Brandon Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2088 To amend title 10, United States Code, to improve the process by which a member of the Armed Forces may be referred for a mental health evaluation. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 16, 2021 Mr. KELLY (for himself, Mr. CRAMER, and Mr. DURBIN) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services A BILL To amend title 10, United States Code, to improve the process by which a member of the Armed Forces may be referred for a mental health evaluation. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Brandon Act’’. 4 SEC. 2. MANDATORY REFERRAL OF MEMBERS OF THE 5 ARMED FORCES FOR MENTAL HEALTH EVAL- 6 UATION. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1090a of title 10, United 8 States Code, is amended— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:17 Jun 24, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2088.IS S2088 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2088 IS (1) by redesignating subsection (e) as sub- 1 section (f); and 2 (2) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol- 3 lowing new subsection: 4 ‘‘(e) PROCESS APPLICABLE TO MEMBER DISCLO- 5 SURE.—The regulations required by subsection (a) shall— 6 ‘‘(1) establish a phrase that enables a member 7 of the armed forces to trigger a referral of the mem- 8 ber by a commanding officer or supervisor for a 9 mental health evaluation; 10 ‘‘(2) require a commanding officer or supervisor 11 to make such referral as soon as practicable fol- 12 lowing disclosure by the member to the commanding 13 officer or supervisor of the phrase established under 14 paragraph (1); and 15 ‘‘(3) ensure that the process under this sub- 16 section protects the confidentiality of the member in 17 a manner similar to the confidentiality provided for 18 members making restricted reports under section 19 1565b(b) of this title.’’. 20 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Subsection (a) of 21 such section is amended, in the second sentence, by strik- 22 ing ‘‘subsections (b), (c), and (d)’’ and inserting ‘‘this sec- 23 tion’’. 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:17 Jun 24, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2088.IS S2088 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS