Text of US HB 5196 (2023)

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 5196 To expand protections under the Exceptional Family Member Program of the Department of Defense for transgender dependents of members of the Armed Forces, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUGUST 11, 2023 Mr. PANETTA (for himself, Ms. JACOBS, Mr. MOULTON, Ms. NORTON, Mr. VEASEY, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. STRICKLAND, Mr. GALLEGO, Mr. NADLER, Mr. LIEU, Ms. TITUS, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. POCAN, Mrs. HAYES, Ms. SCANLON, and Mr. TORRES of New York) introduced the fol- lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services A BILL To expand protections under the Exceptional Family Member Program of the Department of Defense for transgender dependents of members of the Armed Forces, 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. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Armed Forces 4 Transgender Dependent Protection Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:23 Aug 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5196.IH H5196 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 5196 IH SEC. 2. EXPANSION OF PROTECTIONS FOR TRANSGENDER 1 DEPENDENTS OF MEMBERS OF THE ARMED 2 FORCES UNDER THE EXCEPTIONAL FAMILY 3 MEMBER PROGRAM. 4 Section 1781c of title 10, United States Code, is 5 amended— 6 (1) in subsection (d)(3), by adding at the end 7 the following new subparagraph: 8 ‘‘(F) Prohibition of assignment of such a mem- 9 ber (except at the election of such member) to a per- 10 manent duty location in a jurisdiction where foreign, 11 State, or local law restricts medically necessary 12 treatment for a medical or educational special need. 13 Such a member who is serving at a permanent duty 14 location in such a jurisdiction while such government 15 enacts a law establishing such restriction may, not 16 later than 30 days after such enactment, elect to be 17 reassigned by the Secretary concerned to a perma- 18 nent duty location not located in such a jurisdic- 19 tion.’’; 20 (2) in subsection (h), by striking ‘‘(as defined 21 by the Secretary in regulations for purposes of this 22 section)’’; and 23 (3) by adding at the end the following new sub- 24 section: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:23 Aug 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5196.IH H5196 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 5196 IH ‘‘(i) MEDICAL OR EDUCATIONAL SPECIAL NEED DE- 1 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘medical or educational 2 special need’ includes the following: 3 ‘‘(1) A potentially life-threatening or chronic 4 condition that requires— 5 ‘‘(A) follow-up support more than once a 6 year; or 7 ‘‘(B) specialty care. 8 ‘‘(2) A current and chronic mental health condi- 9 tion. 10 ‘‘(3) A frequent need for mental health care. 11 ‘‘(4) Asthma or other chronic respiratory condi- 12 tion that includes wheezing. 13 ‘‘(5) Gender dysphoria. 14 ‘‘(6) A condition that requires— 15 ‘‘(A) adaptive equipment; 16 ‘‘(B) assistive technology devices or serv- 17 ices; or 18 ‘‘(C) environmental or architectural consid- 19 erations. 20 ‘‘(7) Special educational need.’’. 21 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:23 Aug 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H5196.IH H5196 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB