[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 740 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 740

      Acknowledging and apologizing for the mistreatment of, and 
    discrimination against, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender 
individuals who served the United States in the uniformed services, the 
            Foreign Service, and the Federal civil service.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 18, 2024

   Mr. Kaine (for himself, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Coons, Mr. Merkley, Mr. 
   Fetterman, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Schatz, Mrs. Shaheen, Mr. Casey, Mr. 
 Durbin, Mr. Markey, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Cardin, Mr. Whitehouse, Mrs. 
Gillibrand, Mr. Bennet, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Brown, and Mr. Warner) submitted 
   the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 
               Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
      Acknowledging and apologizing for the mistreatment of, and 
    discrimination against, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender 
individuals who served the United States in the uniformed services, the 
            Foreign Service, and the Federal civil service.

Whereas the Federal Government discriminated against and terminated hundreds of 
        thousands of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (referred to in 
        this preamble as ``LGBT'') individuals who served the United States in 
        the uniformed services, the Foreign Service, and the Federal civil 
        service (referred to in this preamble as ``civilian employees'') for 
        decades, causing untold harm to those individuals professionally, 
        financially, socially, and medically, among other harms;
Whereas Congress enacted legislation, led oversight hearings, and issued reports 
        and public pronouncements against LGBT military service members, Foreign 
        Service members, and civilian employees;
Whereas the policy that led to the discharge and systematic screening of gay, 
        lesbian, and bisexual military service members was codified in a 1949 
        decree by the newly consolidated Department of Defense, which mandated 
        that ``homosexual personnel, irrespective of sex, should not be 
        permitted to serve in any branch of the Armed Forces in any capacity and 
        prompt separation of known homosexuals from the Armed Forces is 
        mandatory'';
Whereas the Federal Government maintained policies to drive hundreds of 
        thousands of LGBT military service members, who honorably served the 
        United States in uniform, including many who were fighting in wars 
        around the world, from its military ranks;
Whereas, in 1993, Congress enacted the National Defense Authorization Act for 
        Fiscal Year 1994 (Public Law 103-160; 107 Stat. 1547), which contained 
        the so-called ``Don't Ask, Don't Tell'' policy that prohibited lesbian, 
        gay, and bisexual military service members from disclosing their sexual 
        orientation while they served in the Armed Forces;
Whereas, despite the ``Don't Ask, Don't Tell'' policy, LGBT military service 
        members continued to be investigated and discharged solely on the basis 
        of the sexual orientation of those military service members;
Whereas historians have estimated that at least 100,000 military service members 
        were forced out of the uniformed services between World War II and 2011 
        simply for being LGBT, while countless others were forced to hide their 
        identities and live in fear while serving, with many being denied access 
        to the benefits granted to honorably discharged veterans;
Whereas, although the ``Don't Ask, Don't Tell'' policy was intended to allow 
        qualified citizens to serve in the Armed Forces regardless of their 
        sexual orientation, the policy was inherently discriminatory against 
        LGBT military service members because it prohibited those service 
        members from disclosing their sexual orientation;
Whereas, with the enactment of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010 (10 
        U.S.C. 654 note; Public Law 111321), Congress joined military leaders in 
        acknowledging that lesbian, gay, and bisexual military service members 
        serve the United States just as bravely and well as other military 
        service members;
Whereas the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010 (10 U.S.C. 654 note; Public 
        Law 111321) and the 2016 policy shift of the Department of Defense, 
        which permitted transgender individuals to enlist and openly serve in 
        the Armed Forces, have made the Armed Forces stronger and more 
        effective;
Whereas, in 2023, 12 years after the repeal of the ``Don't Ask, Don't Tell'' 
        policy, the Department of Defense announced a proactive review 
        initiative to identify veterans discharged due to their sexual 
        orientation and assess whether an upgrade in discharge is warranted;
Whereas military leaders have likewise acknowledged that, in addition to 
        lesbian, gay, and bisexual military service members, transgender service 
        members also serve the United States just as bravely and well as other 
        service members;
Whereas, under the pressures of the Cold War, and at the instigation and lead of 
        Congress, the Federal Government also pursued anti-LGBT policies, which 
        resulted in tens of thousands of LGBT civilian employees being 
        terminated;
Whereas the Department of State began investigations into employees for alleged 
        homosexual activity as early as the 1940s;
Whereas following the targeting of gay employees in the Department of State by 
        Senator Joseph McCarthy in 1950, the Senate held hearings on ``The 
        Employment of Homosexuals and other Sex Perverts in the Government'', 
        which--

    (1) led to the issuance of a widely read report that falsely asserted 
that gay people posed a security risk because they could be easily 
blackmailed; and

    (2) found that gay people were unsuitable employees because ``one 
homosexual can pollute a Government office'';

Whereas, in response to allegations against gay people made by Senator McCarthy, 
        the Department of State increased its persecution of lesbian, gay, and 
        bisexual employees;
Whereas more than 1,000 Department of State employees were dismissed due to 
        their sexual orientation, and many more individuals were prevented from 
        joining the Department of State due to discriminatory hiring practices;
Whereas thousands of lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals served honorably in 
        the Department of State as Foreign Service officers, Foreign Service 
        specialists, civil servants, and contractors, upholding the values, and 
        advancing the interests, of the United States even as the country 
        discriminated against them;
Whereas the effort to purge gay and lesbian employees from the Federal 
        Government was codified in 1953 when President Dwight D. Eisenhower 
        issued Executive Order 10450 (18 Fed. Reg. 2489; relating to security 
        requirements for Government employment), which--

    (1) defined ``perversion'' as a security threat; and

    (2) mandated that every civilian employee and contractor pass a 
security clearance;

Whereas, over many decades, the Federal Government, led by security officials in 
        the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Civil Service Commission 
        (referred to in this preamble as the ``CSC''), and nearly every other 
        agency of the Federal Government, investigated, harassed, interrogated, 
        and terminated thousands of lesbian, gay, and bisexual civilian 
        employees for no other reason than the sexual orientation of those 
        employees;
Whereas these discriminatory policies by the Federal Government, the largest 
        employer in the United States, encouraged similar efforts at the State 
        and local level, particularly in higher education and the private 
        sector;
Whereas, in 1969, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of 
        Columbia Circuit ruled in Norton v. Macy, 417 F.2d 1161 (1969) that--

    (1) ``homosexual conduct'' may never be the sole cause for dismissal of 
a protected civilian employee; and

    (2) the potential embarrassment stemming from the private conduct of a 
civilian employee may not affect the efficiency of the Federal civil 
service;

Whereas, despite the decision in Norton v. Macy, the CSC continued its efforts 
        to rid the Federal Government of gay, lesbian, and bisexual employees 
        until 1973, when the United States District Court for the Northern 
        District of California ruled in Society for Individual Rights, Inc. v. 
        Hampton, 63 F.R.D. 399 (1973) that the exclusion or discharge from 
        Federal civil service of any lesbian, gay, or bisexual person because of 
        prejudice was prohibited;
Whereas many Federal Government agencies, including the National Security 
        Agency, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the Department of State, 
        none of which were subject to the rules of the CSC, continued to harass 
        and seek to exclude lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals from their 
        ranks until 1995, when President Bill Clinton issued Executive Order 
        12968 (50 U.S.C. 3161 note; relating to access to classified 
        information), which barred the practice of denying a Federal Government 
        security clearance solely on the basis of sexual orientation;
Whereas transgender military service members, Foreign Service members, and 
        civilian employees continued to be harassed and excluded from Federal 
        civil service until 2014, when President Barack Obama issued Executive 
        Order 13672 (79 Fed. Reg. 42971; relating to further amendments to 
        Executive Order 11478, Equal Employment Opportunity in the Federal 
        Government, and Executive Order 11246, Equal Employment Opportunity), 
        which prohibited the Federal Government and Federal contractors from 
        discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity;
Whereas, on January 9, 2017, Secretary of State John Kerry issued a formal 
        apology for the pattern of discrimination against LGBT Foreign Service 
        members and civilian employees at the Department of State;
Whereas, despite persecution and systematic mistreatment by the Federal 
        Government beginning in the early 1940s through the 1990s, including 
        what historians have labeled as the ``Lavender Scare'', LGBT individuals 
        have never stopped honorably serving the United States;
Whereas LGBT individuals continued to make significant contributions to the 
        United States through their work as clerks and lawyers, surgeons and 
        nurses, Purple Heart recipients and Navy Seals, translators and air 
        traffic controllers, engineers and astronomers, teachers and diplomats, 
        rangers and Postal Service workers, and advisors and policy makers;
Whereas other countries throughout the world, including some of the closest 
        allies of the United States, have apologized for similarly 
        discriminating against LGBT military service members, Foreign Service 
        members, and civilian employees; and
Whereas, in order for the United States to heal and move forward, the Federal 
        Government must accord all LGBT individuals who were discriminated 
        against by, wrongfully terminated by, and excluded from serving in the 
        uniformed services, the Foreign Service, and the Federal civil service 
        the same acknowledgment and apology: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved,

SECTION 1. ACKNOWLEDGMENT.

    The Senate--
            (1) acknowledges and condemns the discrimination against, 
        wrongful termination of, and exclusion from the Federal civil 
        service, the Foreign Service, and the uniformed services of the 
        thousands of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (referred 
        to in this section as ``LGBT'') individuals who were affected 
        by the anti-LGBT policies of the Federal Government;
            (2) on behalf of the United States, apologizes to--
                    (A) the affected LGBT military service members, 
                Foreign Service members, veterans, and Federal civil 
                service employees; and
                    (B) the families of those service members, 
                veterans, and Federal civil service employees; and
            (3) reaffirms the commitment of the Federal Government to 
        treat all military service members, Foreign Service members, 
        veterans, and Federal civil service employees and retirees, 
        including LGBT individuals, with equal respect and fairness.

SEC. 2. DISCLAIMER.

    Nothing in this resolution--
            (1) authorizes or supports any claim against the United 
        States; or
            (2) serves as a settlement of any claim against the United 
        States.
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