Wounded Warrior Bill of Rights Act of 2023

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3517 To clarify and improve accountability for certain members of the Armed Forces during consideration for medical separation in the Integrated Disability Evaluation System of the Department of Defense, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 18, 2023 Mr. MAST (for himself, Mr. MCCORMICK, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Mr. PANETTA, and Mrs. RODGERS of Washington) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services A BILL To clarify and improve accountability for certain members of the Armed Forces during consideration for medical separation in the Integrated Disability Evaluation Sys- tem of the Department of Defense, and for other pur- poses. 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 ‘‘Wounded Warrior Bill 4 of Rights Act of 2023’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:08 Jun 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3517.IH H3517 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3517 IH SEC. 2. ACCOUNTABILITY FOR CERTAIN MEMBERS OF THE 1 ARMED FORCES DURING THE INTEGRATED 2 DISABILITY EVALUATION SYSTEM. 3 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 4 (1) Members of the Armed Forces are the brave 5 men and women who voluntarily put themselves in 6 harm’s way, while fighting the enemies of freedom 7 around the world so that all citizens of the United 8 States and countless citizens of other nations can 9 enjoy the blessings of liberty in peace. We owe those 10 members not only a debt of gratitude, but our will- 11 ingness to ensure every single member receives excel- 12 lent health care and just treatment in the medical 13 separation process when they’ve become ill or in- 14 jured in the line of duty. This is critically important, 15 not only for the present state of readiness in the 16 Armed Forces, but for potential recruitment of fu- 17 ture warfighters as elucidated by President George 18 Washington when he stated, ‘‘The willingness with 19 which our young people are likely to serve in any 20 war, no matter how justified, shall be directly pro- 21 portional to how they perceive veterans of early wars 22 were treated and appreciated by our nation.’’ 23 (2) Wounded Warriors remain members of an 24 Armed Force under the jurisdiction of the Secretary 25 of a military department and determinations regard- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:08 Jun 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3517.IH H3517 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3517 IH ing their physical ability is the responsibility of the 1 chain of command of the member, rather than the 2 personnel within or under the direction of the De- 3 fense Health Agency. That responsibility through 4 the jurisdiction of the military chain of command is 5 effective during the entirety of the process of the In- 6 tegrated Disability Evaluation System of the De- 7 partment of Defense, or successor system, instead of 8 vesting for practical purposes only at the end of 9 such process. 10 (3) Section 1214 of title 10, United States 11 Code, guarantees that ‘‘[n]o member of the Armed 12 Forces may be retired or separated for physical dis- 13 ability without a full and fair hearing if he demands 14 it.’’ 15 (4) Section 1216(b) of such title grants the 16 Secretary concerned ‘‘all powers, functions, and du- 17 ties incident to the determination’’ of ‘‘fitness for ac- 18 tive duty of any member of an Armed Force under 19 his jurisdiction.’’ 20 (5) Sections 7013(b), 8013(b), and 9013(b) of 21 such title assigns responsibility for and grants ‘‘the 22 authority necessary to conduct’’ the administration 23 of the ‘‘morale and welfare of personnel’’ to the Sec- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:08 Jun 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3517.IH H3517 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3517 IH retary of the Army, the Secretary of the Navy, and 1 the Secretary of the Air Force respectively. 2 (b) DECLARATION OF POLICY REGARDING ACCOUNT- 3 ABILITY FOR WOUNDED WARRIORS.—It is the policy of 4 Congress that— 5 (1) determinations of fitness for duty or phys- 6 ical capability to perform a military occupational 7 specialty of a member of the Armed Forces under 8 the jurisdiction of the Secretary of a military depart- 9 ment are the responsibility of such Secretary; 10 (2) determinations of fitness for a Wounded 11 Warrior may be assessed by medical professionals 12 outside the military department of the Wounded 13 Warrior and may be influenced by precedents across 14 other entities of the Department of Defense, includ- 15 ing the Defense Health Agency, but ultimately, such 16 determination remains a decision of the Secretary of 17 the military department concerned; 18 (3) the full authority for a determination de- 19 scribed in paragraph (1) or (2) resides in the mili- 20 tary chain of command and not the chain of respon- 21 sibility of the Defense Health Agency; and 22 (4) at no point during the medical evaluation of 23 a Wounded Warrior shall the Wounded Warrior be 24 denied the protections, privileges, or right to due 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:08 Jun 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3517.IH H3517 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 3517 IH process afforded under the laws, regulations, or 1 other applicable guidance of the military department 2 of the Wounded Warrior. 3 (c) CLARIFICATION OF RESPONSIBILITIES REGARD- 4 ING THE INTEGRATED DISABILITY EVALUATION SYS- 5 TEM.—Subsection (h) of section 1073c of title 10, United 6 States Code, is amended to read as follows: 7 ‘‘(h) AUTHORITIES RESERVED TO SECRETARIES OF 8 THE MILITARY DEPARTMENTS.—(1) Notwithstanding the 9 responsibilities and authorities of the Director of the De- 10 fense Health Agency with respect to the administration 11 of military medical treatment facilities under this section, 12 the Secretary of each military department shall maintain 13 authority over and responsibility for any member of the 14 Armed Forces under the jurisdiction of the military de- 15 partment concerned while the member is being considered 16 by a medical evaluation board or during any other part 17 of the implementation of the Integrated Disability Evalua- 18 tion System of the Department of Defense, or successor 19 system. 20 ‘‘(2) Responsibility of the Secretary of a military de- 21 partment under paragraph (1) shall include the following: 22 ‘‘(A) Responsibility for administering the mo- 23 rale and welfare of each member of the Armed 24 Forces under the jurisdiction of such Secretary. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:08 Jun 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3517.IH H3517 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 3517 IH ‘‘(B) Responsibility for determinations of fit- 1 ness for active duty of each such member. 2 ‘‘(C) Complete operational and administrative 3 control of each such member at every stage of the 4 implementation of the Integrated Disability Evalua- 5 tion System, or successor system, from the begin- 6 ning of the medical evaluation board to the conclu- 7 sion of the physical evaluation board, including the 8 authority to pause for a reasonable amount of time 9 or completely withdraw the member from such sys- 10 tem if the military commander with jurisdiction over 11 the Wounded Warrior finds that any policies, proce- 12 dures, regulations, or other related guidance has not 13 been followed in the case of the member.’’. 14 (d) OPPORTUNITY FOR DUE PROCESS HEARING IN 15 THE MILITARY CHAIN OF COMMAND.— 16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 17 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 18 of Defense shall update the policies and procedures 19 applicable to the implementation of the Integrated 20 Disability Evaluation System of the Department of 21 Defense, or successor system, to ensure that appeals 22 made by Wounded Warriors under the jurisdiction of 23 the Secretary concerned include (if the member de- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:08 Jun 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3517.IH H3517 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 3517 IH mands it) a full and fair hearing on such determina- 1 tion, to be conducted by the Secretary concerned. 2 (2) CHARACTERIZATION OF APPEAL.—An ap- 3 peal made under paragraph (1) is separate from and 4 in addition to any appellate options available to a 5 Wounded Warrior under the Integrated Disability 6 Evaluation System of the Department of Defense, or 7 successor system. 8 (3) TIMELY MANNER.— 9 (A) IN GENERAL.—Upon request by 10 Wounded Warrior, the military commander with 11 jurisdiction over the Wounded Warrior shall 12 process an appeal under paragraph (1). 13 (B) ADJUDICATION.—Not later than 90 14 days after the initiation by a Wounded Warrior 15 of an appeal under paragraph (1) the military 16 commander with jurisdiction over the Wounded 17 Warrior, and every echelon of command all the 18 way up to the general court-martial convening 19 authority if the commander denies the appeal, 20 shall complete adjudication of the appeal. 21 (e) BRIEFING.—Not later than February 1, 2024, the 22 Secretary of Defense shall provide to the appropriate con- 23 gressional committees a briefing on the status of the im- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:08 Jun 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3517.IH H3517 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 3517 IH plementation of this section and the amendments made 1 by this section. 2 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 3 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT- 4 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com- 5 mittees’’ means— 6 (A) the Committee on Armed Services of 7 the Senate; and 8 (B) the Committee on Armed Services of 9 the House of Representatives. 10 (2) SECRETARY CONCERNED.—The term ‘‘Sec- 11 retary concerned’’ has the meaning given that term 12 in section 101 of title 10, United States Code. 13 (3) WOUNDED WARRIOR.—The term ‘‘Wounded 14 Warrior’’ means a member of the Armed Forces 15 being processed for potential medical separation at 16 any point in the Integrated Disability Evaluation 17 System of the Department of Defense, or successor 18 system. 19 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:08 Jun 08, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3517.IH H3517 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS