S.Amdt. 836

SA 836. Mr. MURPHY submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to
amendment SA 764 submitted by Mr. Inhofe and intended to be proposed to
the bill S. 1790, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2020 for
military activities of the Department of Defense, for military
construction, and for defense activities of the Department of Energy,
to prescribe military personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for
other purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

Insert after section 5546 the following:

SEC. 5547. LIMITATIONS AND REQUIREMENTS IN CONNECTION WITH
SEPARATIONS FOR MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES WHO
SUFFER FROM MENTAL HEALTH CONDITIONS IN
CONNECTION WITH A SEX-RELATED, INTIMATE PARTNER
VIOLENCE-RELATED, OR SPOUSAL-ABUSE OFFENSE.

(a) Confirmation of Diagnosis of Condition Required Before
Separation.--Before a member of the Armed Forces who was the
victim of a sex-related offense, an intimate partner
violence-related offense, or a spousal-abuse offense during
service in the Armed Forces (whether or not such offense was
committed by another member of the Armed Forces), and who has
a mental health condition not amounting to a physical
disability, is separated, discharged, or released from the
Armed Forces based solely on such condition, the diagnosis of
such condition must be--
(1) corroborated by a competent mental health care
professional at the peer level or a higher level of the
health care professional making the diagnosis; and
(2) endorsed by the Surgeon General of the military
department concerned.
(b) Narrative Reason for Separation if Mental Health
Condition Present.--If the narrative reason for discharge,
separation, or release from the Armed Forces of a member of
the Armed Forces is a mental health condition that is not a
disability, the appropriate narrative reason for the
discharge, separation, or release shall be condition, not a
disability, or Secretarial authority.
(c) Definition.--In this section:
(1) The term ``intimate partner violence-related offense''
means the following:
(A) An offense under section 928 or 930 of title 10, United
States Code (article 128 or 130 of the Uniform Code of
Military Justice).
(B) An offense under State law for conduct identical or
substantially similar to an offense described in subparagraph
(A).
(2) The term ``sex-related offense'' means the following:
(A) An offense under section 920 or 920b of title 10,
United States Code (article 120 or 120b of the Uniform Code
of Military Justice).
(B) An offense under State law for conduct identical or
substantially similar to an offense described in subparagraph
(A).
(3) The term ``spousal-abuse offense'' means the following:
(A) An offense under section 928 of title 10, United States
Code (article 128 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice).
(B) An offense under State law for conduct identical or
substantially similar to an offense described in subparagraph
(A).
(d) Effective Date.--This section shall take effect 180
days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and shall
apply with respect to separations, discharges, and releases
from the Armed Forces that occur on or after that effective
date.
______