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Moral Injury Recognition and Restitution Act
To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for the retroactive payment of benefits for veterans with covered mental health conditions based on military sexual trauma, and for other purposes.
Summary
This bill allows veterans with mental health conditions or physical injuries resulting from military sexual trauma to receive retroactive VA disability benefits dating back to the day after their discharge from service. When the Department of Veterans Affairs approves a claim for a covered condition related to military sexual trauma, benefits are paid from the date of discharge rather than the date the claim was filed. This allows veterans to receive compensation for the full period since their service ended.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
14 cosponsors
- Del. Norton, Eleanor Holmes [D-DC-At Large] (D-DC)
- Rep. Bacon, Don [R-NE-2] (R-NE)
- Rep. Bishop, Sanford D. [D-GA-2] (D-GA)
- Rep. Fitzpatrick, Brian K. [R-PA-1] (R-PA)
- Rep. Houlahan, Chrissy [D-PA-6] (D-PA)
- Rep. Hoyle, Val T. [D-OR-4] (D-OR)
- Rep. Kiggans, Jennifer A. [R-VA-2] (R-VA)
- Rep. Landsman, Greg [D-OH-1] (D-OH)
- Rep. Larsen, Rick [D-WA-2] (D-WA)
- Rep. Leger Fernandez, Teresa [D-NM-3] (D-NM)
- Rep. Min, Dave [D-CA-47] (D-CA)
- Rep. Perez, Marie Gluesenkamp [D-WA-3] (D-WA)
- Rep. Soto, Darren [D-FL-9] (D-FL)
- Rep. Stevens, Haley M. [D-MI-11] (D-MI)
Money behind the sponsor
Top reported contributors to Salud O. Carbajal’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.
- NULL $39,900
- TIGER MOON GROUP $13,200
- JENNINGS AERONAUTICS INC. $9,900
- WINDOW WORLD $9,900
- CHUMASH $8,400
Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for Salud O. Carbajal → · Outside spending →
Actions (3)
- Apr 9, 2026 Referred to the Subcommittee on Health. · house
- Mar 18, 2026 Referred to the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs. · house
- Mar 18, 2026 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 18, 2026
Mr. Carbajal (for himself and Mr. Bacon) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs
A BILL
To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for the retroactive payment of benefits for veterans with covered mental health conditions based on military sexual trauma, 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 “Moral Injury Recognition and Restitution Act”.
SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS RETROACTIVE BENEFITS PAYMENTS FOR VETERANS WITH COVERED HEALTH CONDITIONS BASED ON MILITARY SEXUAL TRAUMA.
(a) In General.—Subchapter II of chapter 51 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new section: “Sec. 5114. Claims involving military sexual trauma: retroactive benefits payments
“(a) In General.—If the Secretary approves a claim for compensation for a covered health condition based on military sexual trauma experienced by a veteran during active military, naval, or air service, notwithstanding sections 5110 and 5111 of this title—
“(1) the effective date of the award of the claim shall be the date of the day after the date on which the veteran is discharged from such service; and
“(2) payment of monetary benefits based on such award shall be made beginning on such date and shall be payable retroactively.
“(b) Definitions.—In this section:
“(1) The term ‘military sexual trauma’ has the meaning given such term in section 1166(c)(2) of this title.
“(2) The term ‘covered health condition’ means—
“(A) a covered mental health condition, as such term is defined in section 1166(c)(1) of this title; or
“(B) any physical injury or disease resulting in disability that was incurred as a result of, or aggravated by, military sexual trauma.”.
(b) Clerical Amendments.—The table of sections at the beginning of chapter 51 of such title is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 5113 the following new item:
“5114. Claims involving military sexual trauma: retroactive benefits payments.”. <all>
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