Govwatch

Introduced

In Committee

3

Passed One Chamber

4

Passed Both

5

Signed into Law

Sponsor

Chris Pappas

Democrat · NH · Representative

Votes with party: 92.6% (605 recorded votes)

Full profile: /officials/P000614

Source: Congress.gov · FEC

Cosponsors (36)

Members who have signed on to support this bill since introduction. Source: Congress.gov.

Latest Action

The most recent step in the bill's legislative path. Committee Activity below shows referrals and reports; the full action-by-action history including floor proceedings lives at Congress.gov →

Referred to the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

2026-04-21

Source: Congress.gov

Committee Activity

Currently in

House Committee on Veterans' AffairsReferred To · 2026-04-21

Previously

Veterans' Affairs CommitteeReferred To · 2026-04-21

Plain-English Summary

The legislation would expand benefits and support services for military veterans, including improvements to healthcare access, mental health services, and job training programs. It aims to help veterans transition more smoothly to civilian life by providing additional resources for education, employment assistance, and housing support. Veterans and their families would be the primary beneficiaries of these enhanced services and programs.

AI-assisted summary generated from the official bill metadata (title, subjects, actions) sourced from Congress.gov. Cached and reviewed. Always verify against the official text linked below.

Subjects

Armed Forces and National Security

Full Bill Text

Verbatim text published on Congress.gov via GovInfo. Use Cmd+F / Ctrl+F to search within this excerpt.

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [H.R. 8421 Introduced in House (IH)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 8421 To amend title 38, United States Code, to extend to former members of the Armed Forces, discharged on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, certain benefits furnished by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES April 21, 2026 Mr. Pappas (for himself, Mr. Levin, Ms. Jacobs, and Ms. Dexter) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To amend title 38, United States Code, to extend to former members of the Armed Forces, discharged on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, certain benefits furnished by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and for other purposes. 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 ``Securing the Rights our Veterans Earned Act'' or the ``SERVE Act''. SEC. 2. EXTENSION TO FORMER MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES, DISCHARGED ON THE BASIS OF SEXUAL ORIENTATION OR GENDER IDENTITY, OF CERTAIN BENEFITS FURNISHED BY THE SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS. (a) Hospital Care and Medical Services.--Section 1710(a)(2) of title 38, United States Code, is amended-- (1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by striking ``any veteran''; (2) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ``any veteran'' before ``who has''; (3) in subparagraph (B), by inserting ``any veteran'' before ``whose''; (4) in subparagraphs (C), (D), and (E), by inserting ``any veteran'' before ``who is''; (5) in subparagraph (F)-- (A) by inserting ``any veteran'' before ``who is''; and (B) by striking ``; or'' and inserting a semicolon; (6) in subparagraph (G)-- (A) by inserting ``any veteran'' before ``who is''; and (B) by striking the period at the end and inserting ``; and''; and (7) by adding at the end the following new subparagraph: ``(H) a former member of the Armed Forces who, by reason of sexual orientation or gender identity (including a diagnosis of gender dysphoria), received-- ``(i) an entry-level separation; ``(ii) a discharge under honorable conditions; or ``(iii) a discharge under conditions other than honorable.''. (b) Vet Center Readjustment Counseling and Related Mental Health Services.--Section 1712A of such title is amended-- (1) by striking ``clauses (i) through (vii)'' both places it appears and inserting ``clauses (i) through (viii)''; (2) by striking ``in clause (viii)'' both places it appears and inserting ``in clause (ix)''; and (3) in subsection (a)(1)(C)-- (A) by redesignating clause (viii) as clause (ix); and (B) by inserting after clause (vii) the following new clause (viii): ``(viii) An individual described in section 1710(a)(2)(H) of this title.''. (c) Interment in National Cemeteries.--Section 2402(a) of such title is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph: ``(11) An individual described in section 1710(a)(2)(H) of this title.''. (d) Post-9/11 Educational Assistance.--Section 3311(b) of such title is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph: ``(12) An individual described in section 1710(a)(2)(H) of this title.''. (e) Housing Loans.--Section 3702(a)(2) of such title is amended by adding at the end the following new subparagraph: ``(H) Each individual described in section 1710(a)(2)(H) of this title.''. (f) Outreach.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall conduct outreach to notify individuals described in section 1710(a)(2)(H) of such title, as added by subsection (a), and entities including veterans service organizations and military service organizations, of benefits available to such individuals under the amendments made by this section. (g) Report.--Not later than 15 months after the date of the enactment…

Show the remaining 57 words

of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and House of Representatives a report on benefits provided individuals pursuant to amendments made by this Act during the year after such date. Such report shall include the number of such individuals who received such benefits, disaggregated by demographic categories. <all>

Open clean-text view Read on Congress.gov →

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