Allowing Military Exemptions, Recognizing Individual Concerns About New Shots Act of 2025 or the AMERICANS Act
This bill prohibits the Department of Defense (DOD) from issuing any COVID-19 vaccine mandate as a replacement for the rescinded vaccine mandate of August 24, 2021, unless the mandate is expressly authorized by Congress. The bill also provides that DOD must establish an application process for remedies for members of the Armed Forces who were discharged or subject to adverse action under the rescinded mandate.
Any administrative discharge of a member on the sole basis of a failure to receive a COVID-19 vaccine must be categorized as an honorable discharge, and DOD is prohibited from taking any adverse action against such a member for that reason.
DOD must try to retain unvaccinated members and provide such members with professional development, promotion and leadership opportunities, and consideration equal to that of their peers.
Additionally, DOD may only consider the COVID-19 vaccination status of members in making certain decisions (e.g., deployments in countries where it is the law) and must establish a process to provide exemptions to certain members for such decisions.
Members who were separated from the Armed Forces for refusing to receive a COVID-19 vaccine are not required to repay any bonuses and must be reimbursed if they repaid any portion of a bonus prior to this bill's enactment.
This bill applies to all members of the Armed Forces, regardless of whether they sought an accommodation to any DOD COVID-19 vaccination policy.
[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 117 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 117
To provide remedies to members of the Armed Forces discharged or
subject to adverse action under the COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
January 16, 2025
Mr. Cruz (for himself, Mrs. Blackburn, Mrs. Britt, Mr. Budd, Mr.
Cornyn, Mr. Crapo, Mr. Daines, Mr. Hawley, Mr. Hoeven, Mr. Lee, Mr.
Risch, Mr. Scott of Florida, Mr. Sheehy, and Mr. Johnson) introduced
the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee
on Armed Services
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide remedies to members of the Armed Forces discharged or
subject to adverse action under the COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Allowing Military Exemptions,
Recognizing Individual Concerns About New Shots Act of 2025'' or the
``AMERICANS Act''.
SEC. 2. REMEDIES FOR MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES DISCHARGED OR SUBJECT
TO ADVERSE ACTION UNDER THE COVID-19 VACCINE MANDATE.
(a) Limitation on Imposition of New Mandate.--The Secretary of
Defense may not issue any COVID-19 vaccine mandate as a replacement for
the mandate rescinded under section 525 of the James M. Inhofe National
Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 absent a further Act of
Congress expressly authorizing a replacement mandate.
(b) Remedies.--Section 736 of the National Defense Authorization
Act for Fiscal Year 2022 (Public Law 117-81; 10 U.S.C. 1161 note prec.)
is amended--
(1) in the section heading, by striking ``to obey lawful
order to receive'' and inserting ``to receive'';
(2) in subsection (a)--
(A) by striking ``a lawful order'' and inserting
``an order''; and
(B) by striking ``shall be'' and all that follows
through the period at the end and inserting ``shall be
an honorable discharge.'';
(3) by redesignating subsection (b) as subsection (g); and
(4) by inserting after subsection (a) the following new
subsections:
``(b) Prohibition on Adverse Action.--The Secretary of Defense may
not take any adverse action against a covered member based solely on
the refusal of such member to receive a vaccine for COVID-19.
``(c) Remedies Available for a Covered Member Discharged or Subject
to Adverse Action Based on COVID-19 Status.--At the election of a
covered member discharged or subject to adverse action based on the
member's COVID-19 vaccination status, and upon application through a
process established by the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary shall--
``(1) adjust to `honorable discharge' the status of the
member if--
``(A) the member was separated from the Armed
Forces based solely on the failure of the member to
obey an order to receive a vaccine for COVID-19; and
``(B) the discharge status of the member would have
been an `honorable discharge' but for the refusal to
obtain such vaccine;
``(2) reinstate the member to service at the highest grade
held by the member immediately prior to the involuntary
separation, allowing, however, for any reduction in rank that
was not related to the member's COVID-19 vaccination status,
with an effective date of reinstatement as of the date of
involuntary separation;
``(3) for any member who was subject to any adverse action
other than involuntary separation based solely on the member's
COVID-19 vaccination status--
``(A) restore the member to the highest grade held
prior to such adverse action, allowing, however, for
any reduction in rank that was not related to the
member's COVID-19 vaccination status, with an effective
date of reinstatement as of the date of involuntary
separation; and
``(B) compensate such member for any pay and
benefits lost as a result of such adverse action;
``(4) expunge from the service record of the member any
adverse action, to include non-punitive adverse action and
involuntary separation, as well as any reference to any such
adverse action, based solely on COVID-19 vaccination status;
and
``(5) include the time of involuntary separation of the
member reinstated under paragraph (2) in the computation of the
retired or retainer pay of the member.
``(d) Retention and Development of Unvaccinated Members.--The
Secretary of Defense shall--
``(1) make every effort to retain covered members who are
not vaccinated against COVID-19 and provide such members with
professional development, promotion and leadership
opportunities, and consideration equal to that of their peers;
``(2) only consider the COVID-19 vaccination status of a
covered member in making deployment, assignment, and other
operational decisions where--
``(A) the law or regulations of a foreign country
require covered members to be vaccinated against COVID-
19 in order to enter that country; and
``(B) the covered member's presence in that foreign
country is necessary in order to perform their assigned
role; and
``(3) for purposes of deployments, assignments, and
operations described in paragraph (2), create a process to
provide COVID-19 vaccination exemptions to covered members
with--
``(A) a natural immunity to COVID-19;
``(B) an underlying health condition that would
make COVID-19 vaccination a greater risk to that
individual than the general population; or
``(C) sincerely held religious beliefs in conflict
with receiving the COVID-19 vaccination.
``(e) Termination of Obligation To Repay Bonuses of Members
Separated for Refusing Covid-19 Vaccine.--
``(1) In general.--A former member of the Armed Forces who
was separated from the Armed Forces because the former member
refused to obtain a COVID-19 vaccine shall be released for any
obligation to repay any bonus received by the former member.
``(2) Reimbursement of repayments.--A former member of the
Armed Forces described in subsection (a) who, before the date
of the enactment of this Act, repaid any portion of a bonus
described in that subsection shall be reimbursed for such
repayment.
``(f) Applicability of Remedies Contained in This Section.--The
prohibitions and remedies described in this section shall apply to
covered members regardless of whether or not they sought an
accommodation to any Department of Defense COVID-19 vaccination policy
on any grounds.''.
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services.
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