A bill to ensure that certain members of the Armed Forces who served in female cultural support teams receive proper credit for such service, and for other purposes.

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2014 To ensure that certain members of the Armed Forces who served in female cultural support teams receive proper credit for such service, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 15, 2023 Ms. ROSEN (for herself, Ms. ERNST, Ms. DUCKWORTH, and Mr. SULLIVAN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To ensure that certain members of the Armed Forces who served in female cultural support teams receive proper credit for such service, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. CREDIT FOR CERTAIN MEMBERS OF THE 3 ARMED FORCES WHO SERVED IN FEMALE 4 CULTURAL SUPPORT TEAMS. 5 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 6 (1) In 2010, the Commander of United States 7 Special Operations Command established the Cul- 8 tural Support Team Program to overcome signifi- 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:20 Jul 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2014.IS S2014 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •S 2014 IS cant intelligence gaps during the Global War on Ter- 1 ror. 2 (2) From 2010 through 2021, approximately 3 310 female members, from every Armed Force, 4 passed and were selected as members of female cul- 5 tural support teams, and deployed with special oper- 6 ations forces. 7 (3) Members of female cultural support teams 8 served honorably, demonstrated commendable cour- 9 age, overcame such intelligence gaps, engaged in di- 10 rect action, and suffered casualties during the Glob- 11 al War on Terror. 12 (4) The Federal Government has a duty to rec- 13 ognize members and veterans of female cultural sup- 14 port teams who volunteered to join the Armed 15 Forces, to undergo arduous training for covered 16 service, and to execute dangerous and classified mis- 17 sions in the course of such covered service. 18 (5) Members who performed covered service 19 have sought treatment from the Department of Vet- 20 erans Affairs for traumatic brain injuries, post-trau- 21 matic stress, and disabling physical trauma incurred 22 in the course of such covered service, but have been 23 denied such care. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:20 Jul 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2014.IS S2014 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •S 2014 IS (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con- 1 gress that individuals who performed covered service per- 2 formed exceptional service to the United States. 3 (c) MILITARY SERVICE: RECORDS; CALCULATION OF 4 RETIRED PAY.—Not later than one year after the date 5 of the enactment of this Act, each Secretary concerned 6 shall— 7 (1) ensure that the performance of covered 8 service is included in— 9 (A) the military service record of each indi- 10 vidual who performed covered service; and 11 (B) the computation of retired pay for 12 each individual who performed covered service; 13 and 14 (2) transmit to the Secretary of Veterans Af- 15 fairs a list of each veteran who performed covered 16 service whose military service record was modified 17 pursuant to paragraph (1). 18 (d) CLAIMS FOR VETERANS BENEFITS ARISING 19 FROM COVERED SERVICE.— 20 (1) DETERMINATION OF SERVICE CONNEC- 21 TION.—Upon the filing of a claim by an individual 22 described in paragraph (3)(C) for service-connected 23 disability or death incurred or aggravated in the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:15 Jul 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2014.IS S2014 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •S 2014 IS course of covered service, the Secretary of Veterans 1 Affairs shall— 2 (A) determine whether such disability or 3 death was service-connected; and 4 (B) adjust the computation of any dis- 5 ability compensation awarded accordingly. 6 (2) TREATMENT OF COVERED SERVICE.—In the 7 consideration of a claim under this subsection, the 8 Secretary shall treat covered service as engagement 9 in combat with the enemy in the course of active 10 military, naval, air, or space service. 11 (3) EFFECTIVE DATE OF AWARD.— 12 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided by 13 subparagraph (B), the effective date of an 14 award under this subsection shall be determined 15 in accordance with section 5110 of title 38, 16 United States Code. 17 (B) EXCEPTION.—Notwithstanding sub- 18 section (g) of such section, the Secretary shall 19 determine the effective date of an award based 20 on a claim under this subsection for an indi- 21 vidual described in subparagraph (C) by treat- 22 ing the date on which the individual filed the 23 initial claim specified in clause (i) of such sub- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:20 Jul 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2014.IS S2014 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •S 2014 IS paragraph as the date on which the individual 1 filed the claim so awarded under this section. 2 (C) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUALS.—An indi- 3 vidual described in this subparagraph is an in- 4 dividual who performed covered service, or a 5 survivor of such an individual— 6 (i) who, before the date of the enact- 7 ment of this Act, submitted a claim for 8 service-connected disability or death of 9 such individual; 10 (ii) whose such claim was denied by 11 reason of the claim not establishing that 12 the disability or death was service-con- 13 nected; 14 (iii) who submits a claim during the 15 period of three years beginning on the date 16 of the enactment of this Act, for the same 17 condition covered by the prior claim under 18 clause; and 19 (iv) whose such claim is approved pur- 20 suant to this subsection. 21 (4) PROCESSING OF CLAIMS.—The Secretary of 22 Veterans Affairs, in consultation with the Secretary 23 of Defense, shall improve training and guidance for 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:20 Jul 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2014.IS S2014 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •S 2014 IS employees who may process a claim under this sub- 1 section. 2 (5) OUTREACH.— 3 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 4 conduct outreach to inform individuals who per- 5 formed covered service (and survivors of such 6 individuals) that they may submit supplemental 7 claims for service-connected disability or death 8 incurred or aggravated in the course of covered 9 service. 10 (B) ELEMENTS.—Outreach conducted pur- 11 suant to subparagraph (A) shall include the fol- 12 lowing: 13 (i) Contact individuals described in 14 subparagraph (A), especially individuals 15 who are veterans included in the list trans- 16 mitted pursuant to subsection (c)(2) and 17 survivors of such veterans, directly to in- 18 form them of the treatment of covered 19 service described in subsection (d)(2) and 20 that they may submit supplemental claims 21 as described in such subparagraph. 22 (ii) Publishing on the internet website 23 of the Department a notice that such indi- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:20 Jul 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2014.IS S2014 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •S 2014 IS viduals may elect to file a supplemental 1 claim. 2 (iii) Notifying, in writing or by elec- 3 tronic means, veterans service organiza- 4 tions of the ability of such individuals to 5 file a supplemental claim. 6 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 7 (1) ACTIVE MILITARY, NAVAL, AIR, OR SPACE 8 SERVICE.—The term ‘‘active military, naval, air, or 9 space service’’ has the meaning given such term in 10 section 101 of title 38, United States Code. 11 (2) COVERED SERVICE.—The term ‘‘covered 12 service’’ means service— 13 (A) as a member of the Armed Forces; 14 (B) in a female cultural support team; 15 (C) with the personnel development skill 16 identifier of R2J or 5DK, or any other valida- 17 tion methods, such as valid sworn statements, 18 officer and enlisted performance evaluations, 19 training certificates, or records of an award 20 from completion of tour with a cultural support 21 team; and 22 (D) during the period beginning on Janu- 23 ary 1, 2010, and ending on August 31, 2021. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:20 Jul 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2014.IS S2014 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •S 2014 IS (3) SECRETARY CONCERNED.—The term ‘‘Sec- 1 retary concerned’’ has the meaning given such term 2 in section 101 of title 10, United States Code. 3 (4) SERVICE-CONNECTED.—The term ‘‘service- 4 connected’’ has the meaning given such term in sec- 5 tion 101 of title 38, United States Code. 6 (5) VETERAN.—The term ‘‘veteran’’ has the 7 meaning given such term in section 101 of title 38, 8 United States Code. 9 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:20 Jul 09, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2014.IS S2014 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB