PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the Subcommittee on Military Personnel.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · May 17, 2005
Matthew Voisbert Help Extend Respect Owed to Every Soldier (HEROES) Act - Requires: (1) the Secretary of Defense to establish minimum uniform standards for postdeployment medical examinations; (2) that such examinations include screening for mental health and substance abuse disorders; and (3) follow-up services in appropriate cases.
Directs the Secretary of Defense to foster the early identification and treatment of mental health and substance abuse disorders experienced by members of the Armed Forces, with special emphasis on members who have served in a theater of combat operations within the preceding 12 months.
Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to employ at least one psychiatrist and a complementary medical team at each Department of Veterans Affairs (Department) medical center to conduct a specialized program for the diagnosis and treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder, and to employ additional mental health services specialists at such center. Authorizes such Secretary to contract for mental health and substance abuse treatment services in non-Department facilities when such services are not available in Department facilities.
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
Requires the Secretary of Defense to transmit to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs: (1) within seven days the medical records of all military personnel being discharged, released from active duty, or retired; and (2) a roster of all personnel who have served in the theater of operations during Operations Iraqi Freedom or Enduring Freedom.
Directs the Secretary of Defense to assist eligible persons in obtaining employment in stable and permanent positions. Requires individualized transitional services to be provided to separating military personnel. Includes additional elements within a program under which the Secretary of Labor provides services and information to separating military personnel and their spouses.
Requires the Secretaries of Defense and Homeland Security to: (1) ensure that transition programs are provided at each military installation, National Guard armory and military family support center, and inpatient medical care facility; (2) ensure that military and veterans' service organizations and representatives are permitted to participate in such transition programs; and (3) facilitate the access of such State organizations and representatives to provide preseparation counseling and services to separating members.
Directs the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to facilitate the access of such organizations and representatives to provide member information on the care and services available.
Requires the Secretaries of Defense and Veterans Affairs to facilitate the sharing between their respective departments of information concerning member duties and assignments, exposures to toxic or hazardous substances, and illnesses or injuries incurred or aggravated in the course of such duties and assignments. Rescinds a Department Memorandum entitled "Status of VHA Enrollment and Associated Issues."
Directs the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to provide mortgage assistance to members who are seriously injured during military service.
Repeals the $1,200 reduction in basic pay currently required for participation in the Montgomery GI Bill educational assistance program.
People & committees
Rep. Meehan, Martin T. [D-MA-5] · D–MA
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Military Personnel.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity.
Referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committees on Veterans' Affairs, and Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committees on Veterans' Affairs, and Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committees on Veterans' Affairs, and Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committees on Veterans' Affairs, and Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Aug 15, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Analyze H.R.2411 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
Examine H.R.2411 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
Examine H.R.2411 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
Examine H.R.2411 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.