I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 605

To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve retirement authorities

applicable to judges of the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans

Claims, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FEBRUARY 4, 1999

Mr. STUMP (for himself and Mr. EVANS) introduced the following bill; which

was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs

A BILL

To amend title 38, United States Code, to improve retirement authorities applicable to judges of the United

States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, and for

other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Court of Appeals for

5 Veterans Claims Act of 1999’’.
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1 SEC. 2. AUTHORITY TO PRESCRIBE RULES AND REGULA2 TIONS.

3 Section 7254 of title 38, United States Code, is

4 amended by adding at the end the following new sub5 section:

6 ‘‘(f) The Court may prescribe rules and regulations

7 to carry out this chapter.’’.

8 SEC. 3. RECALL OF RETIRED JUDGES.

9 (a) AUTHORITY TO RECALL RETIRED JUDGES.—

10 Chapter 72 of title 38, United States Code, is amended

11 by inserting after section 7256 the following new section:

12 ‘‘§ 7257. Recall of retired judges

13 ‘‘(a)(1) A retired judge of the Court may be recalled

14 for further service on the Court in accordance with this

15 section. To be eligible to be recalled for such service, a

16 retired judge must at the time of the judge’s retirement

17 provide to the chief judge of the Court (or, in the case

18 of the chief judge, to the clerk of the Court) notice in writ19 ing that the retired judge is available for further service

20 on the Court in accordance with this section and is willing

21 to be recalled under this section. Such a notice provided

22 by a retired judge is irrevocable.

23 ‘‘(2) For the purposes of this section—

24 ‘‘(A) a retired judge is a judge of the Court of

25 Veterans Appeals who retires from the Court under
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1 section 7296 of this title or under chapter 83 or 84

2 of title 5; and

3 ‘‘(B) a recall-eligible retired judge is a retired

4 judge who has provided a notice under paragraph

5 (1).

6 ‘‘(b)(1) The chief judge may recall for further service

7 on the court a recall-eligible retired judge in accordance

8 with this section. Such a recall shall be made upon written

9 certification by the chief judge that substantial service is

10 expected to be performed by the retired judge for such

11 period, not to exceed 90 days (or the equivalent), as deter12 mined by the chief judge to be necessary to meet the needs

13 of the Court.

14 ‘‘(2) A recall-eligible retired judge may not be re15 called for more than 90 days (or the equivalent) during

16 any calendar year without the judge’s consent or for more

17 than a total of 180 days (or the equivalent) during any

18 calendar year.

19 ‘‘(3) If a recall-eligible retired judge is recalled by the

20 chief judge in accordance with this section and (other than

21 in the case of a judge who has previously during that cal22 endar year served at least 90 days (or the equivalent) of

23 recalled service on the court) declines (other than by rea24 son of disability) to perform the service to which recalled,
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1 the chief judge shall remove that retired judge from the

2 status of a recall-eligible judge.

3 ‘‘(4) A recall-eligible retired judge who becomes per4 manently disabled and as a result of that disability is un5 able to perform further service on the court shall be re6 moved from the status of a recall-eligible judge. Deter7 mination of such a disability shall be made in the same

8 manner as is applicable to judges of the United States

9 under section 371 of title 28.

10 ‘‘(c) A retired judge who is recalled under this section

11 may exercise all of the powers and duties of the office of

12 a judge in active service.

13 ‘‘(d)(1) The pay of a recall-eligible retired judge who

14 retired under section 7296 of this title is specified in sub15 section (c) of that section.

16 ‘‘(2) A judge who is recalled under this section who

17 retired under chapter 83 or 84 of title 5 shall be paid,

18 during the period for which the judge serves in recall sta19 tus, pay at the rate of pay in effect under section 7253(e)

20 of this title for a judge performing active service, less the

21 amount of the judge’s annuity under the applicable provi22 sions of chapter 83 or 84 of title 5.

23 ‘‘(e)(1) Except as provided in subsection (d), a judge

24 who is recalled under this section who retired under chap-
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1 ter 83 or 84 of title 5 shall be considered to be a reem2 ployed annuitant under that chapter.

3 ‘‘(2) Nothing in this section affects the right of a

4 judge who retired under chapter 83 or 84 of title 5 to

5 serve as a reemployed annuitant in accordance with the

6 provisions of title 5.’’.

7 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections

8 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting

9 after the item relating to section 7256 the following new

10 item:

‘‘7257. Recall of retired judges.’’.

11 SEC. 4. CALCULATION OF YEARS OF SERVICE AS A JUDGE.

12 Section 7296(b) of title 38, United States Code, is

13 amended by adding at the end the following new para14 graph:

15 ‘‘(4) For purposes of calculating the years of service

16 of an individual under this subsection and subsection (c),

17 only those years of service as a judge of the Court shall

18 be credited. In determining the number of years of such

19 service, that portion of the aggregate number of years of

20 such service that is a fractional part of one year shall be

21 disregarded if less than 183 days and shall be credited

22 as a full year if 183 days or more.’’.

23 SEC. 5. JUDGES’ RETIRED PAY.

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (c)(1) of section 7296

25 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by striking
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1 ‘‘at the rate of pay in effect at the time of retirement.’’

2 and inserting the following: ‘‘as follows:

3 ‘‘(A) In the case of a judge who is a recall-eligi4 ble retired judge under section 7257 of this title or

5 who was a recall-eligible retired judge under that

6 section and was removed from recall status under

7 subsection (b)(4) of that section by reason of disabil8 ity, the retired pay of the judge shall be the pay of

9 a judge of the court (or of the chief judge, if the in10 dividual retired from service as chief judge).

11 ‘‘(B) In the case of a judge who at the time of

12 retirement did not provide notice under section 7257

13 of this title of availability for service in a recalled

14 status, the retired pay of the judge shall be the rate

15 of pay applicable to that judge at the time of retire16 ment.

17 ‘‘(C) In the case of a judge who was a recall18 eligible retired judge under section 7257 of this title

19 and was removed from recall status under subsection

20 (b)(3) of that section, the retired pay of the judge

21 shall be the pay of the judge at the time of the re22 moval from recall status.’’.

23 (b) COST-OF-LIVING ADJUSTMENTS.—Subsection (f)

24 of such section is amended by adding at the end the follow25 ing new paragraph:
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1 ‘‘(3)(A) A cost-of-living adjustment provided by law

2 in annuities payable under civil service retirement laws

3 shall apply to retired pay under this section only in the

4 case of retired pay computed under paragraph (2) of sub5 section (c).

6 ‘‘(B)(i) If such a cost-of-living adjustment would (but

7 for this subparagraph) result in the retired pay of a re8 tired chief judge being in excess of the annual rate of pay

9 in effect for the chief judge of the court as provided in

10 section 7253(e)(1) of this title, such adjustment may be

11 made in the retired pay of that retired chief judge only

12 in such amount as results in the retired pay of the retired

13 chief judge being equal to that annual rate of pay (as in

14 effect on the effective date of such adjustment).

15 ‘‘(ii) If such a cost-of-living adjustment would (but

16 for this subparagraph) result in the retired pay of a re17 tired judge (other than a retired chief judge) being in ex18 cess of the annual rate of pay in effect for judges of the

19 court as provided in section 7253(e)(2) of this title, such

20 adjustment may be made only in such amount as results

21 in the retired pay of the retired judge being equal to that

22 annual rate of pay (as in effect on the effective date of

23 such adjustment).’’.

24 (c) COORDINATION WITH MILITARY RETIRED

25 PAY.—Subsection (f) of such section is further amended
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1 by adding after paragraph (3), as added by subsection (b),

2 the following new paragraph:

3 ‘‘(4) Notwithstanding subsection (c) of section 5532

4 of title 5, if a regular or reserve member of a uniformed

5 service who is receiving retired or retainer pay becomes

6 a judge of the court, or becomes eligible therefor while

7 a judge of the court, such retired or retainer pay shall

8 not be paid during the judge’s regular active service on

9 the court, but shall be resumed or commenced without re10 duction upon retirement as a judge.’’.

11 SEC. 6. LIMITATION ON ACTIVITIES OF RETIRED JUDGES.

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 72 of title 38, United

13 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the follow14 ing new section:

15 ‘‘§ 7299. Limitation on activities of retired judges

16 ‘‘If a retired judge of the Court in the practice of

17 law represents (or supervises or directs the representation

18 of) a client in making any claim relating to veterans’ bene19 fits against the United States or any agency thereof, the

20 retired judge shall forfeit all rights to retired pay under

21 section 7296 of this title or under chapter 83 or 84 of

22 title 5 for the period beginning on the date on which the

23 representation begins and ending one year after the date

24 on which the representation ends.’’.
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1 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections

2 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by adding

3 at the end the following new item:

‘‘7299. Limitation on activities of retired judges.’’.

4 SEC. 7. EARLY RETIREMENT AUTHORITY FOR CURRENT

5 JUDGES IN ORDER TO PROVIDE FOR STAG6 GERED TERMS OF JUDGES.

7 (a) RETIREMENT AUTHORIZED.—One eligible judge

8 may retire in accordance with this section with respect to

9 each year beginning in 1999 and ending in 2003.

10 (b) ELIGIBLE JUDGES.—For purposes of this section,

11 an eligible judge is an associate judge of the United States

12 Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims who—

13 (1) has at least 10 years of service creditable

14 under section 7296 of title 38, United States Code;

15 (2) has made an election to receive retired pay

16 under section 7296 of such title;

17 (3) has at least 20 years of service described in

18 section 7297(l) of such title; and

19 (4) is at least 55 years of age.

20 (c) MULTIPLE ELIGIBLE JUDGES.—If for any year

21 specified in subsection (a) more than one eligible judge

22 provides notice in accordance with subsection (d), the

23 judge who has the greatest seniority as a judge of the

24 United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims shall
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1 be the judge who is eligible to retire in accordance with

2 this section in that year.

3 (d) NOTICE.—An eligible judge who desires to retire

4 in accordance with this section with respect to any year

5 covered by subsection (a) shall provide to the President

6 and the chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals

7 for Veterans Claims written notice to that effect not later

8 than April 1 of that year, except that in the case of an

9 eligible judge desiring to retire with respect to 1999, such

10 notice shall be provided not later than November 1, 1999,

11 or 15 days after the date of the enactment of this Act,

12 whichever is later. Such a notice shall specify the retire13 ment date in accordance with subsection (e). Notice pro14 vided under this subsection shall be irrevocable.

15 (e) DATE OF RETIREMENT.—A judge who is eligible

16 to retire in accordance with this section shall be retired

17 during the fiscal year in which notice is provided pursuant

18 to subsection (d), but not earlier than 90 days after the

19 date on which that notice is provided, except that a judge

20 retired in accordance with this section with respect to

21 1999 shall be retired not earlier than 90 days, and not

22 later than 120 days, after the date on which notice is pro23 vided pursuant to subsection (d).

24 (f) APPLICABLE PROVISIONS.—Except as provided in

25 subsection (g), a judge retired in accordance with this sec-
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1 tion shall be considered for all purposes to be retired under

2 section 7296(b)(1) of title 38, United States Code.

3 (g) RATE OF RETIRED PAY.—The rate of retired pay

4 for a judge retiring in accordance with this section is—

5 (1) the rate applicable to that judge under sec6 tion 7296(c)(1) of title 38, United States Code, mul7 tiplied by

8 (2) the fraction (not in excess of 1) in which—

9 (A) the numerator is the sum of: (i) the

10 number of years of service of the judge as a

11 judge of the United States Court of Appeals for

12 Veterans Claims creditable under section 7296

13 of such title; and (ii) the age of the judge; and

14 (B) the denominator is 80.

15 (h) ADJUSTMENTS IN RETIRED PAY FOR JUDGES

16 AVAILABLE FOR RECALL.—Subject to section

17 7296(f)(3)(B) of title 38, United States Code, an adjust18 ment provided by law in annuities payable under civil serv19 ice retirement laws shall apply to retired pay under this

20 section in the case of a judge who is a recall-eligible retired

21 judge under section 7257 of title 38, United States Code,

22 or who was a recall-eligible retired judge under that sec23 tion and was removed from recall status under subsection

24 (b)(4) of that section by reason of disability.
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1 (i) DUTY OF ACTUARY.—Section 7298(e)(2) of title

2 38, United States Code, is amended—

3 (1) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as sub4 paragraph (D); and

5 (2) by inserting after subparagraph (B) the fol6 lowing new subparagraph:

7 ‘‘(C) For purposes of subparagraph (B), the term

8 ‘present value’ includes a value determined by an actuary

9 with respect to a payment that may be made under sub10 section (b) from the retirement fund within the contempla11 tion of law.’’.

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