. Carey, Mr. 
    Amodei, Mr. Calvert, Mr. Garbarino, Mrs. Cammack, and Ms. Mace) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                             Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 to 
 improve reviews of characterizations of discharges of members of the 
            Armed Forces on the basis of sexual orientation.

    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 ``Recover Pride in Service Act''.

SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENTS TO REVIEWS OF CHARACTERIZATIONS OF DISCHARGES OF 
              MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES ON THE BASIS OF SEXUAL 
              ORIENTATION.

    (a) Clarification of Standards of Review.--Section 527 of the 
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 (Public Law 
116-92; 10 U.S.C. 1552 note) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as 
                subparagraphs (A) and (B);
                    (B) by inserting ``(1)'' before ``In accordance''; 
                and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following new 
                paragraphs:
            ``(2) Notwithstanding section 1552(a)(3)(B) of title 10, 
        United States Code, the appropriate board may not require a 
        covered member to submit any documentation as a condition 
        precedent to a review under paragraph (1).''.
    (b) Establishment of Outreach Unit; Reports.--Such section is 
further amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsection (d) as subsection (f); and
            (2) by inserting, after subsection (c), the following new 
        subsections:
    ``(d) Outreach Unit.--
            ``(1) Establishment.--Not later than 60 days after the date 
        of the enactment of the Recover Pride in Service Act, the 
        Secretary of Defense shall establish an outreach unit.
            ``(2) Unit commander.--The commander of the unit 
        established under this subsection shall be an officer in a 
        grade above O-3.
            ``(3) Duties.--The unit established under this subsection 
        shall conduct outreach to inform covered members of the right 
        to request a review under subsection (a). In performing such 
        outreach, the unit commander may coordinate with stakeholders 
        including the following:
                    ``(A) The Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
                    ``(B) The Archivist of the United States.
                    ``(C) Representatives of organizations recognized 
                by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs under section 5902 
                of title 38, United States Code.
                    ``(D) Other individuals determined appropriate by 
                the unit commander.
            ``(4) Reporting.--
                    ``(A) Initial report.--Not later than 60 days after 
                the date of the enactment of the Recover Pride in 
                Service Act, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to 
                the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and 
                House of Representatives a report identifying the unit 
                commander and 30 members of the unit established under 
                this subsection.
                    ``(B) Plan.--Not later than 60 days after the date 
                of the enactment of the Recover Pride in Service Act, 
                the Secretary shall submit to the Committees on Armed 
                Services of the Senate and House of Representatives a 
                plan regarding outreach to be conducted by such unit. 
                Such plan shall include the following:
                            ``(i) How the unit shall identify and 
                        contact covered members.
                            ``(ii) An allocation of responsibilities 
                        among the unit and external stakeholders for 
                        executing the plan.
                            ``(iii) A schedule for the implementation, 
                        execution, and completion of the plan, along 
                        with any necessary funding, personnel, or 
                        resources required for its successful 
                        implementation.
                    ``(C) Progress reports.--Not less than every 90 
                days after the submission of the plan under 
                subparagraph (B), the commander of such unit shall 
                submit to the Committees on Armed Services of the 
                Senate and House of Representatives a report on the 
                activities of the unit during the preceding 90 days.
                    ``(D) Final report.--Not later than three years 
                after the date of the enactment of the Recover Pride in 
                Service Act, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to 
                the Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and 
                House of Representatives a final report on the unit. 
                Such report shall include the following:
                            ``(i) The number of covered members.
                            ``(ii) The number of covered members 
                        contacted through the outreach efforts of the 
                        unit.
                            ``(iii) The number of covered members who 
                        requested a review under subsection (a) before 
                        and after the date of the enactment of the 
                        Recover Pride in Service Act.
                            ``(iv) The number of covered members 
                        described in clause (iii), whose discharge 
                        characterization was upgraded to honorable.
                            ``(v) The number of former members of the 
                        Armed Forces whose discharge characterizations 
                        have been upgraded to honorable since September 
                        20, 2011.
            ``(5) Termination.--The unit shall terminate upon 
        submission of the final report under paragraph (4)(D).
    ``(e) Reports.--The Secretary of Defense shall submit to the 
Committees on Armed Services of the Senate and House of Representatives 
four annual reports on the determination of the Secretary regarding the 
consistency of reviews under subsection (a). The first such report 
shall be due not later than one year after the date of the enactment of 
the Recover Pride in Service Act.''.

SEC. 3. PROACTIVE UPGRADE OF DISCHARGES.

    (a) In General.--The Department of Defense shall upgrade all 
discharges based solely on account of sexual orientation to an 
honorable discharge.
    (b) Section 527 of the National Defense Authorization Act for 
Fiscal Year 2020 (Public Law 116-92; 10 U.S.C. 1552) is amended--
            (1) by striking paragraph (b) and inserting the following:
    ``(b) No correction may be made under subsection (a)(1) unless a 
claimant (or claimant's heir, spouse, or legal representative) or the 
Secretary concerned files a request for correction. The Secretary 
concerned may file a request for correction of a military record of 
their own accord or if the request is made on behalf of a group, 
members, or former members of the Armed Forces who were harmed by the 
error or injustice being claimed. A board established under subsection 
(a)(1) may excuse a failure to file within three years after discovery 
if it finds it to be in the interest of justice, and may not impose a 
year limit from when the claimed error or injustice occurred or was 
discovered as it relates to individuals discharged on the basis of 
sexual orientation.'';
            (2) by inserting after subparagraph (a)(3)(A) the 
        following:
                            ``(i) There must be established a procedure 
                        within each military department to upgrade all 
                        discharges based solely on sexual orientation, 
                        without requiring affected veterans to request 
                        such an upgrade.''; and
            (3) by inserting after subparagraph (a)(3)(D) the 27 
        following:
                            ``(i) Any request for reconsideration 
                        denied prior to January 1, 2025, regarding a 
                        claim pertaining to a discharge based on sexual 
                        orientation, must be revisited by the 
                        respective board.''.
    (c) No later than five years after the date of the enactment of 
this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall have approved the upgrade of 
all discharges which were based on sexual orientation.
    (d) The Secretary of Defense shall provide Congress an annual 
report on the progress of upgraded discharges.
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