II 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2299 

To amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act and title 38, United States 

Code, to improve the provision of civil relief to members of the uniformed 

services and to improve the enforcement of employment and reemployment rights of such members, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 18, 2012 

Mrs. MURRAY (for herself, Mr. BEGICH, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. ROCKEFELLER, and Mr. AKAKA) introduced the following bill; which was read 

twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL 

To amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act and title 

38, United States Code, to improve the provision of 

civil relief to members of the uniformed services and 

to improve the enforcement of employment and reemployment rights of such members, 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 ‘‘Servicemembers Rights 

5 Enforcement Improvement Act of 2012’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. MODIFICATION OF PLAINTIFF AFFIDAVIT FILING 

2 REQUIREMENT FOR DEFAULT JUDGMENTS 

3 AGAINST SERVICEMEMBERS. 

4 Paragraph (1) of section 201(b) of the 

5 Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (50 U.S.C. App. 521(b)) 

6 is amended to read as follows: 

7 ‘‘(1) PLAINTIFF TO FILE AFFIDAVIT.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In any action or pro9 ceeding covered by this section, the plaintiff, be10 fore seeking a default judgment, shall file with 

11 the court an affidavit— 

12 ‘‘(i) stating whether or not the de13 fendant is in military service and showing 

14 necessary facts to support the affidavit; or 

15 ‘‘(ii) if the plaintiff is unable to deter16 mine whether or not the defendant is in 

17 military service, stating that the plaintiff is 

18 unable to determine whether or not the de19 fendant is in military service. 

20 ‘‘(B) DUE DILIGENCE.—Before filing the 

21 affidavit, the plaintiff shall conduct a diligent 

22 and reasonable investigation to determine 

23 whether or not the defendant is in military 

24 service, including a search of available records 

25 of the Department of Defense and any other in26 formation available to the plaintiff. The affiVerDate Mar 15 2010 22:03 Apr 19, 2012 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2299.IS S2299

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1 davit shall set forth in the affidavit all steps 

2 taken to determine the defendant’s military sta3 tus.’’. 

4 SEC. 3. RETROACTIVE APPLICATION OF PRIVATE RIGHT OF 

5 ACTION UNDER SERVICEMEMBERS CIVIL RE6 LIEF ACT. 

7 Section 802(a) of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act 

8 (50 U.S.C. App. 597a(a)) shall apply with respect to viola9 tions of such Act occurring on or after December 19, 

10 2003. 

11 SEC. 4. ENFORCEMENT OF RIGHTS OF MEMBERS OF UNI12 FORMED SERVICES WITH RESPECT TO 

13 STATES AND PRIVATE EMPLOYERS. 

14 (a) ACTION FOR RELIEF.—Subsection (a) of section 

15 4323 of title 38, United States Code, is amended— 

16 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

17 (A) by striking ‘‘appear on behalf of, and 

18 act as attorney for, the person on whose behalf 

19 the complaint is submitted and’’; 

20 (B) by striking ‘‘for such person’’; 

21 (C) by striking the fourth sentence; and 

22 (D) by adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘The person on whose behalf the complaint is 

24 referred may, upon timely application, intervene 

25 in such action, and may obtain such approVerDate Mar 15 2010 22:03 Apr 19, 2012 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2299.IS S2299

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1 priate relief as is provided in subsections (d) 

2 and (e).’’; 

3 (2) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the 

4 following new paragraph (2): 

5 ‘‘(2)(A) Not later than 60 days after the date the 

6 Attorney General receives a referral under paragraph (1), 

7 the Attorney General shall transmit, in writing, to the per8 son on whose behalf the complaint is submitted— 

9 ‘‘(i) if the Attorney General has made a deci10 sion to commence an action for relief under para11 graph (1) relating to the complaint of the person, 

12 notice of the decision; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) if the Attorney General has not made such 

14 a decision, notice of when the Attorney General ex15 pects to make such a decision. 

16 ‘‘(B) If the Attorney General notifies a person that 

17 the Attorney General expects to make a decision under 

18 subparagraph (A)(ii), the Attorney General shall, not later 

19 than 30 days after the date on which the Attorney General 

20 makes such decision, notify, in writing, the person of such 

21 decision.’’; 

22 (3) by redesignating paragraph (3) as para23 graph (4), 

24 (4) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol25 lowing new paragraph (3): 


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1 ‘‘(3) Whenever the Attorney General has reasonable 

2 cause to believe that a State (as an employer) or a private 

3 employer is engaged in a pattern or practice of resistance 

4 to the full enjoyment of any of the rights and benefits pro5 vided for under this chapter, and that the pattern or prac6 tice is of such a nature and is intended to deny the full 

7 exercise of such rights and benefits, the Attorney General 

8 may commence an action for relief under this chapter.’’; 

9 and 

10 (5) in paragraph (4), as redesignated by para11 graph (3), by striking subparagraph (C) and insert12 ing the following new subparagraph (C): 

13 ‘‘(C) has been notified by the Attorney General 

14 that the Attorney General does not intend to com15 mence an action for relief under paragraph (1) with 

16 respect to the complaint under such paragraph.’’. 

17 (b) STANDING.—Subsection (f) of such section is 

18 amended to read as follows: 

19 ‘‘(f) STANDING.—An action under this chapter may 

20 be initiated only by the Attorney General or by a person 

21 claiming rights or benefits under this chapter under sub22 section (a).’’. 

23 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Subsection (h)(2) 

24 of such section is amended by striking ‘‘under subsection 


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1 (a)(2)’’ and inserting ‘‘under paragraph (1) or (4) of sub2 section (a)’’. 

3 SEC. 5. SUBPOENA POWER FOR SPECIAL COUNSEL IN EN4 FORCEMENT OF EMPLOYMENT AND REEM5 PLOYMENT RIGHTS OF MEMBERS OF UNI6 FORMED SERVICES WITH RESPECT TO FED7 ERAL EXECUTIVE AGENCIES. 

8 Section 4324 of title 38, United States Code, is 

9 amended by adding at the end the following new sub10 section: 

11 ‘‘(e)(1) In order to carry out the Special Counsel’s 

12 responsibilities under this section, the Special Counsel 

13 may require by subpoena the attendance and testimony 

14 of Federal employees and the production of documents 

15 from Federal employees and Federal executive agencies. 

16 ‘‘(2) In the case of contumacy or failure to obey a 

17 subpoena issued under paragraph (1), upon application by 

18 the Special Counsel, the Merit Systems Protection Board 

19 may issue an order requiring a Federal employee or Fed20 eral executive agency to comply with a subpoena of the 

21 Special Counsel. 

22 ‘‘(3) An order issued under paragraph (2) may be 

23 enforced by the Merit Systems Protection Board in the 

24 same manner as any order issued under section 1204 of 

25 title 5, United States Code.’’. 


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1 SEC. 6. ISSUANCE AND SERVICE OF CIVIL INVESTIGATIVE 

2 DEMANDS BY ATTORNEY GENERAL. 

3 (a) ISSUANCE UNDER SERVICEMEMBERS CIVIL RE4 LIEF ACT.—Section 801 of the Servicemembers Civil Re5 lief Act (50 U.S.C. App. 597) is amended by adding at 

6 the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(d) ISSUANCE AND SERVICE OF CIVIL INVESTIGA8 TIVE DEMANDS.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Whenever the Attorney 

10 General has reason to believe that any person may 

11 be in possession, custody, or control of any docu12 mentary material relevant to an investigation under 

13 this Act, the Attorney General may, before com14 mencing a civil action under subsection (a), issue in 

15 writing and serve upon such person, a civil investiga16 tive demand requiring— 

17 ‘‘(A) the production of such documentary 

18 material for inspection and copying; 

19 ‘‘(B) that the custodian of such documen20 tary material answer in writing written ques21 tions with respect to such documentary mate22 rial; or 

23 ‘‘(C) the production of any combination of 

24 such documentary material or answers. 

25 ‘‘(2) FALSE CLAIMS.—The provisions of section 

26 3733 of title 31, United States Code, governing the 


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1 authority to issue, use, and enforce civil investigative 

2 demands shall apply with respect to the authority to 

3 issue, use, and enforce civil investigative demands 

4 under this section, except that, for purposes of ap5 plying such section 3733— 

6 ‘‘(A) references to false claims law inves7 tigators or investigations shall be considered 

8 references to investigators or investigations 

9 under this Act; 

10 ‘‘(B) references to interrogatories shall be 

11 considered references to written questions, and 

12 answers to such need not be under oath; 

13 ‘‘(C) the definitions relating to ‘false 

14 claims law’ shall not apply; and 

15 ‘‘(D) provisions relating to qui tam rela16 tors shall not apply.’’. 

17 (b) ISSUANCE UNDER CHAPTER 43 OF TITLE 38, 

18 UNITED STATES CODE.—Section 4323 of title 38, United 

19 States Code, is amended— 

20 (1) by redesignating subsection (i) as subsection 

21 (j); and 

22 (2) by inserting after subsection (h) the fol23 lowing new subsection (i): 

24 ‘‘(i) ISSUANCE AND SERVICE OF CIVIL INVESTIGA25 TIVE DEMANDS.—(1) Whenever the Attorney General has 


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1 reason to believe that any person may be in possession, 

2 custody, or control of any documentary material relevant 

3 to an investigation under this subchapter, the Attorney 

4 General may, before commencing a civil action under sub5 section (a), issue in writing and serve upon such person, 

6 a civil investigative demand requiring— 

7 ‘‘(A) the production of such documentary mate8 rial for inspection and copying; 

9 ‘‘(B) that the custodian of such documentary 

10 material answer in writing written questions with re11 spect to such documentary material; or 

12 ‘‘(C) the production of any combination of such 

13 documentary material or answers. 

14 ‘‘(2) The provisions of section 3733 of title 31 gov15 erning the authority to issue, use, and enforce civil inves16 tigative demands shall apply with respect to the authority 

17 to issue, use, and enforce civil investigative demands under 

18 this section, except that, for purposes of applying such sec19 tion 3733— 

20 ‘‘(A) references to false claims law investigators 

21 or investigations shall be considered references to in22 vestigators or investigations under this subchapter; 

23 ‘‘(B) references to interrogatories shall be con24 sidered references to written questions, and answers 

25 to such need not be under oath; 


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1 ‘‘(C) the definitions relating to ‘false claims 

2 law’ shall not apply; and 

3 ‘‘(D) provisions relating to qui tam relators 

4 shall not apply.’’. 

Æ 


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