Text of US SB 373 (2019)

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 373 To provide for the retention and service of transgender individuals in the Armed Forces. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 7, 2019 Mrs. GILLIBRAND (for herself, Ms. COLLINS, and Mr. REED) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services A BILL To provide for the retention and service of transgender individuals in the Armed Forces. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. RETENTION AND SERVICE OF TRANSGENDER 3 INDIVIDUALS IN THE ARMED FORCES. 4 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con- 5 gress that— 6 (1) individuals who are qualified and can meet 7 the standards to serve in the military should be eligi- 8 ble to serve; and 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:09 Feb 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S373.IS S373 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 373 IS (2) the policies recommended in the memo- 1 randum of the Secretary of Defense entitled ‘‘Mili- 2 tary Service by Transgender Individuals’’ and dated 3 February 22, 2018, are inconsistent with this goal. 4 (b) RETENTION OF CURRENTLY SERVING MEMBERS 5 OF THE ARMED FORCES.—An individual serving as a 6 member of the Armed Forces on or after the date of the 7 enactment of this Act may not be involuntarily separated 8 from the Armed Forces, or denied reenlistment or continu- 9 ation in service in the Armed Forces, solely on the basis 10 of the member’s gender identity. Nothing in this sub- 11 section relieves a member from meeting applicable military 12 and medical standards, including deployability, or requires 13 retention of the member in service if the member fails to 14 meet such standards. 15 (c) ACCESSION INTO THE ARMED FORCES.—On or 16 after the date of the enactment of this Act, an individual 17 may not be denied initial enlistment, commissioning, or 18 other accession into the Armed Forces solely on the basis 19 of the individual’s gender identity. Nothing in this sub- 20 section relieves an individual from meeting applicable mili- 21 tary and medical standards, including deployability, for 22 enlistment, commissioning, or other accession. 23 (d) GENDER IDENTITY DEFINED.—In this section, 24 the term ‘‘gender identity’’ means the gender-related iden- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:09 Feb 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S373.IS S373 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 373 IS tity, appearance, mannerisms, or other gender-related 1 characteristics of an individual, regardless of the individ- 2 ual’s designated sex at birth. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:09 Feb 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S373.IS S373 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS