II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 11

To amend title 10, United States Code, to ensure that the strength of 

the Armed Forces and the protections and benefits for members of 

the Armed Forces and their families are adequate for keeping the commitment of the people of the United States to support their 

servicemembers, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 24, 2005

Mr. LEVIN (for himself, Mr. REID, Ms. MIKULSKI, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. 

INOUYE, Mr. DORGAN, Mr. LAUTENBERG, Mr. LEAHY, Mr. SALAZAR, Mr. 

ROCKEFELLER, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. BINGAMAN, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. 

DURBIN, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. CORZINE, Mr. PRYOR, Mr. NELSON of Nebraska, Mr. REED, Mr. SCHUMER, and Mr. DAYTON) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL

To amend title 10, United States Code, to ensure that the 

strength of the Armed Forces and the protections and 

benefits for members of the Armed Forces and their 

families are adequate for keeping the commitment of 

the people of the United States to support their 

servicemembers, 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,
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Standing With Our 

3 Troops Act of 2005’’. 

4 DIVISION A—FULFILLMENT OF 

5 OBLIGATIONS TO THE MEM6 BERS OF THE ARMED FORCES 

7 TITLE I—STRENGTHS OF THE 

8 ARMY AND MARINE CORPS 

9 ACTIVE FORCES 

10 SEC. 101. FINDINGS. 

11 Congress makes the following findings: 

12 (1) While the United States Armed Forces re13 main the premier fighting force in the world, the De14 fense Science Board, in a study carried out in the 

15 summer of 2004, found that ‘‘When we match the 

16 existing and projected force structure with the cur17 rent and projected need for stabilization forces we 

18 see an enduring shortfall in both total numbers of 

19 people and their ability to sustain the continuity of 

20 stabilization efforts.’’. 

21 (2) Between 1989 and 2004, the military per22 sonnel end strength of the Army has been reduced 

23 by more than 34 percent, and the Department of the 

24 Army’s civilian workforce has been reduced by more 

25 than 45 percent, while the mission rate of the Army 

26 has increased by 300 percent. 
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1 (3) Because of the personnel reductions, the 

2 Army National Guard and the Army Reserve are re3 peatedly being called to active duty to meet Army 

4 mission requirements that the active-duty force of 

5 the Army is no longer large enough to meet alone. 

6 Army National Guard and Army Reserve units have 

7 provided up to 40 percent of the military personnel 

8 engaged in Operation Iraqi Freedom while they have 

9 also been performing a dramatically increased role in 

10 homeland defense and continuing to respond to nat11 ural disasters, other domestic emergencies, and mili12 tary contingencies. As a result, the reserve compo13 nents of the Army have been pushed to the breaking 

14 point. 

15 SEC. 102. ARMY. 

16 (a) STRENGTH FOR FISCAL YEAR 2006.—Effective 

17 on October 1, 2005, section 691(b)(1) of title 10, United 

18 States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘502,400’’ and in19 serting ‘‘522,400’’. 

20 (b) STRENGTH FOR FISCAL YEARS AFTER FISCAL

21 YEAR 2006.—Effective on October 1, 2006, section 

22 691(b)(1) of such title is amended by striking ‘‘522,400’’ 

23 and inserting ‘‘532,400’’. 
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1 SEC. 103. MARINE CORPS. 

2 (a) STRENGTH FOR FISCAL YEAR 2006.—Effective 

3 on October 1, 2005, section 691(b)(3) of title 10, United 

4 States Code, is amended by striking ‘‘178,000’’ and in5 serting ‘‘183,000’’. 

6 (b) STRENGTH FOR FISCAL YEARS AFTER FISCAL

7 YEAR 2006.—Effective on October 1, 2006, section 

8 691(b)(3) of title 10, United States Code, is amended by 

9 striking ‘‘183,000’’ and inserting ‘‘188,000’’. 

10 TITLE II—FULL RECOGNITION 

11 OF SACRIFICE AND VALOR OF 

12 UNITED STATES 

13 SERVICEMEMBERS 

14 Subtitle A—Findings 

15 SEC 201. FINDINGS. 

16 Congress makes the following findings: 

17 (1) On November 21, 2004, the Columbia 

18 Broadcasting System television program 60 Minutes 

19 reported that the staff of that program had received 

20 from the Department of Defense a letter containing 

21 the assertion that ‘‘[m]ore than 15,000 troops with 

22 so-called ‘non-battle’ injuries and diseases have been 

23 evacuated from Iraq.’’. 

24 (2) This report was a rare disclosure by the De25 partment of Defense, as it is the policy of the De26 partment of Defense not to disclose publicly the 
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1 number of Armed Forces personnel that sustain 

2 non-combat injuries. 

3 Subtitle B—Accounting for Casual4 ties Incurred in the Prosecution 

5 of the Global War on Terrorism 

6 SEC. 211. MONTHLY ACCOUNTING. 

7 Not later than five days after the end of each month, 

8 the Secretary of Defense shall publish, for such month for 

9 each operation described in section 212, a full accounting 

10 of the casualties among the members of the Armed Forces 

11 that were incurred in such operation during that month. 

12 SEC. 212. OPERATIONS COVERED. 

13 The operations referred to in section 211 are as fol14 lows: 

15 (1) Operation Iraqi Freedom. 

16 (2) Operation Enduring Freedom. 

17 (3) Each other operation undertaken by the 

18 Armed Forces in the prosecution of the Global War 

19 on Terrorism. 

20 SEC. 213. COMPREHENSIVE CONTENT OF ACCOUNTING. 

21 For the purpose of providing a full and complete ac22 counting of casualties covered by a report under section 

23 211, the Secretary of Defense shall include in the report 

24 the number of casualties in each casualty status in accord25 ance with section 214.
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1 SEC. 214. CASUALTY STATUS. 

2 (a) STATUS TYPES.—In a report under this title, 

3 each casualty among members of the Armed Forces shall 

4 be characterized by the most specific casualty status appli5 cable to the member as follows: 

6 (1) Killed in action. 

7 (2) Killed in non-hostile duty. 

8 (3) Killed, self-inflicted. 

9 (4) Wounded in action, not returned to duty. 

10 (5) Wounded in action, returned to duty (to the 

11 extent that data is available to support this charac12 terization of casualty status). 

13 (6) Evacuated for medical reasons. 

14 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

15 (1) KILLED IN ACTION.—The term ‘‘killed in 

16 action’’, with respect to a member of the Armed 

17 Forces, means that the member incurred one or 

18 more mortal wounds while involved in an action 

19 against a hostile force, whether or not the wounds 

20 are inflicted by the hostile force. 

21 (2) KILLED IN NON-HOSTILE DUTY.—The term 

22 ‘‘killed in non-hostile duty’’, with respect to a mem23 ber of the Armed Forces, means that the member 

24 incurred one or more mortal wounds that were not 

25 self-inflicted and not inflicted during an action 

26 against a hostile force. 
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1 (3) KILLED, SELF-INFLICTED.—The term 

2 ‘‘killed, self-inflicted’’, with respect to a member of 

3 the Armed Forces, means a suicide of the member 

4 or the death of the member as a result of one or 

5 more self-inflicted injuries. 

6 (4) WOUNDED IN ACTION, NOT RETURNED TO

7 DUTY.—The term ‘‘wounded in action, not returned 

8 to duty’’, with respect to a member of the Armed 

9 Forces, means that the member, while involved in an 

10 action against a hostile force, incurred one or more 

11 non-mortal injuries that required medical attention 

12 and that prevented the member from returning to 

13 duty within 72 hours after incurring the injury or 

14 injuries. 

15 (5) WOUNDED IN ACTION, RETURNED TO

16 DUTY.—The term ‘‘wounded in action, returned to 

17 duty’’, with respect to a member of the Armed 

18 Forces, means that the member, while involved in an 

19 action against a hostile force, incurred one or more 

20 non-mortal injuries that required medical attention 

21 but did not prevent the member from returning to 

22 duty within 72 hours after incurring the injury or 

23 injuries. 

24 (6) EVACUATED FOR MEDICAL REASONS.—The 

25 term ‘‘evacuated for medical reasons’’, with respect 
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1 to a member of the Armed Forces, means that the 

2 member was evacuated from a theater of operations 

3 for medical reasons. 

4 SEC. 215. PUBLICATION AND RELEASE OF REPORT. 

5 The Secretary of Defense shall—

6 (1) post the report under this title on the offi7 cial website of the Department of Defense; and 

8 (2) transmit a copy of the report to the chair9 men and ranking members of the Committees on 

10 Armed Services of the Senate and the House of Rep11 resentatives. 

12 SEC. 216. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

13 It is the sense of Congress that the Secretary of De14 fense has an obligation to ensure full and accurate report15 ing of casualties among the members of the Armed Forces 

16 to Congress and the people of the United States. 

17 Subtitle C—Advisory Panel on 

18 Military Awards and Decorations 

19 SEC. 221. ESTABLISHMENT. 

20 The Secretary of Defense shall establish within the 

21 Department of Defense an Advisory Panel on Military 

22 Awards and Decorations. 

23 SEC. 222. DUTIES. 

24 (a) COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW OF MILITARY DECORA25 TIONS SYSTEM.—The Advisory Panel shall conduct a com-
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1 prehensive review of the standards and processes used in 

2 the Armed Forces to award medals and decorations to 

3 members of the Armed Forces. The review shall include 

4 the following matters: 

5 (1) An examination and evaluation of the 

6 standards of each of the Armed Forces for awarding 

7 each medal and decoration. 

8 (2) A comparison of the standards of each of 

9 the Armed Forces with the standards of each of the 

10 other Armed Forces for awarding comparable med11 als and decorations. 

12 (3) An examination and evaluation of the speed 

13 with which—

14 (A) each of the Armed Forces identifies 

15 and considers members for the awarding of 

16 medals and decorations; and 

17 (B) the medals and decorations are ulti18 mately awarded. 

19 (4) A review of the medals and decorations 

20 awarded by the Armed Forces during 2002, 2003, 

21 and 2004, together with a review of the ranks of the 

22 recipients and the mission-related and other cir23 cumstances that are associated with the awarding of 

24 the medals and decorations to those recipients. 

25 (b) REPORT.—
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1 (1) REQUIREMENT FOR REPORT.—Not later 

2 than 18 months after the date of the enactment of 

3 this Act, the Advisory Panel shall submit a report on 

4 the results of the review under this section to the 

5 Secretary of Defense and to Congress. 

6 (2) CONTENT.—The report under this sub7 section shall contain the findings and conclusions of 

8 the Advisory Panel together with any recommenda9 tions for action that the panel considers appropriate, 

10 and shall include the following matters: 

11 (A) A discussion of the merits of maintain12 ing for each of the Armed Forces separate poli13 cies for the awarding of comparable medals and 

14 decorations of the Armed Forces, together with 

15 a discussion of the merits of adopting uniform 

16 standards for awarding such medals and deco17 rations. 

18 (B) Measures that can be taken by each of 

19 the Armed Forces to expedite the process for 

20 timely identifying a member who deserves a 

21 medal of decoration, determining the appro22 priateness of awarding the medal or decoration 

23 to the member, and, in each appropriate case, 

24 awarding the medal or decoration to the mem25 ber.
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1 (C) Measures that can be taken to ensure 

2 that—

3 (i) members serving in combat are at 

4 least equally as likely to be considered for 

5 the awarding of medals and decorations as 

6 are personnel not exposed to combat; and 

7 (ii) enlisted personnel are at least as 

8 likely to be considered for the awarding of 

9 medals and decorations as are officers. 

10 (D) A recommendation regarding whether 

11 the Valor device awarded by each of the Armed 

12 Forces should be replaced by a separate class of 

13 medals honoring special bravery in combat. 

14 (E) A determination of the desirability of 

15 adding a new class of medals, similar to the 

16 Purple Heart, to be awarded to military per17 sonnel who incur non-combat injuries in connec18 tion with performance of an official mission or 

19 duty during a combat operation in order to 

20 honor their sacrifice in service to the people of 

21 the United States. 

22 (c) SCOPE LIMITED TO DEPARTMENT OF DE23 FENSE.—The scope of the review and report under this 

24 section does not include the Coast Guard. 
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1 SEC. 223. COMPOSITION AND ADMINISTRATION. 

2 (a) COMPOSITION.—

3 (1) NUMBER; APPOINTMENT.—The Advisory 

4 Panel shall be composed of not more than seven 

5 members appointed by the Secretary of Defense. 

6 (2) GENERAL AND FLAG OFFICERS.—The Sec7 retary shall ensure that the membership of the task 

8 force includes a retired general or flag officer from 

9 each of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine 

10 Corps who is familiar with the policies of the Armed 

11 Forces regarding military awards and decorations. 

12 (3) VETERANS.—The Secretary shall appoint at 

13 least one representative of a leading veterans’ advo14 cacy organization as a member of the Advisory 

15 Panel. 

16 (b) TIME FOR APPOINTMENT.—All members of the 

17 Advisory Panel shall be appointed within 60 days after 

18 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

19 (c) CHAIRPERSON.—The chairperson of the Advisory 

20 Panel shall be selected from among the members of the 

21 Advisory Panel by a majority vote of the members. 

22 (d) COMPENSATION AND EXPENSES OF MEMBERS.—

23 Each member of the Advisory Panel shall serve without 

24 compensation, but shall be allowed travel expenses, includ25 ing per diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates authorized 

26 for employees of agencies under subchapter I of chapter 
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1 57 of title 5, United States Code, while away from the 

2 member’s home or regular places of business in the per3 formance of services for the Advisory Panel. 

4 (e) FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ACT.—The 

5 Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App) shall not 

6 apply to the Advisory Panel. 

7 SEC. 224. COOPERATION OF FEDERAL AGENCIES. 

8 (a) INFORMATION.—The Advisory Panel may obtain 

9 directly from the Department of Defense, the Department 

10 of Veterans Affairs, or any other department or agency 

11 of the United States any information of such department 

12 or agency that the panel considers necessary for the panel 

13 to carry out its duties. 

14 (b) OTHER COOPERATION.—The Secretary of De15 fense, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and any other 

16 official of the United States shall provide the Advisory 

17 Panel with full and timely cooperation requested by the 

18 panel in carrying out its duties under this section. 

19 SEC. 225. TERMINATION. 

20 The Advisory Panel on Military Awards and Decora21 tions shall terminate 30 days after the submission of the 

22 report to Congress under section 222(b). 
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1 TITLE III—MILITARY 

2 EQUIPMENT AND MATERIEL 

3 SEC. 301. FINDINGS. 

4 Congress makes the following findings: 

5 (1) United States military personnel serving in 

6 Operations Iraqi Freedom have experienced signifi7 cant shortages of critical equipment, such as body 

8 armor, aircraft survivability equipment, and armored 

9 trucks, including up-armored High Mobility Multi10 purpose Wheeled Vehicles. In many cases the short11 ages have lasted several months. For example, the 

12 individual body armor needed for protecting every 

13 member of the Armed Forces and Department of 

14 Defense civilians in Iraq was not produced and field15 ed until February 2004, 11 months after Operation 

16 Iraqi Freedom was launched. Shortages of armor for 

17 Army trucks still existed as of the beginning of 

18 2005. 

19 (2) Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation 

20 Enduring Freedom have taken a substantial toll on 

21 military equipment of the Armed Forces. The com22 manding general of the Army Material Command es23 timated in 2004 that the Army is wearing out its 

24 equipment in Iraq and Afghanistan at a rate that 

25 could be up to 10 times faster than the rate at 
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1 which it wears out its equipment elsewhere during 

2 peacetime, and there are no significant reserve 

3 stocks of that equipment remaining. 

4 (3) It is a solemn obligation of the United 

5 States Government to ensure that, whenever the 

6 Armed Forces are called into battle, the military 

7 personnel fighting or supporting the battle are pro8 vided with the safest, most effective technology and 

9 equipment. 

10 SEC. 302. MOBILIZATION PLANNING AND PREPAREDNESS. 

11 (a) DIRECTOR OF MOBILIZATION PLANNING AND

12 PREPAREDNESS.—Title I of the National Security Act of 

13 1947 (50 U.S.C. 402 et seq.) is amended by striking sec14 tion 107 and inserting the following new sections: 

15 ‘‘DIRECTOR OF MOBILIZATION PLANNING AND

16 PREPAREDNESS

17 ‘‘SEC. 107. (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

18 ‘‘(1) The term ‘Director’ means the Director of 

19 Mobilization Planning and Preparedness referred to 

20 in subsection (b)(1), except where the context clearly 

21 indicates otherwise. 

22 ‘‘(2) The term ‘national security emergency’ 

23 means any occurrence, including a natural disaster, 

24 a military or terrorist attack against the territory of 

25 the United States, a military operation carried out 

26 by the Armed Forces abroad, a technological emer-
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1 gency, or any other emergency, that either seriously 

2 degrades or threatens the security of the United 

3 States or the Armed Forces. 

4 ‘‘(3) The term ‘mobilization’ means the act of 

5 assembling and organizing national resources, in6 cluding military personnel and equipment, labor, 

7 transportation systems, industry, and financial re8 sources, to support national objectives of the United 

9 States in time of a national security emergency. 

10 ‘‘(4) The term ‘mobilization planning and pre11 paredness’ means all aspects of planning and pre12 paring for a mobilization for a national security 

13 emergency, including the identification of functions 

14 that would have to be performed during a national 

15 security emergency, development of plans for per16 forming such functions, development of the capa17 bility to execute such plans, and development of poli18 cies that maximize the speed and efficiency with 

19 which such plans can be executed during a national 

20 security emergency. 

21 ‘‘(b) POSITION OF DIRECTOR.—

22 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is a Director of 

23 Mobilization Planning and Preparedness on the staff 

24 of the National Security Council.
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1 ‘‘(2) APPOINTMENT.—The Director is ap2 pointed by the Assistant to the President for Na3 tional Security Affairs. 

4 ‘‘(3) RELATIONSHIP TO NATIONAL SECURITY

5 ADVISOR.—The Director reports directly to the As6 sistant to the President for National Security Af7 fairs. 

8 ‘‘(c) DUTIES.—

9 ‘‘(1) PRINCIPAL DUTY.—The Director is the 

10 principal adviser to the Assistant to the President 

11 for National Security Affairs on matters of mobiliza12 tion planning and preparedness. 

13 ‘‘(2) SPECIFIC DUTIES.—The duties of the Di14 rector include the following: 

15 ‘‘(A) Identify which governmental and pri16 vate sector functions must be performed on a 

17 sustained basis during a national security emer18 gency. 

19 ‘‘(B) Develop plans for the sustained per20 formance of the identified functions. 

21 ‘‘(C) Provide guidance on the development 

22 of the capability to execute the plans. 

23 ‘‘(D) Recommend policies for the maxi24 mization of the speed and efficiency with which 
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1 the plans can be executed during a national se2 curity emergency. 

3 ‘‘(E) Recommend planning and policy 

4 guidance regarding involvement of the National 

5 Guard in 2 or more national security emergency 

6 operations concurrently. 

7 ‘‘(F) Administer quarterly exercises simu8 lating mobilization for various types of national 

9 security emergencies, including the following: 

10 ‘‘(i) A major military operation car11 ried out in and around 1 or more foreign 

12 countries. 

13 ‘‘(ii) An occupation and reconstruc14 tion mission. 

15 ‘‘(iii) A terrorist attack within the 

16 United States. 

17 ‘‘(iv) A natural disaster within the 

18 United States. 

19 ‘‘(v) A major humanitarian crisis in 1 

20 or more foreign countries. 

21 ‘‘(vi) A minor military intervention in 

22 a foreign country. 

23 ‘‘(3) RELATED DUTIES.—

24 ‘‘(A) MOBILIZATION PLANNING AND PRE25 PAREDNESS POLICY COORDINATING COM-
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1 MITTEE.—The Director serves on the Mobiliza2 tion Planning and Preparedness Policy Coordi3 nating Committee as provided in section 107A. 

4 ‘‘(B) DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE PRIMARY

5 ALLOCATION OF INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES TASK

6 FORCE.—The Director serves as a member of 

7 the Primary Allocation of Industrial Resources 

8 Task Force of the Department of Defense. 

9 ‘‘(d) OFFICE OF MOBILIZATION PLANNING AND PRE10 PAREDNESS.—

11 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is an Office of 

12 Mobilization Planning and Preparedness within the 

13 National Security Council. The Director is the head 

14 of the office. 

15 ‘‘(2) COMPOSITION.—The Office of Mobilization 

16 Planning and Preparedness is composed of the fol17 lowing personnel: 

18 ‘‘(A) Thirty employees appointed by the 

19 Assistant to the President for National Security 

20 Affairs. 

21 ‘‘(B) An employee of the Department of 

22 Defense, who shall be detailed to the Office by 

23 the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, 

24 Technology, and Logistics to serve as liaison be25 tween the Department of Defense and the Di-
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1 rector to ensure that comprehensive and accu2 rate information on the needs of the Armed 

3 Forces for equipment and materiel in a national 

4 security emergency are timely communicated to 

5 the Director. 

6 ‘‘(e) COORDINATION WITH NATIONAL

7 COUNTERTERRORISM CENTER.—

8 ‘‘(1) LIAISON OFFICER.—The Director shall de9 tail an employee of the Office to the National 

10 Counterterrorism Center to serve as a liaison officer 

11 between the Director of Mobilization Planning and 

12 Preparedness and the Director of the National 

13 Counterterrorism Center for collaboration on 

14 counterterrorism-related information and issues nec15 essary for effective mobilization planning and pre16 paredness. 

17 ‘‘(2) RESPONSIBILITY OF DIRECTOR OF NA18 TIONAL COUNTERTERRORISM CENTER.—The Direc19 tor of the National Counterterrorism Center shall 

20 ensure that the liaison officer is accorded such privi21 leges at the Center as are necessary to ensure that 

22 the collaboration between the Director of the Na23 tional Counterterrorism Center and the Director of 

24 Mobilization Planning and Preparedness on 
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1 counterterrorism-related information and issues is 

2 effective. 

3 ‘‘(f) ANNUAL REPORT.—

4 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT FOR REPORT.—The Presi5 dent, acting through the Director, shall submit to 

6 Congress each year a report on mobilization plan7 ning and preparedness. 

8 ‘‘(2) CONTENT.—The annual report under this 

9 subsection shall include the following information: 

10 ‘‘(A) Funding needs for mobilization plan11 ning and preparedness. 

12 ‘‘(B) An assessment of the state of mobili13 zation planning and preparedness in the United 

14 States. 

15 ‘‘(C) Any recommended policies on mobili16 zation planning and preparedness that the 

17 President, in consultation with the Assistant to 

18 the President for National Security Affairs and 

19 the Director, considers appropriate. 

20 ‘‘MOBILIZATION PLANNING AND PREPAREDNESS POLICY

21 COORDINATING COMMITTEE

22 ‘‘SEC. 107A. (a) MOBILIZATION PLANNING AND PRE23 PAREDNESS DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘mobili24 zation planning and preparedness’ has the meaning given 

25 that term in section 107(a).
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1 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is in the executive 

2 branch an interagency committee known as the ‘Mobiliza3 tion Planning and Preparedness Policy Coordinating Com4 mittee’. 

5 ‘‘(c) COMPOSITION.—The Committee shall be com6 posed of the following members: 

7 ‘‘(1) The Director of Mobilization Planning and 

8 Preparedness of the National Security Council, who 

9 shall chair the committee. 

10 ‘‘(2) The Under Secretary for Emergency Pre11 paredness and Response of the Department of 

12 Homeland Security. 

13 ‘‘(3) The Under Secretary of State for Eco14 nomic, Business, and Agricultural Affairs. 

15 ‘‘(4) The Under Secretary of Defense for Ac16 quisition, Technology, and Logistics. 

17 ‘‘(5) The Associate Attorney General. 

18 ‘‘(6) The Assistant Secretary of the Interior for 

19 Land and Minerals Management. 

20 ‘‘(7) The Under Secretary of Commerce for In21 dustry and Security. 

22 ‘‘(8) The Deputy Secretary of Labor. 

23 ‘‘(9) The Assistant Secretary of Health and 

24 Human Services for Public Health Emergency Pre25 paredness. 
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1 ‘‘(10) The Under Secretary of Transportation 

2 for Policy. 

3 ‘‘(11) The Under Secretary of Energy for En4 ergy, Science, and Environment. 

5 ‘‘(12) One member designated by the Assistant 

6 to the President for National Security Affairs. 

7 ‘‘(13) One member designated by the Director 

8 of National Intelligence. 

9 ‘‘(d) DUTIES.—The Committee has the following du10 ties: 

11 ‘‘(1) To review, at least once each year, the mo12 bilization planning and preparedness policies of the 

13 United States. 

14 ‘‘(2) To make any recommendations for action 

15 to improve mobilization planning and preparedness 

16 that the Committee determines appropriate. 

17 ‘‘(3) To participate in the exercises conducted 

18 by the Director of Mobilization Planning and Pre19 paredness of the Department under section 

20 510(b)(2)(F).’’. 

21 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

22 in the first section of the National Security Act of 1947 

23 is amended by striking the item relating to section 107 

24 and inserting the following new items:

‘‘Sec. 107. Director of Mobilization Planning and Preparedness. 

‘‘Sec. 107A. Mobilization Planning and Preparedness Policy Coordinating Committee.’’.
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1 SEC. 303. REPORT ON RECONSTITUTION NEEDS OF THE 

2 ARMED FORCES. 

3 (a) REPORT REQUIRED.—

4 (1) REQUIREMENT FOR REPORT.—Not later 

5 than March 1, 2005, the Secretary of Defense shall 

6 submit to the congressional defense committees a re7 port on the needs of the Armed Forces for reconsti8 tuting its stocks of military equipment and other 

9 materiel in view of the attrition of military equip10 ment and other materiel experienced by the Armed 

11 Forces in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation 

12 Enduring Freedom. 

13 (2) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary shall con14 sult with the Chief of Staff of the Army, the Chief 

15 of Staff of the Air Force, the Chief of Naval Oper16 ations, the Commandant of the Marine Corps, and 

17 the Inspector General of each of the Armed Forces 

18 in preparing the report under this section. 

19 (b) CONTENT.—The report shall include an assess20 ment of each of the following matters: 

21 (1) The extent of the damage and destruction 

22 of military equipment and other military materiel in 

23 Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring 

24 Freedom. 
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1 (2) The amount of such equipment, if any, that 

2 has become ineffective or obsolete by age or other 

3 causes. 

4 (3) The needs of each of the Armed Forces, in5 cluding the reserve components as well as the reg6 ular components, for repair and replacement of 

7 equipment. 

8 (4) The total cost of reconstituting the stocks 

9 of military equipment and other materiel of the 

10 Armed Forces to meet the needs of the Armed 

11 Forces. 

12 (5) The time needed to reconstitute such stocks 

13 to meet those needs. 

14 (c) FORM OF REPORT.—The report shall be sub15 mitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified 

16 annex. 

17 SEC. 304. AUTHORIZATIONS OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

18 (a) ARMY.—Funds are hereby authorized to be ap19 propriated for fiscal year 2005 for the use of the Army 

20 for the repair, refurbishment, and replacement of equip21 ment used by the Army in Operation Iraqi Freedom or 

22 Operation Enduring Freedom, as follows: 

23 (1) OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE.—For ex24 penses, not otherwise provided for, for operation and 

25 maintenance, $6,000,000,000. 
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1 (2) PROCUREMENT.—For procurement, 

2 $2,500,000,000. 

3 (b) MARINE CORPS.—Funds are hereby authorized to 

4 be appropriated for fiscal year 2005 for the use of the 

5 Marine Corps for the repair, refurbishment, and replace6 ment of equipment used by the Marine Corps in Operation 

7 Iraqi Freedom or Operation Enduring Freedom, as fol8 lows: 

9 (1) OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE.—For ex10 penses, not otherwise provided for, for operation and 

11 maintenance, $640,000,000. 

12 (2) PROCUREMENT.—For procurement, 

13 $1,500,000,000. 

14 (c) AVAILABILITY THROUGH FISCAL YEAR 2006.—

15 Amounts authorized to be appropriated under this section 

16 shall remain available until September 30, 2006. 

17 (d) LIMITATION.—None of the funds appropriated 

18 pursuant to an authorization of appropriations in this sec19 tion may be obligated or expended until the date that is 

20 15 days after the date on which the Secretary of Defense 

21 transmits to the congressional defense committees a report 

22 on the specific use for which the funds are to be obligated 

23 or expended, respectively.
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1 SEC. 305. CONGRESSIONAL DEFENSE COMMITTEES DE2 FINED. 

3 In this title, the term ‘‘congressional defense commit4 tees’’ has the meaning given such term in section 

5 101(a)(16) of title 10, United States Code. 

6 TITLE IV—PERIODS OF OVER7 SEAS DEPLOYMENTS OF RE8 SERVES 

9 SEC. 401. FINDINGS. 

10 Congress makes the following findings: 

11 (1) The Department of Defense failed to estab12 lish an adequate troop deployment and rotation pol13 icy for Operation Iraqi Freedom until several 

14 months after the operation had begun. For several 

15 reserve component units involved in that operation 

16 before 2005, the demobilization date was resched17 uled three or more times before the unit members 

18 were finally allowed to return home. 

19 (2) Without an adequate deployment and rota20 tion plan, the Department of Defense has relied on 

21 a series of stop-gap measures to retain a sufficient 

22 number of troops to carry out the United States 

23 missions in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation 

24 Enduring Freedom, including—
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1 (A) institution of a so-called ‘‘stop-loss’’ 

2 policy that prevents personnel from leaving 

3 their units during deployment; 

4 (B) extensions of deployments beyond 

5 scheduled demobilization dates; and 

6 (C) activation of members of the Individual 

7 Ready Reserve. 

8 (3) In September 2004, the Government Ac9 countability Office reported that ‘‘Many of DOD’s 

10 policies that affect mobilized reserve component per11 sonnel were implemented in a piecemeal manner and 

12 were not linked within the context of a strategic 

13 framework to meet the organizational goals. . . . 

14 Without a strategic framework, OSD and the serv15 ices made several changes to their personnel policies 

16 to increase the availability of the reserve components 

17 for the longer-term requirements of the Global War 

18 on Terrorism, and predictability declined for reserve 

19 component members.’’. 

20 (4) Fairness to the men and women of the 

21 Armed Forces deployed overseas requires that the 

22 Department of Defense—

23 (A) have clear policies regarding lengths of 

24 deployment periods; and 
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1 (B) communicate these policies and other 

2 deployment-related information to them and 

3 their families. 

4 SEC. 402. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON TWO-YEAR LIMIT ON MO5 BILIZATION. 

6 It is the sense of Congress that the Secretary of De7 fense should continue the existing Department of Defense 

8 policy of limiting to a total of 24 months the period for 

9 which members of the reserve components serve on active 

10 duty to which called or ordered in support of a contingency 

11 operation. 

12 SEC. 403. COMMUNICATION OF LENGTHS OF DEPLOYMENT 

13 PERIODS TO RESERVES IN OPERATION IRAQI 

14 FREEDOM. 

15 (a) REPORT OF DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE POLI16 CIES.—

17 (1) REQUIREMENT FOR REPORT.—Not later 

18 than March 1, 2005, the Secretary of Defense shall 

19 submit to the Committees on Armed Services of the 

20 Senate and the House of Representatives a report 

21 on—

22 (A) Department of Defense policies gov23 erning the length of mobilization and deploy24 ment periods applicable to members of reserve 

25 components of the Armed Forces in connection 
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1 with Operation Iraqi Freedom, and on the com2 munication between the Department of Defense 

3 and reserve component personnel and their 

4 families regarding the lengths of the mobiliza5 tion deployment periods; and 

6 (B) Department of Defense stop-loss poli7 cies. 

8 (2) CONSULTATION REQUIREMENT.—In pre9 paring the report, the Secretary shall consult with 

10 the Chairman and other members of the Joint 

11 Chiefs of Staff and with such other officials as the 

12 Secretary considers appropriate. 

13 (b) CONTENT OF REPORT.—The report under this 

14 section shall contain a discussion of the matters described 

15 in subsection (a)(1), including a discussion of the following 

16 matters: 

17 (1) The process by which the Department of 

18 Defense determined its policy regarding the lengths 

19 of mobilization deployment periods. 

20 (2) The reason that an adequate troop deploy21 ment policy was not in place before Operation Iraqi 

22 Freedom began. 

23 (3) A comparison of the policies during Oper24 ation Iraqi Freedom with Department of Defense 
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1 policies that applied to previous contingency oper2 ations.

3 (4) The timeliness of the process for notifying 

4 reserve component units for activation. 

5 (5) The process for communicating with acti6 vated reserve component members and their families 

7 about demobilization schedules. 

8 (6) The justification for delaying demobilization 

9 after members and their families have been notified 

10 of the anticipated demobilization schedule. 

11 (7) The justification for current stop-loss poli12 cies, together with a statement of the period for 

13 which those policies are to remain in effect and the 

14 conditions under which management of personnel 

15 under those policies would terminate. 

16 (8) The family support programs provided by 

17 the National Guard and other reserve components 

18 for families of activated Reserves. 

19 (9) An assessment of lessons learned about how 

20 the increased operation tempos of the National 

21 Guard and other reserve components can be ex22 pected to affect readiness, recruitment and reten23 tion, civilian employers of Reserves, and equipment 

24 and supply resources of the National Guard and the 

25 other reserve components. 
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1 (c) MATTERS FOR PARTICULAR EMPHASIS.—In the 

2 discussion of the matters included in the report under this 

3 section, the Secretary of Defense shall place particular em4 phasis on—

5 (1) lessons learned, including deficiencies identi6 fied; and 

7 (2) near-term and long-term corrective actions 

8 to address the identified deficiencies. 

9 (d) FORM OF REPORT.—The report under this sec10 tion shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may in11 clude a classified annex. 

12 TITLE V—TIMELY 

13 COMPENSATION 

14 SEC. 501. FINDINGS. 

15 Congress makes the following findings: 

16 (1) In November 2003, the General Accounting 

17 Office reported, in connection with a study con18 ducted by that office, that among Army National 

19 Guard soldiers ‘‘450 of the 481 soldiers from our 6 

20 case study units had at least 1 pay problem associ21 ated with their mobilization. These pay problems se22 verely constrain the Army’s and the Department of 

23 Defense’s (DOD) ability to provide a most basic 

24 service to these personnel, many of whom were risk25 ing their lives in combat.’’. 
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1 (2) In August 2004, a second study by that of2 fice (by then renamed the Government Account3 ability Office) found that among Army Reserve sol4 diers ‘‘332 of 348 soldiers (95 percent) we audited 

5 at 8 case study units that were mobilized, deployed, 

6 and demobilized at some time during the 18-month 

7 period from August 2002 through January 2004 

8 had at least 1 pay problem.’’. 

9 (3) The August 2004 report concluded that 

10 ‘‘These pay problems often had a profound adverse 

11 impact on individual soldiers and their families. For 

12 example, soldiers were required to spend consider13 able time, sometimes while deployed in remote, hos14 tile environments overseas, seeking help on pay in15 quiries or in correcting errors in their active duty 

16 pays, allowances, and related tax benefits.’’. 

17 SEC. 502. CORRECTION OF MILITARY PAY PROBLEMS FOR 

18 ACTIVATED RESERVE COMPONENT PER19 SONNEL. 

20 The Secretary of the Army shall designate a senior 

21 level official of the Department of the Army to imple22 ment—

23 (1) the recommendations for executive action 

24 that are set forth in the report of the Comptroller 

25 General of the United States entitled ‘‘Military Pay, 
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1 Army National Guard Personnel Mobilized to Active 

2 Duty Experienced Significant Pay Problems’’, dated 

3 November 2003; and 

4 (2) the recommendations for executive action 

5 that are set forth in the report of the Comptroller 

6 General of the United States entitled ‘‘Military Pay, 

7 Army Reserve Soldiers Mobilized to Active Duty Ex8 perienced Significant Pay Problems’’, dated August 

9 2004. 

10 SEC. 503. SUPERVISION BY COMPTROLLER OF DEPART11 MENT OF DEFENSE. 

12 The official designated under section 502 shall report 

13 directly to, and be subject to the direction of, the Under 

14 Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) regarding performance 

15 of the duties that the official is designated to carry out 

16 under such section. 

17 SEC. 504. TERMINATION OF REQUIREMENT. 

18 The designation under section 502 shall terminate 

19 upon the submission of a certification of the Under Sec20 retary of Defense (Comptroller) to Congress that all rec21 ommendations referred to in such section have been imple22 mented. 
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1 TITLE VI—IMPROVED REP2 RESENTATION OF RESERVE 

3 PERSONNEL INTERESTS IN 

4 DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE 

5 SECRETARIAT 

6 SEC. 601. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) Since September 11, 2001, the National 

9 Guard and the other reserve components of the 

10 Armed Forces have experienced an expansion of 

11 their role in the total force structure of the Armed 

12 Forces to an unprecedented level. In 2004, the re13 serve components comprised 40 percent of the total 

14 force of the Armed Forces. Reservists are experi15 encing a dramatic increase in operation tempo and 

16 average length of deployment. 

17 (2) While the extent of the role of the reserve 

18 component has changed so dramatically, the Depart19 ment of Defense approach to management of the re20 serve components has remained much the same. No 

21 new senior leadership positions have been established 

22 to manage the reserve components more effectively 

23 in the expanded role.
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1 SEC. 602. DEPUTY UNDER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE FOR 

2 PERSONNEL AND READINESS (RESERVE AF3 FAIRS). 

4 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF POSITION.—

5 (1) POSITION AND DUTIES.—Chapter 4 of title 

6 10, United States Code, is amended by inserting 

7 after section 136a the following new section: 

8 ‘‘§ 136b. Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Per9 sonnel and Readiness (Reserve Affairs) 

10 ‘‘(a) There is a Deputy Under Secretary of Defense 

11 for Personnel and Readiness (Reserve Affairs), appointed 

12 from civilian life by the President, by and with the advice 

13 and consent of the Senate. 

14 ‘‘(b) The Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Per15 sonnel and Readiness (Reserve Affairs) shall have as his 

16 principal duty the overall supervision of reserve component 

17 affairs of the Department of Defense.’’. 

18 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec19 tions at the beginning of such chapter is amended 

20 by inserting after the item relating to section 136a 

21 the following new item:

‘‘136b. Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness (Reserve Affairs).’’.

22 (b) EXECUTIVE LEVEL IV.—Section 5315 of title 5, 

23 United States Code, is amended by inserting after ‘‘Dep-
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1 uty Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readi2 ness.’’ the following: 

3 ‘‘Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Per4 sonnel and Readiness (Reserve Affairs).’’. 

5 SEC. 603. ELIMINATION OF POSITION OF ASSISTANT SEC6 RETARY OF DEFENSE FOR RESERVE AFFAIRS. 

7 (a) REPEAL OF REQUIREMENT FOR POSITION.—Sub8 section (b) of section 138 of title 10, United States Code, 

9 is amended—

10 (1) by striking paragraph (2); and 

11 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (3), (4), and 

12 (5), as paragraphs (2), (3), and (4), respectively. 

13 (b) REDUCTION IN TOTAL NUMBER OF ASSISTANT

14 SECRETARIES OF DEFENSE.—

15 (1) AUTHORIZED NUMBER.—Subsection (a) of 

16 such section is amended by striking ‘‘nine’’ and in17 serting ‘‘eight’’. 

18 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 5315 

19 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by strik20 ing ‘‘(9)’’ after ‘‘Assistant Secretaries of Defense’’ 

21 and inserting ‘‘(8)’’. 

22 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

23 subsections (a) and (b) shall take effect on the date on 

24 which a person is first appointed as Deputy Under Sec-
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1 retary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness (Reserve 

2 Affairs). 

3 DIVISION B—MILITARY FAMILY 

4 PROTECTIONS 

5 TITLE XXI—GUARDSMEN AND 

6 RESERVISTS FINANCIAL RELIEF 

7 SEC. 2101. FINDINGS. 

8 Congress makes the following findings: 

9 (1) According to a Government Accountability 

10 Office report in November 2004, ‘‘The September 

11 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the global war on 

12 terrorism have triggered the largest activation of 

13 National Guard forces since World War II. As of 

14 June 2004, over one-half of the National Guard’s 

15 457,000 personnel had been activated for overseas 

16 warfighting or domestic homeland security missions 

17 in Federal and State active duty roles.’’. In all, over 

18 400,000 reservists have been mobilized between Sep19 tember 11, 2001, and the beginning of 2005. 

20 (2) In March 2003, the General Accounting Of21 fice reported that among members of the National 

22 Guard and other reserve components of the Armed 

23 Forces ‘‘. . . data for past military operations show 

24 that 41 percent of drilling unit members reported in25 come loss . . .’’. The report further noted that sen-
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1 ior officers in the reserve component reported aver2 age losses of $5,000 in income upon activation. 

3 (3) Not only has operation tempo drastically in4 creased for members of the reserve components, 

5 meaning that reservists are being called away from 

6 their civilian jobs more often, but also the durations 

7 of deployments have increased dramatically as well, 

8 meaning that reservists are being called away from 

9 their civilian jobs for longer periods. The Govern10 ment Accountability Office reported in September 

11 2004 that the average annual days of duty per12 formed by members of the reserve components has 

13 risen from approximately 40 days in 1989 to ap14 proximately 120 days in 2003. A consequence of 

15 both increased operations tempo and increased dura16 tion of deployment has been a far greater loss of in17 come for reservists answering their country’s call to 

18 duty. 

19 SEC. 2102. PENALTY-FREE WITHDRAWALS FROM RETIRE20 MENT PLANS FOR INDIVIDUALS CALLED TO 

21 ACTIVE DUTY FOR AT LEAST 179 DAYS. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (2) of section 72(t) of 

23 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to 10-percent 

24 additional tax on early distributions from qualified retire-
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1 ment plans) is amended by adding at the end the following 

2 new subparagraph: 

3 ‘‘(G) DISTRIBUTIONS FROM RETIREMENT

4 PLANS TO INDIVIDUALS CALLED TO ACTIVE

5 DUTY.—

6 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Any qualified re7 servist distribution. 

8 ‘‘(ii) QUALIFIED RESERVIST DIS9 TRIBUTION.—For purposes of this sub10 paragraph, the term ‘qualified reservist 

11 distribution’ means any distribution to an 

12 individual if—

13 ‘‘(I) such distribution is from any 

14 qualified retirement plan (as defined 

15 in section 4974(c)), 

16 ‘‘(II) such individual was (by rea17 son of being a member of a reserve 

18 component (as defined in section 101 

19 of title 37, United States Code)), or20 dered or called to active duty for a pe21 riod in excess of 179 days or for an 

22 indefinite period, and 

23 ‘‘(III) such distribution is made 

24 during the period beginning on the
41

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1 date of such order or call and ending 

2 at the close of the active duty period. 

3 ‘‘(iii) APPLICATION OF SUBPARA4 GRAPH.—This subparagraph applies to in5 dividuals ordered or called to active duty 

6 after September 11, 2001, and before Sep7 tember 12, 2005.’’. 

8 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

9 subsection (a) shall apply to distributions after September 

10 11, 2001. 

11 SEC. 2103. INCOME TAX WITHHOLDING ON DIFFERENTIAL 

12 WAGE PAYMENTS. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 3401 of the Internal Rev14 enue Code of 1986 (relating to definitions) is amended by 

15 adding at the end the following new subsection: 

16 ‘‘(i) DIFFERENTIAL WAGE PAYMENTS TO ACTIVE

17 DUTY MEMBERS OF THE UNIFORMED SERVICES.—

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of subsection 

19 (a), any differential wage payment shall be treated 

20 as a payment of wages by the employer to the em21 ployee. 

22 ‘‘(2) DIFFERENTIAL WAGE PAYMENT.—For 

23 purposes of paragraph (1), the term ‘differential 

24 wage payment’ means any payment which—
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1 ‘‘(A) is made by an employer to an indi2 vidual with respect to any period during which 

3 the individual is performing service in the uni4 formed services while on active duty for a pe5 riod of more than 30 days, and 

6 ‘‘(B) represents all or a portion of the 

7 wages the individual would have received from 

8 the employer if the individual were performing 

9 service for the employer.’’. 

10 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

11 subsection (a) shall apply to remuneration paid after De12 cember 31, 2004. 

13 SEC. 2104. TREATMENT OF DIFFERENTIAL WAGE PAY14 MENTS FOR RETIREMENT PLAN PURPOSES. 

15 (a) PENSION PLANS.—

16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 414(u) of the Inter17 nal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to special rules 

18 relating to veterans’ reemployment rights under 

19 USERRA) is amended by adding at the end the fol20 lowing new paragraph: 

21 ‘‘(11) TREATMENT OF DIFFERENTIAL WAGE

22 PAYMENTS.—

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

24 this paragraph, for purposes of applying this 
43

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1 title to a retirement plan to which this sub2 section applies—

3 ‘‘(i) an individual receiving a differen4 tial wage payment shall be treated as an 

5 employee of the employer making the pay6 ment, 

7 ‘‘(ii) the differential wage payment 

8 shall be treated as compensation, and 

9 ‘‘(iii) the plan shall not be treated as 

10 failing to meet the requirements of any 

11 provision described in paragraph (1)(C) by 

12 reason of any contribution which is based 

13 on the differential wage payment. 

14 ‘‘(B) SPECIAL RULE FOR DISTRIBU15 TIONS.—

16 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding 

17 subparagraph (A)(i), for purposes of sec18 tion 401(k)(2)(B)(i)(I), 403(b)(7)(A)(ii), 

19 403(b)(11)(A), or 457(d)(1)(A)(ii), an in20 dividual shall be treated as having been 

21 severed from employment during any pe22 riod the individual is performing service in 

23 the uniformed services described in section 

24 3401(i)(2)(A). 
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1 ‘‘(ii) LIMITATION.—If an individual 

2 elects to receive a distribution by reason of 

3 clause (i), the plan shall provide that the 

4 individual may not make an elective defer5 ral or employee contribution during the 6-

6 month period beginning on the date of the 

7 distribution. 

8 ‘‘(C) NONDISCRIMINATION REQUIRE9 MENT.—Subparagraph (A)(iii) shall apply only 

10 if all employees of an employer performing serv11 ice in the uniformed services described in sec12 tion 3401(i)(2)(A) are entitled to receive dif13 ferential wage payments on reasonably equiva14 lent terms and, if eligible to participate in a re15 tirement plan maintained by the employer, to 

16 make contributions based on the payments. For 

17 purposes of applying this subparagraph, the 

18 provisions of paragraphs (3), (4), and (5), of 

19 section 410(b) shall apply. 

20 ‘‘(D) DIFFERENTIAL WAGE PAYMENT.—

21 For purposes of this paragraph, the term ‘dif22 ferential wage payment’ has the meaning given 

23 such term by section 3401(i)(2).’’. 

24 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The heading 

25 for section 414(u) of such Code is amended by in-
45

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1 serting ‘‘AND TO DIFFERENTIAL WAGE PAYMENTS

2 TO MEMBERS ON ACTIVE DUTY’’ after ‘‘USERRA’’. 

3 (b) DIFFERENTIAL WAGE PAYMENTS TREATED AS

4 COMPENSATION FOR INDIVIDUAL RETIREMENT PLANS.—

5 Section 219(f)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

6 (defining compensation) is amended by adding at the end 

7 the following new sentence: ‘‘The term ‘compensation’ in8 cludes any differential wage payment (as defined in sec9 tion 3401(i)(2)).’’. 

10 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

11 this section shall apply to plan years beginning after De12 cember 31, 2004. 

13 (d) PROVISIONS RELATING TO PLAN AMEND14 MENTS.—

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—If this subsection applies to 

16 any plan or annuity contract amendment—

17 (A) such plan or contract shall be treated 

18 as being operated in accordance with the terms 

19 of the plan or contract during the period de20 scribed in paragraph (2)(B)(i), and 

21 (B) except as provided by the Secretary of 

22 the Treasury, such plan shall not fail to meet 

23 the requirements of the Internal Revenue Code 

24 of 1986 or the Employee Retirement Income
46

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1 Security Act of 1974 by reason of such amend2 ment. 

3 (2) AMENDMENTS TO WHICH SECTION AP4 PLIES.—

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—This subsection shall 

6 apply to any amendment to any plan or annuity 

7 contract which is made—

8 (i) pursuant to any amendment made 

9 by this section, and 

10 (ii) on or before the last day of the 

11 first plan year beginning on or after Janu12 ary 1, 2007. 

13 (B) CONDITIONS.—This subsection shall 

14 not apply to any plan or annuity contract 

15 amendment unless—

16 (i) during the period beginning on the 

17 date the amendment described in subpara18 graph (A)(i) takes effect and ending on the 

19 date described in subparagraph (A)(ii) (or, 

20 if earlier, the date the plan or contract 

21 amendment is adopted), the plan or con22 tract is operated as if such plan or con23 tract amendment were in effect; and 

24 (ii) such plan or contract amendment 

25 applies retroactively for such period. 
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1 SEC. 2105. READY RESERVE-NATIONAL GUARD EMPLOYEE 

2 CREDIT AND READY RESERVE-NATIONAL 

3 GUARD REPLACEMENT EMPLOYEE CREDIT. 

4 (a) READY RESERVE-NATIONAL GUARD CREDIT.—

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subpart D of part IV of 

6 subchapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue 

7 Code of 1986 (relating to business-related credits) is 

8 amended by inserting after section 45I the following 

9 new section: 

10 ‘‘SEC. 45J. READY RESERVE-NATIONAL GUARD EMPLOYEE 

11 CREDIT. 

12 ‘‘(a) GENERAL RULE.—For purposes of section 38, 

13 in the case of an eligible taxpayer, the Ready Reserve-Na14 tional Guard employee credit determined under this sec15 tion for any taxable year with respect to each Ready Re16 serve-National Guard employee of such taxpayer is an 

17 amount equal to 50 percent of the lesser of—

18 ‘‘(1) the actual compensation amount with re19 spect to such employee for such taxable year, or 

20 ‘‘(2) $30,000. 

21 ‘‘(b) DEFINITION OF ACTUAL COMPENSATION

22 AMOUNT.—For purposes of this section, the term ‘actual 

23 compensation amount’ means the amount of compensation 

24 paid or incurred by an eligible taxpayer with respect to 

25 a Ready Reserve-National Guard employee on any day 
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1 when the employee was absent from employment for the 

2 purpose of performing qualified active duty. 

3 ‘‘(c) LIMITATIONS.—No credit shall be allowed with 

4 respect to any day that a Ready Reserve-National Guard 

5 employee who performs qualified active duty was not 

6 scheduled to work (for reason other than to participate 

7 in qualified active duty). 

8 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS AND SPECIAL RULES.—For pur9 poses of this section—

10 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE TAXPAYER.—

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘eligible tax12 payer’ means a small business employer. 

13 ‘‘(B) SMALL BUSINESS EMPLOYER.—

14 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘small 

15 business employer’ means, with respect to 

16 any taxable year, any employer who em17 ployed an average of 50 or fewer employees 

18 on business days during such taxable year. 

19 ‘‘(ii) CONTROLLED GROUPS.—For 

20 purposes of clause (i), all persons treated 

21 as a single employer under subsection (b), 

22 (c), (m), or (o) of section 414 shall be 

23 treated as a single employer. 

24 ‘‘(2) QUALIFIED ACTIVE DUTY.—The term 

25 ‘qualified active duty’ means—
49

•S 11 IS 

1 ‘‘(A) active duty under an order or call for 

2 a period in excess of 179 days or for an indefi3 nite period, other than the training duty speci4 fied in section 10147 of title 10, United States 

5 Code (relating to training requirements for the 

6 Ready Reserve), or section 502(a) of title 32, 

7 United States Code (relating to required drills 

8 and field exercises for the National Guard), in 

9 connection with which an employee is entitled to 

10 reemployment rights and other benefits or to a 

11 leave of absence from employment under chap12 ter 43 of title 38, United States Code, and 

13 ‘‘(B) hospitalization incident to such duty. 

14 ‘‘(3) COMPENSATION.—The term ‘compensa15 tion’ means any remuneration for employment, 

16 whether in cash or in kind, which is paid or incurred 

17 by a taxpayer and which is deductible from the tax18 payer’s gross income under section 162(a)(1). 

19 ‘‘(4) READY RESERVE-NATIONAL GUARD EM20 PLOYEE.—The term ‘Ready Reserve-National Guard 

21 employee’ means an employee who is a member of 

22 the Ready Reserve of a reserve component of an 

23 Armed Force of the United States as described in 

24 sections 10142 and 10101 of title 10, United States 

25 Code.
50

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1 ‘‘(5) CERTAIN RULES TO APPLY.—Rules similar 

2 to the rules of section 52 shall apply. 

3 ‘‘(e) TERMINATION.—This section shall not 

4 apply to any amount paid or incurred after Decem5 ber 31, 2005.’’. 

6 (2) CREDIT TO BE PART OF GENERAL BUSI7 NESS CREDIT.—Subsection (b) of section 38 of the 

8 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to general 

9 business credit) is amended by striking ‘‘plus’’ at the 

10 end of paragraph (18), by striking the period at the 

11 end of paragraph (19) and inserting ‘‘, plus’’, and 

12 by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(20) the Ready Reserve-National Guard em14 ployee credit determined under section 45J(a).’’. 

15 (3) DENIAL OF DOUBLE BENEFIT.—Section 

16 280C(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (re17 lating to rule for employment credits) is amended by 

18 inserting ‘‘45J(a),’’ after ‘‘45A(a),’’. 

19 (4) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of 

20 sections for subpart D of part IV of subchapter A 

21 of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

22 is amended by inserting after the item relating to 

23 section 45I the following:

‘‘Sec. 45J. Ready Reserve-National Guard employee credit.’’.

24 (5) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

25 by this subsection shall apply to amounts paid or in-
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1 curred after September 30, 2004, in taxable years 

2 ending after such date. 

3 (b) READY RESERVE-NATIONAL GUARD REPLACE4 MENT EMPLOYEE CREDIT.—

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (1) of section 

6 51(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relat7 ing to members of targeted groups) is amended by 

8 striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of subparagraph (G), by 

9 striking the period at the end of subparagraph (H) 

10 and inserting ‘‘, or’’ and by adding at the end the 

11 following new subparagraph: 

12 ‘‘(I) a qualified replacement employee.’’. 

13 (2) QUALIFIED REPLACEMENT EMPLOYEE.—

14 Section 51(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

15 is amended by redesignating paragraphs (10), (11), 

16 and (12) as paragraphs (11), (12), and (13), respec17 tively, and by inserting after paragraph (9) the fol18 lowing new paragraph: 

19 ‘‘(10) QUALIFIED REPLACEMENT EMPLOYEE.—

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘qualified 

21 replacement employee’ means an individual who 

22 is certified by the designated local agency as 

23 being hired by an eligible taxpayer to replace a 

24 Ready Reserve-National Guard employee of 

25 such taxpayer, but only with respect to the pe-
52

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1 riod during which such Ready Reserve-National 

2 Guard employee participates in qualified active 

3 duty, including time spent in travel status. 

4 ‘‘(B) GENERAL DEFINITIONS AND SPECIAL

5 RULES.—For purposes of this paragraph—

6 ‘‘(i) ELIGIBLE TAXPAYER.—The term 

7 ‘eligible taxpayer’ means a small business 

8 employer. 

9 ‘‘(ii) SMALL BUSINESS EMPLOYER.—

10 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—The term 

11 ‘small business employer’ means, with 

12 respect to any taxable year, any em13 ployer who employed an average of 50 

14 or fewer employees on business days 

15 during such taxable year. 

16 ‘‘(II) CONTROLLED GROUPS.—

17 For purposes of subclause (I), all per18 sons treated as a single employer 

19 under subsection (b), (c), (m), or (o) 

20 of section 414 shall be treated as a 

21 single employer. 

22 ‘‘(iii) READY RESERVE-NATIONAL

23 GUARD EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘Ready Re24 serve-National Guard employee’ has the 
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1 meaning given such term by section 

2 45J(d)(3). 

3 ‘‘(iv) QUALIFIED ACTIVE DUTY.—The 

4 term ‘qualified active duty’ has the mean5 ing given such term by section 45J(d)(1). 

6 ‘‘(C) DISALLOWANCE FOR FAILURE TO

7 COMPLY WITH EMPLOYMENT OR REEMPLOY8 MENT RIGHTS OF MEMBERS OF THE RESERVE

9 COMPONENTS OF THE ARMED FORCES OF THE

10 UNITED STATES.—No credit shall be allowed 

11 under subsection (a) by reason of paragraph 

12 (1)(I) to a taxpayer for—

13 ‘‘(i) any taxable year, beginning after 

14 the date of the enactment of this section, 

15 in which the taxpayer is under a final 

16 order, judgment, or other process issued or 

17 required by a district court of the United 

18 States under section 4323 of title 38 of the 

19 United States Code with respect to a viola20 tion of chapter 43 of such title, and 

21 ‘‘(ii) the 2 succeeding taxable years.’’. 

22 (3) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

23 by this subsection shall apply to amounts paid or in24 curred to an individual who begins work for the em25 ployer after September 30, 2004. 
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1 (c) STUDY BY GAO.—

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General of 

3 the United States shall study the following: 

4 (A) What, if any, problems exist in recruit5 ing individuals for a reserve component of an 

6 Armed Force of the United States. 

7 (B) What, if any, problems exist as the re8 sult of providing differential wage payments (as 

9 defined in section 3401(i)(2) of the Internal 

10 Revenue Code of 1986 (as added by this Act)) 

11 to individuals described in subparagraph (A) in 

12 the recruitment and retention of individuals as 

13 regular members of the Armed Forces of the 

14 United States. 

15 (C) Whether the credit allowed under sec16 tion 45J of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

17 (as added by this section) is an effective incen18 tive for the hiring and retention of employees 

19 who are individuals described in subparagraph 

20 (A) and whether there exists any compliance 

21 problems in the administration of such credit. 

22 (2) REPORT.—The Comptroller General of the 

23 United States shall report on the results of the 

24 study required under paragraph (1) to the Com25 mittee of Finance of the Senate and the Committee 
55

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1 on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives 

2 before July 1, 2005. 

3 SEC. 2106. NONREDUCTION IN PAY WHILE FEDERAL EM4 PLOYEE IS PERFORMING ACTIVE SERVICE IN 

5 THE UNIFORMED SERVICES OR NATIONAL 

6 GUARD. 

7 (a) PRESERVATION OF PAY LEVEL.—

8 (1) REQUIREMENTS.—Subchapter IV of chapter 

9 55 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by 

10 adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘§ 5538. Nonreduction in pay while serving in the 

12 uniformed services or National Guard 

13 ‘‘(a) An employee who is absent from a position of 

14 employment with the Federal Government in order to per15 form active duty in the uniformed services pursuant to a 

16 call or order to active duty under a provision of law re17 ferred to in section 101(a)(13)(B) of title 10 shall be enti18 tled, while serving on active duty, to receive, for each pay 

19 period described in subsection (b), an amount equal to the 

20 amount by which—

21 ‘‘(1) the amount of basic pay which would oth22 erwise have been payable to such employee for such 

23 pay period if such employee’s civilian employment 

24 with the Government had not been interrupted by 

25 that service, exceeds (if at all)
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•S 11 IS 

1 ‘‘(2) the amount of pay and allowances which 

2 (as determined under subsection (d))—

3 ‘‘(A) is payable to such employee for that 

4 service; and 

5 ‘‘(B) is allocable to such pay period. 

6 ‘‘(b)(1) Amounts under this section shall be payable 

7 with respect to each pay period (which would otherwise 

8 apply if the employee’s civilian employment had not been 

9 interrupted)—

10 ‘‘(A) during which such employee is entitled to 

11 reemployment rights under chapter 43 of title 38 

12 with respect to the position from which such em13 ployee is absent (as referred to in subsection (a)); 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(B) for which such employee does not other16 wise receive basic pay (including by taking any an17 nual, military, or other paid leave) to which such 

18 employee is entitled by virtue of such employee’s ci19 vilian employment with the Government. 

20 ‘‘(2) For purposes of this section, the period during 

21 which an employee is entitled to reemployment rights 

22 under chapter 43 of title 38—

23 ‘‘(A) shall be determined disregarding the provi24 sions of section 4312(d) of title 38; and 
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1 ‘‘(B) shall include any period of time specified 

2 in section 4312(e) of title 38 within which an em3 ployee may report or apply for employment or reem4 ployment following completion of service on active 

5 duty to which called or ordered as described in sub6 section (a). 

7 ‘‘(c) Any amount payable under this section to an em8 ployee shall be paid—

9 ‘‘(1) by such employee’s employing agency; 

10 ‘‘(2) from the appropriation or fund which 

11 would be used to pay the employee if such employee 

12 were in a pay status; and 

13 ‘‘(3) to the extent practicable, at the same time 

14 and in the same manner as would basic pay if such 

15 employee’s civilian employment had not been inter16 rupted. 

17 ‘‘(d) The Office of Personnel Management shall, in 

18 consultation with Secretary of Defense, prescribe any reg19 ulations necessary to carry out the preceding provisions 

20 of this section. 

21 ‘‘(e)(1) The head of each agency referred to in section 

22 2302(a)(2)(C)(ii) shall, in consultation with the Office, 

23 prescribe procedures to ensure that the rights under this 

24 section apply to the employees of such agency. 
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1 ‘‘(2) The Administrator of the Federal Aviation Ad2 ministration shall, in consultation with the Office, pre3 scribe procedures to ensure that the rights under this sec4 tion apply to the employees of that agency. 

5 ‘‘(f) For purposes of this section—

6 ‘‘(1) the terms ‘employee’, ‘Federal Govern7 ment’, and ‘uniformed services’ have the same re8 spective meanings as given them in section 4303 of 

9 title 38; 

10 ‘‘(2) the term ‘employing agency’, as used with 

11 respect to an employee entitled to any payments 

12 under this section, means the agency or other entity 

13 of the Government (including an agency referred to 

14 in section 2302(a)(2)(C)(ii)) with respect to which 

15 such employee has reemployment rights under chap16 ter 43 of title 38; and 

17 ‘‘(3) the term ‘basic pay’ includes any amount 

18 payable under section 5304.’’. 

19 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec20 tions for chapter 55 of title 5, United States Code, 

21 is amended by inserting after the item relating to 

22 section 5537 the following:

‘‘5538. Nonreduction in pay while serving in the uniformed services or National 

Guard.’’.

23 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—
59

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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 5538 of title 5, 

2 United States Code (as added by subsection (a)), 

3 shall apply with respect to pay periods (as described 

4 in subsection (b) of such section) beginning on or 

5 after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

6 (2) CONDITIONAL RETROACTIVE APPLICA7 TION.—

8 (A) Section 5538 of title 5, United States 

9 Code (as added by subsection (a)), shall apply 

10 with respect to pay periods (as described in 

11 subsection (b) of such section) beginning on or 

12 after October 11, 2002 through the date of the 

13 enactment of this Act, subject to the availability 

14 of appropriations. 

15 (B) There are authorized to be appro16 priated $100,000,000 for purposes of subpara17 graph (A). 

18 TITLE XXII—NATIONAL GUARD 

19 AND RESERVE COMPREHEN20 SIVE HEALTH BENEFITS 

21 SEC. 2201. SHORT TITLE. 

22 This title may be cited as the ‘‘National Guard and 

23 Reserve Comprehensive Health Benefits Act of 2005’’. 

24 SEC. 2202. FINDINGS. 

25 Congress makes the following findings: 
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1 (1) According to the results of a Department of 

2 Defense survey conducted in 2000, 20 percent of 

3 members of the reserve components of the Armed 

4 Forces, including 40 percent of junior enlisted per5 sonnel, had no health care coverage while not on ac6 tive duty. 

7 (2) In 2004, Congress passed legislation au8 thorizing reservists to obtain access to the military 

9 TRICARE health care program for one year for 

10 each 90-day period of active duty service. While the 

11 enactment of this law was an important step for12 ward, the law only provides eligibility for health care 

13 after active duty has been completed and fails to 

14 provide the complete health care coverage necessary 

15 to ensure that reservists are medically ready to an16 swer a future call to active duty. 

17 (3) In September 2004, the Government Ac18 countability Office, after reviewing pre-deployment 

19 health screenings of over 240,000 reservists, re20 ported finding that nearly 7 percent of activated re21 servists were categorized as nondeployable for health 

22 reasons, including nearly 10 percent of the Army 

23 Reserve.
61

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1 SEC. 2203. TRICARE COVERAGE FOR MEMBERS OF THE 

2 READY RESERVE. 

3 (a) ELIGIBILITY.—Section 1076b of title 10, United 

4 States Code, is amended to read as follows: 

5 ‘‘§ 1076b. TRICARE program: coverage for members 

6 of the Ready Reserve 

7 ‘‘(a) ELIGIBILITY.—Members of the Selected Reserve 

8 of the Ready Reserve of a reserve component of the armed 

9 forces and members of the Individual Ready Reserve de10 scribed in subsection 10144(b) of this title are eligible, 

11 subject to subsection (h)(1), to enroll in the following 

12 TRICARE program options: 

13 ‘‘(1) TRICARE Prime. 

14 ‘‘(2) TRICARE Standard. 

15 ‘‘(b) TYPES OF COVERAGE.—(1) A member eligible 

16 under subsection (a) may enroll for either of the following 

17 types of coverage: 

18 ‘‘(A) Self alone coverage. 

19 ‘‘(B) Self and family coverage. 

20 ‘‘(2) An enrollment by a member for self and family 

21 covers the member and the dependents of the member who 

22 are described in subparagraph (A), (D), or (I) of section 

23 1072(2) of this title. 

24 ‘‘(c) OPEN ENROLLMENT PERIODS.—The Secretary 

25 of Defense shall provide for at least one open enrollment 

26 period each year. During an open enrollment period, a 
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1 member eligible under subsection (a) may enroll in the 

2 TRICARE program or change or terminate an enrollment 

3 in the TRICARE program. 

4 ‘‘(d) SCOPE OF CARE.—(1) A member and the de5 pendents of a member enrolled in the TRICARE program 

6 under this section shall be entitled to the same benefits 

7 under this chapter as a member of the uniformed services 

8 on active duty or a dependent of such a member, respec9 tively. 

10 ‘‘(2) Section 1074(c) of this title shall apply with re11 spect to a member enrolled in the TRICARE program 

12 under this section. 

13 ‘‘(e) PREMIUMS.—(1) The Secretary of Defense shall 

14 charge premiums for coverage pursuant to enrollments 

15 under this section. The Secretary shall prescribe for each 

16 of the TRICARE program options referred to in sub17 section (a) a premium for self alone coverage and a pre18 mium for self and family coverage. 

19 ‘‘(2) The monthly amount of the premium in effect 

20 for a month for a type of coverage under this section shall 

21 be the amount equal to 28 percent of the total amount 

22 determined by the Secretary on an appropriate actuarial 

23 basis as being reasonable for the coverage. 

24 ‘‘(3) The premiums payable by a member under this 

25 subsection may be deducted and withheld from basic pay 
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1 payable to the member under section 204 of title 37 or 

2 from compensation payable to the member under section 

3 206 of such title. The Secretary shall prescribe the re4 quirements and procedures applicable to the payment of 

5 premiums by members not entitled to such basic pay or 

6 compensation. 

7 ‘‘(4) Amounts collected as premiums under this sub8 section shall be credited to the appropriation available for 

9 the Defense Health Program Account under section 1100 

10 of this title, shall be merged with sums in such Account 

11 that are available for the fiscal year in which collected, 

12 and shall be available under subsection (b) of such section 

13 for such fiscal year. 

14 ‘‘(f) OTHER CHARGES.—A person who receives 

15 health care pursuant to an enrollment in a TRICARE pro16 gram option under this section, including a member who 

17 receives such health care, shall be subject to the same 

18 deductibles, copayments, and other nonpremium charges 

19 for health care as apply under this chapter for health care 

20 provided under the same TRICARE program option to de21 pendents described in subparagraph (A), (D), or (I) of sec22 tion 1072(2) of this title. 

23 ‘‘(g) TERMINATION OF ENROLLMENT.—(1) A mem24 ber enrolled in the TRICARE program under this section 

25 may terminate the enrollment only during an open enroll-
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1 ment period provided under subsection (c), except as pro2 vided in subsection (h)(2). 

3 ‘‘(2) An enrollment of a member for self alone or for 

4 self and family under this section shall terminate on the 

5 first day of the first month beginning after the date on 

6 which the member ceases to be eligible under subsection 

7 (a). 

8 ‘‘(3) The enrollment of a member under this section 

9 may be terminated on the basis of failure to pay the pre10 mium charged the member under this section. 

11 ‘‘(h) RELATIONSHIP TO TRANSITION TRICARE COV12 ERAGE UPON SEPARATION FROM ACTIVE DUTY.—(1) A 

13 member may not enroll in the TRICARE program under 

14 this section while entitled to transitional health care under 

15 subsection (a) of section 1145 of this title or while author16 ized to receive health care under subsection (c) of such 

17 section. 

18 ‘‘(2) A member who enrolls in the TRICARE pro19 gram under this section within 90 days after the date of 

20 the termination of the member’s entitlement or eligibility 

21 to receive health care under subsection (a) or (c) of section 

22 1145 of this title may terminate the enrollment at any 

23 time within one year after the date of the enrollment. 

24 ‘‘(i) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of Defense, in 

25 consultation with the other administering Secretaries, 
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1 shall prescribe regulations for the administration of this 

2 section.’’.

3 (b) DEFINITIONS.—

4 (1) TRICARE OPTIONS.—Section 1072 of title 

5 10, United States Code, is amended by adding at 

6 the end the following new paragraphs: 

7 ‘‘(10) The term ‘TRICARE Prime’ means the 

8 managed care option of the TRICARE program. 

9 ‘‘(11) The term ‘TRICARE Standard’ means 

10 the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the 

11 Uniformed Services option under the TRICARE pro12 gram.’’. 

13 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

14 (A) Section 1076d(f) of such title is 

15 amended—

16 (i) by striking ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—’’ 

17 and all that follows through ‘‘(1) The’’ and 

18 inserting ‘‘(f) IMMEDIATE FAMILY DE19 FINED.—In this section, the’’; and 

20 (ii) by striking paragraph (2). 

21 (B) Section 1097a(f) of such title is 

22 amended by striking ‘‘DEFINITIONS.—In this 

23 section:’’ and all that follows through ‘‘(2) The 

24 term’’ and inserting ‘‘CATCHMENT AREA DE25 FINED.—In this section, the term’’.
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1 (c) PERIOD FOR IMPLEMENTATION.—Section 1076b 

2 of title 10, United States Code (as added by subsection 

3 (a)), shall apply with respect to months that begin on or 

4 after the date that is 180 days after the date of the enact5 ment of this Act. 

6 (d) COORDINATION WITH OVERLAPPING AUTHOR7 ITY.—

8 (1) REPEAL.—Effective one year after the date 

9 of the enactment of this Act—

10 (A) section 1076d of title 10, United 

11 States Code, is repealed; and 

12 (B) the table of sections at the beginning 

13 of chapter 55 of such title is amended by strik14 ing the item relating to section 1076d. 

15 (2) TRANSITION COVERAGE.—The Secretary of 

16 Defense shall provide for an orderly transition to 

17 TRICARE coverage under section 1076b of title 10, 

18 United States Code (as amended by subsection (a)), 

19 for persons enrolled for TRICARE coverage under 

20 section 1076d of such title before the repeal of such 

21 section takes effect under paragraph (1)(A). 

22 SEC. 2204. ALLOWANCE FOR CONTINUATION OF NON23 TRICARE HEALTH BENEFITS COVERAGE FOR 

24 CERTAIN MOBILIZED RESERVES. 

25 (a) PAYMENT OF PREMIUMS.—
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1 (1) REQUIREMENT TO PAY PREMIUMS.—Chap2 ter 55 of title 10, United States Code, is amended 

3 by inserting after section 1078a the following new 

4 section: 

5 ‘‘§ 1078b. Continuation of non-TRICARE health bene6 fits plan coverage for certain Reserves 

7 called or ordered to active duty and their 

8 dependents 

9 ‘‘(a) PAYMENT OF PREMIUMS.—The Secretary con10 cerned shall pay the applicable premium to continue in 

11 force any qualified health benefits plan coverage for an 

12 eligible reserve component member for the benefits cov13 erage continuation period if timely elected by the member 

14 in accordance with regulations prescribed under sub15 section (j). 

16 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE MEMBER.—A member of a reserve 

17 component is eligible for payment of the applicable pre18 mium for continuation of qualified health benefits plan 

19 coverage under subsection (a) while serving on active duty 

20 pursuant to a call or order issued under a provision of 

21 law referred to in section 101(a)(13)(B) of this title dur22 ing a war or national emergency declared by the President 

23 or Congress. 

24 ‘‘(c) QUALIFIED HEALTH BENEFITS PLAN COV25 ERAGE.—For the purposes of this section, health benefits 
68

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1 plan coverage for a member called or ordered to active 

2 duty is qualified health benefits plan coverage if—

3 ‘‘(1) the coverage was in force on the date on 

4 which the Secretary notified the member that 

5 issuance of the call or order was pending or, if no 

6 such notification was provided, the date of the call 

7 or order; 

8 ‘‘(2) on such date, the coverage applied to the 

9 member and dependents of the member described in 

10 subparagraph (A), (D), or (I) of section 1072(2) of 

11 this title; and 

12 ‘‘(3) the coverage has not lapsed. 

13 ‘‘(d) APPLICABLE PREMIUM.—The applicable pre14 mium payable under this section for continuation of health 

15 benefits plan coverage in the case of a member is the 

16 amount of the premium payable by the member for the 

17 coverage of the member and dependents. 

18 ‘‘(e) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.—The total amount that 

19 may be paid for the applicable premium of a health bene20 fits plan for a member under this section in a fiscal year 

21 may not exceed the amount determined by multiplying—

22 ‘‘(1) the sum of one plus the number of the 

23 member’s dependents covered by the health benefits 

24 plan, by 
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•S 11 IS 

1 ‘‘(2) the per capita cost of providing TRICARE 

2 coverage and benefits for dependents under this 

3 chapter for such fiscal year, as determined by the 

4 Secretary of Defense. 

5 ‘‘(f) BENEFITS COVERAGE CONTINUATION PE6 RIOD.—The benefits coverage continuation period under 

7 this section for qualified health benefits plan coverage in 

8 the case of a member called or ordered to active duty is 

9 the period that—

10 ‘‘(1) begins on the date of the call or order; and 

11 ‘‘(2) ends on the earlier of the date on which—

12 ‘‘(A) the member’s eligibility for transi13 tional health care under section 1145(a) of this 

14 title terminates under paragraph (3) of such 

15 section; or 

16 ‘‘(B) the member elects to terminate the 

17 continued qualified health benefits plan cov18 erage of the dependents of the member.

19 ‘‘(g) EXTENSION OF PERIOD OF COBRA COV20 ERAGE.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law—

21 ‘‘(1) any period of coverage under a COBRA 

22 continuation provision (as defined in section 

23 9832(d)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) 

24 for a member under this section shall be deemed to 
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1 be equal to the benefits coverage continuation period 

2 for such member under this section; and 

3 ‘‘(2) with respect to the election of any period 

4 of coverage under a COBRA continuation provision 

5 (as so defined), rules similar to the rules under sec6 tion 4980B(f)(5)(C) of such Code shall apply. 

7 ‘‘(h) NONDUPLICATION OF BENEFITS.—A dependent 

8 of a member who is eligible for benefits under qualified 

9 health benefits plan coverage paid on behalf of a member 

10 by the Secretary concerned under this section is not eligi11 ble for benefits under the TRICARE program during a 

12 period of the coverage for which so paid. 

13 ‘‘(i) REVOCABILITY OF ELECTION.—A member who 

14 makes an election under subsection (a) may revoke the 

15 election. Upon such a revocation, the member’s depend16 ents shall become eligible for benefits under the 

17 TRICARE program as provided for under this chapter. 

18 ‘‘(j) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of Defense shall 

19 prescribe regulations for carrying out this section. The 

20 regulations shall include such requirements for making an 

21 election of payment of applicable premiums as the Sec22 retary considers appropriate.’’. 

23 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec24 tions at the beginning of such chapter is amended

25 by inserting after the item relating to section 1078a 
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1 the following new item:

‘‘1078b. Continuation of non-TRICARE health benefits plan coverage for certain Reserves called or ordered to active duty and their dependents.’’.

2 (b) APPLICABILITY.—Section 1078b of title 10, 

3 United States Code (as added by subsection (a)), shall 

4 apply with respect to calls or orders of members of reserve 

5 components of the Armed Forces to active duty as de6 scribed in subsection (b) of such section, that are issued 

7 by the Secretary of a military department on or after the 

8 date of the enactment of this Act. 

9 TITLE XXIII—IMPROVED DEATH 

10 GRATUITY AND OTHER SUR11 VIVOR BENEFITS 

12 SEC. 2301. FINDINGS. 

13 Congress makes the following findings: 

14 (1) No amount of money can make up for the 

15 loss of a loved one. But the United States can, and 

16 is obliged to, honor the service of lost 

17 servicemembers by ensuring that their families are 

18 financially supported at the time of great need occa19 sioned by those losses. 

20 (2) The Federal Government owes families of 

21 servicemembers dying on duty a death gratuity that 

22 is sufficient to help each family pay for costs associ23 ated with the death of the servicemember and to 

24 help the members of the family adjust to the finan-
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1 cial instability that results from termination of the 

2 servicemember’s income. 

3 (3) Survivors of fallen military personnel who 

4 are eligible for both a Survivor Benefit Plan annuity 

5 and Dependency and Indemnity Compensation suffer 

6 a loss of income as a result of the law that requires 

7 a reduction in the Survivor Benefit Plan annuity by 

8 the amount of the Dependency and Indemnity Com9 pensation. This unjust prohibition against concur10 rent receipt of two independent benefits prevents the 

11 United States from fulfilling its obligation to the 

12 survivors during the time of financial need that is 

13 occasioned by the deaths of the fallen 

14 servicemembers. 

15 SEC. 2302. INCREASED AMOUNT OF DEATH GRATUITY. 

16 (a) AMOUNT OF DEATH GRATUITY.—Section 

17 1478(a) of title 10, United States Code, is amended by 

18 striking ‘‘$12,000’’ in the first sentence and inserting 

19 ‘‘$100,000’’. 

20 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

21 subsection (a) shall take effect as of September 11, 2001, 

22 and shall apply with respect to deaths occurring on or 

23 after that date. 
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1 SEC. 2303. DEATH GRATUITY EXCLUDABLE FROM FEDERAL 

2 INCOME TAXATION. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (1) of section 134(b) 

4 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to certain 

5 military benefits) is amended by adding at the end the 

6 following new flush sentence: 

7 ‘‘Such term shall include any death gratuity to 

8 which the limitation in section 1478(a) of title 10, 

9 United States Code, applies.’’. 

10 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

11 subsection (a) shall apply to amounts paid with respect 

12 to deaths occurring on or after September 11, 2001. 

13 SEC. 2304. REPEAL OF REQUIREMENT OF REDUCTION OF 

14 SBP SURVIVOR ANNUITIES BY DEPENDENCY 

15 AND INDEMNITY COMPENSATION. 

16 (a) REPEAL.—Subchapter II of chapter 73 of title 

17 10, United States Code is amended— 

18 (1) in section 1450(c)(1), by inserting after ‘‘to 

19 whom section 1448 of this title applies’’ the fol20 lowing: ‘‘(except in the case of a death as described 

21 in subsection (d) or (f) of such section)’’; and 

22 (2) in section 1451(c)— 

23 (A) by striking paragraph (2); and 

24 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (3) and 

25 (4) as paragraphs (2) and (3), respectively. 
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1 (b) PROHIBITION ON RETROACTIVE BENEFITS.—No 

2 benefits may be paid to any person for any period before 

3 the effective date provided under subsection (e) by reason 

4 of the amendments made by subsection (a). 

5 (c) PROHIBITION ON RECOUPMENT OF CERTAIN

6 AMOUNTS PREVIOUSLY REFUNDED TO SBP RECIPI7 ENTS.—A surviving spouse who is or has been in receipt 

8 of an annuity under the Survivor Benefit Plan under sub9 chapter II of chapter 73 of title 10, United States Code, 

10 that is in effect before the effective date provided under 

11 subsection (e) and that is adjusted by reason of the 

12 amendments made by subsection (a) and who has received 

13 a refund of retired pay under section 1450(e) of title 10, 

14 United States Code, shall not be required to repay such 

15 refund to the United States. 

16 (d) RECONSIDERATION OF OPTIONAL ANNUITY.—

17 Section 1448(d)(2) of title 10, United States Code, is 

18 amended by adding at the end the following new sen19 tences: ‘‘The surviving spouse, however, may elect to ter20 minate an annuity under this subparagraph in accordance 

21 with regulations prescribed by the Secretary concerned. 

22 Upon such an election, payment of an annuity to depend23 ent children under this subparagraph shall terminate ef24 fective on the first day of the first month that begins after 

25 the date on which the Secretary concerned receives notice 
75

•S 11 IS 

1 of the election, and, beginning on that day, an annuity 

2 shall be paid to the surviving spouse under paragraph (1) 

3 instead.’’. 

4 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

5 this section shall take effect on the later of— 

6 (1) the first day of the first month that begins 

7 after the date of the enactment of this Act; or 

8 (2) the first day of the fiscal year that begins 

9 in the calendar year in which this Act is enacted. 

10 SEC. 2305. EFFECTIVE DATE FOR PAID-UP COVERAGE 

11 UNDER SURVIVOR BENEFIT PLAN. 

12 Section 1452(j) of title 10, United States Code, is 

13 amended by striking ‘‘October 1, 2008’’ and inserting 

14 ‘‘October 1, 2005’’. 

15 DIVISION C—TAXPAYER 

16 PROTECTION 

17 TITLE XXXI—FUNDING OF 

18 RECONSTRUCTION IN IRAQ 

19 SEC. 3101. FINDINGS. 

20 Congress makes the following findings: 

21 (1) The international community’s support for 

22 Iraq’s efforts to reconstruct the infrastructure of 

23 Iraq following the overthrow of Saddam Hussein’s 

24 regime is critical to the achievement of regional and
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1 international stability and to the protection of na2 tional security interests of the United States. 

3 (2) United States taxpayers have borne a dis4 proportionate burden in supporting the reconstruc5 tion of Iraq. The United States Government has 

6 committed to providing Iraq with grants of financial 

7 assistance worth more than 500 percent more than 

8 the grant assistance that has been committed by the 

9 governments of all of the rest of the countries of the 

10 world combined. 

11 (3) The disproportionate contribution of the 

12 United States to the reconstruction of Iraq has re13 sulted in a commitment of United States resources 

14 to reconstruction that otherwise would be available 

15 for supporting the efforts of United States military 

16 personnel to rid Iraq and Afghanistan of hostile in17 surgents. 

18 (4) Iraq possesses the world’s second largest re19 serve of crude oil, with 112,000,000,000 barrels, and 

20 administration officials have stated on several occa21 sions that revenue from Iraq’s oil industry could 

22 fund a significant portion of the costs of the recon23 struction of Iraq. 
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1 SEC. 3102. REPORT ON ADDITIONAL NEEDS FOR FUNDING 

2 MILITARY AND RECONSTRUCTION EFFORTS. 

3 (a) REQUIREMENT FOR REPORT.—Whenever the 

4 President submits to Congress a request for a supple5 mental appropriation of funds for use in connection with 

6 United States military or reconstruction efforts in Iraq, 

7 the President shall submit to the chairmen and ranking 

8 members of the appropriate committees of Congress in ac9 cordance with this section a report on the status of United 

10 States financial commitments to the reconstruction of 

11 Iraq. 

12 (b) CONTENT.—The report under subsection (a) shall 

13 include the following information: 

14 (1) An estimate of the amount of the United 

15 States Government funds spent for the reconstruc16 tion of Iraq between March 19, 2003, and the date 

17 of the report that is attributable to tax revenue col18 lected from United States taxpayers. 

19 (2) An assessment of the activities funded by 

20 that amount, together with a discussion of the re21 sults that such activities have achieved. 

22 (3) An estimate of the amount of the funds 

23 that have been contributed by all other foreign gov24 ernments for the reconstruction of Iraq and in relief 

25 of Iraq’s national debt. 
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1 (4) The amount of the crude oil that has been 

2 extracted by Iraq since March 19, 2003, and the 

3 total value of that oil in United States dollars. 

4 (c) TIME FOR REPORT.—The President shall submit 

5 the report under this section not later than 24 hours after 

6 any proposed legislation to provide a supplemental appro7 priation of funds requested by the President for use in 

8 connection with United States military or reconstruction 

9 activities in Iraq is introduced in either the Senate or the 

10 House of Representatives. 

11 (d) FORM.—The report under this section shall be 

12 submitted in unclassified form. 

13 SEC. 3103. LIMITATION ON USE OF FUNDS. 

14 (a) LIMITATION.—Funds appropriated or otherwise 

15 available for providing financial assistance for reconstruc16 tion activities in Iraq may not be obligated or expended 

17 for providing financial assistance for such activities other 

18 than in the form of a collateralized loan until the Presi19 dent submits to the chairmen and ranking members of the 

20 appropriate committees of Congress a report that contains 

21 the following matters: 

22 (1) The President’s plan for seeking increased 

23 financial support for reconstruction activities in Iraq 

24 from the international community. 
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1 (2) The President’s statement that he has de2 termined that—

3 (A) Iraq is incapable of producing suffi4 cient revenues from its oil industry to pay for 

5 future reconstruction activities; and 

6 (B) it is not in the national security inter7 ests of the United States for the United States 

8 to provide financial assistance for reconstruc9 tion activities in Iraq solely in the form of 

10 loans. 

11 (b) WAIVER AUTHORITY.—The President may waive 

12 the applicability of the limitation in subsection (a) to an 

13 obligation or expenditure of funds if the President deter14 mines that the applicability of the limitation to such obli15 gation or expenditure would adversely affect the physical 

16 safety of United States Armed Forces personnel operating 

17 in Iraq, except that any such waiver shall not take effect 

18 before the President submits a written notification of the 

19 waiver and determination to the chairmen and ranking 

20 members of the appropriate committees of Congress. 

21 SEC. 3104. APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CONGRESS DE22 FINED. 

23 In this title, the term ‘‘appropriate committees of 

24 Congress’’ mean the following committees: 
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1 (1) The Committee on Foreign Relations Com2 mittee, the Committee on Armed Services, and the 

3 Committee on Appropriations of the Senate. 

4 (2) The Committee on International Relations, 

5 the Committee on Armed Services, and the Com6 mittee on Appropriations of the House of Represent7 atives.

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