II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1559 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide taxpayers a tax 

check-off to designate certain annual contributions to the Armed Forces 

Relief Trust for an above-the-line deduction not to exceed $1,000, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 29, 2005 

Ms. LANDRIEU introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide 

taxpayers a tax check-off to designate certain annual 

contributions to the Armed Forces Relief Trust for an 

above-the-line deduction not to exceed $1,000, and for 

other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Emergency Relief Tax 

5 Check-Off for Our Armed Forces Act of 2005’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
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1 (1) A significant number of America’s military 

2 service men and women and their immediate families 

3 have suffered severe economic hardships as a result 

4 of injuries sustained in the course of their service. 

5 (2) The various military relief societies have 

6 provided essential support for military members fac7 ing economic hardship. 

8 (3) The numbers and needs of United States 

9 service members and their families far exceed the re10 sources available to these military relief societies. 

11 (4) The American people strongly support the 

12 creation of a tax check-off on their annual Federal 

13 tax return devoted to emergency relief for members 

14 of the Armed Forces and their families. 

15 (b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act to bring 

16 greater awareness of the personal and financial hardships 

17 of members of the Armed Forces of the United States, 

18 military retirees, and veterans, as well as their family 

19 members, as they serve our Nation and to provide a mech20 anism which will enable taxpayers to contribute in an ef21 fort to alleviate such hardships. 

22 SEC. 3. TAX CHECK-OFF FOR CERTAIN CONTRIBUTIONS TO 

23 ARMED FORCES RELIEF TRUST. 

24 (a) TAX CHECK-OFF.— 
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1 (b) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an individual, with 

2 respect to each taxpayer’s return for the taxable year of 

3 the tax imposed by chapter 1, such individual may des4 ignate that a contribution has been made for such taxable 

5 year to the Armed Forces Relief Trust. 

6 (c) MANNER AND TIME OF DESIGNATION.—A des7 ignation under paragraph (1) may be made with respect 

8 to any taxable year only at the time of filing the return 

9 of the tax imposed by chapter 1 for such taxable year. 

10 Such designation shall be made in such manner as the 

11 Secretary prescribes by regulations except that such des12 ignation shall be made on the first page of the return in 

13 the area below the designation for income tax payments 

14 to the Presidential Election Campaign Fund. 

15 (d) EXPLANATION OF TAX TREATMENT OF CON16 TRIBUTIONS TO ARMED FORCES RELIEF TRUST.—The 

17 Secretary shall provide taxpayers with an explanation that 

18 an above-the-line deduction under section 62(a)(22) of the 

19 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is allowed for any taxable 

20 year with respect to any contribution designated under 

21 paragraph (1) for such taxable year in an amount not to 

22 exceed $1,000, that any amount of such contribution in 

23 excess of $1,000 may be taken as an additional deduction 

24 for such taxable year by any taxpayer who itemizes deduc25 tions, and that such above-the-line deduction is not includ-
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1 ible in the determination of the alternative minimum tax 

2 under section 55 of such Code. 

3 SEC. 4. ABOVE-THE-LINE DEDUCTION. 

4 Section 62(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

5 (defining adjusted gross income) is amended by redesig6 nating paragraph (20) (as added by section 703(a) of the 

7 American Jobs Creation Act of 2004) as paragraph (21) 

8 and by inserting after paragraph (21) (as so redesignated) 

9 the following new paragraph: 

10 ‘‘(v) CERTAIN CONTRIBUTIONS TO ARMED FORCES

11 RELIEF TRUST.—The deduction allowed by section 170 

12 which is attributable to contributions to the Armed Forces 

13 Relief Trust not in excess of $1,000.’’. 

14 SEC. 5. TREATMENT OF CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTIONS TO 

15 ARMED FORCES RELIEF TRUST. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi17 sion of law, any contribution made by any of the societies 

18 associated with the Armed Forces Relief Trust shall not 

19 be commingled with any charitable contribution made to 

20 the Trust Fund for which a deduction under section 170 

21 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is allowable. 

22 (b) ADMINISTRATION OF CHARITABLE CONTRIBU23 TIONS.—The administration and distribution of any chari24 table contributions described in paragraph (1) shall be 

25 made by the Armed Forces Relief Trust subject to the ad-
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1 vice of a board of directors the establishment and oper2 ation of which is determined under section 6. 

3 SEC. 6. ADVISORY BOARD OF DIRECTORS. 

4 (a) APPOINTMENT.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Within the Armed Forces 

6 Relief Trust there is established an advisory board 

7 of directors the members of which are appointed as 

8 follows: 

9 (A) One individual appointed by the Chair10 man of the Committee on Finance of the Sen11 ate. 

12 (B) One individual appointed by the Chair13 man of the Committee on Armed Services of 

14 the Senate. 

15 (C) One individual appointed by the Chair16 man of the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of 

17 the Senate. 

18 (D) One individual appointed by the Chair19 man of the Committee on Appropriations of the 

20 Senate. 

21 (E) One individual appointed by the Chair22 man of the Joint Committee on Taxation. 

23 (F) One individual appointed by the Chair24 man of the Committee on Armed Services of 

25 the House of Representatives. 
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1 (G) One individual appointed by the Chair2 man of the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs of 

3 the House of Representatives. 

4 (H) One individual appointed by the Chair5 man of the Committee on Appropriations of the 

6 House of Representatives. 

7 (I) One individual appointed by the Presi8 dent from each of the following: the Army 

9 Emergency Relief Society, the Navy Marine 

10 Corps Relief Society, the Air Force Aid Society, 

11 and the Coast Guard Mutual Assistance Relief 

12 Society. 

13 (J) Two individuals appointed by the 

14 President from 2 veterans service organizations. 

15 (2) TERM.—The term of each member of the 

16 advisory board shall be 3 years, except that any 

17 member whose term of office has expired shall con18 tinue to serve until such member’s successor is ap19 pointed. No member shall serve more than two 3- 

20 year terms. 

21 (3) APPOINTMENT OF SUCCESSORS.—The ap22 pointment of any successor member shall be made in 

23 the same manner as the original appointment. If a 

24 member dies or resigns before the expiration of the 

25 member’s term, a successor shall be appointed for 
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1 the unexpired portion of the term in the same man2 ner as the original appointment. 

3 (4) PROHIBITION.—No member of the advisory 

4 board may be an employee of the Federal Govern5 ment. 

6 (b) CHAIRMAN; VICE CHAIRMAN.— 

7 (1) DESIGNATION.—The President shall des8 ignate a chairman for the advisory board. The advi9 sory board shall not later than its second meeting, 

10 by majority vote, designate a vice chairman, who 

11 shall perform the duties of the chairman in the ab12 sence of the chairman. 

13 (2) DUTIES OF CHAIRMAN.—The chairman 

14 shall call the meetings of the advisory board, propose 

15 meeting agendas, chair the meetings, and establish, 

16 with the approval of a majority of the members, the 

17 rules and procedures for such meetings. 

18 (c) OPERATIONS OF THE BOARD.—The advisory 

19 board shall meet semi-annually, for the purpose of pro20 viding ongoing advice to the Armed Forces Relief Trust 

21 regarding the distribution of contributed funds, policies 

22 governing said distribution, and the administrative costs 

23 and operations of the Armed Forces Relief Trust. A ma24 jority of the members shall constitute a quorum. Advisory 

25 board members shall serve without compensation. While 
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1 performing duties as a member of the advisory board, each 

2 member shall be reimbursed under Federal Government 

3 travel regulations for travel expenses. Such reimburse4 ments and any other reasonable expenses of the advisory 

5 board shall be provided by the budget of the Executive 

6 Office of the President. 

7 (d) AUDIT.—The General Accountability Office shall 

8 audit the distribution and management of funds of the 

9 Armed Forces Relief Trust on an annual basis to ensure 

10 compliance with statutory and administrative directives. 

11 The Comptroller General of the United States shall report 

12 to the advisory board and Congress on the results of such 

13 audit. 

14 (e) REPORTS.—Within 60 days after its semi-annual 

15 meeting, the advisory board shall submit a written report 

16 to the President of its action, and of its views and rec17 ommendations. Any report other than the semi-annual re18 port, shall, if approved by a majority of the members of 

19 the advisory board, be submitted to the President within 

20 60 days after such approval. 

21 SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

22 The amendments made by this Act shall apply to tax23 able years beginning after December 31, 2004. 

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