I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1103 

To amend title 10, United States Code, to provide for garnishment pursuant 

to a court order to satisfy a judgment against a retired member of 

the uniformed services for physically, sexually, or emotionally abusing 

a child. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 16, 2017 

Ms. DELBENE (for herself, Ms. HERRERA BEUTLER, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Ms. SPEIER, Mrs. HARTZLER, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. REICHERT, 

Mr. MEEHAN, Mr. COHEN, Mr. POE of Texas, Ms. MOORE, Mr. 

CICILLINE, Ms. SLAUGHTER, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. SOTO, Mrs. WATSON

COLEMAN, Mrs. NOEM, Mr. RYAN of Ohio, Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts, 

Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Mr. ROYCE of California, Ms. NORTON, and Mr. 

HECK) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To amend title 10, United States Code, to provide for garnishment pursuant to a court order to satisfy a judgment 

against a retired member of the uniformed services for 

physically, sexually, or emotionally abusing a child. 

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 ‘‘Child Abuse Account5 ability Enhancement Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. GARNISHMENT TO SATISFY JUDGMENT RENDERED 

2 FOR PHYSICALLY, SEXUALLY, OR EMOTION3 ALLY ABUSING A CHILD. 

4 (a) GARNISHMENT AUTHORITY.—Section 1408 of 

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

6 end the following new subsection: 

7 ‘‘(l) GARNISHMENT TO SATISFY A JUDGMENT REN8 DERED FOR PHYSICALLY, SEXUALLY, OR EMOTIONALLY

9 ABUSING A CHILD.—(1) Any payment of retired pay that 

10 would otherwise be made to a member shall be paid (in 

11 whole or in part) by the Secretary concerned to another 

12 person if and to the extent expressly provided for in the 

13 terms of a child abuse garnishment order. 

14 ‘‘(2) In this section, the term ‘court order’ includes 

15 a child abuse garnishment order. 

16 ‘‘(3) In this subsection, the term ‘child abuse garnish17 ment order’ means a final decree issued by a court that— 

18 ‘‘(A) is issued in accordance with the laws of 

19 the jurisdiction of that court; and 

20 ‘‘(B) provides in the nature of garnishment for 

21 the enforcement of a judgment rendered against the 

22 member for physically, sexually, or emotionally abus23 ing a child. 

24 ‘‘(4) For purposes of this subsection, a judgment ren25 dered for physically, sexually, or emotionally abusing a 

26 child is any legal claim perfected through a final enforceVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:44 Feb 23, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1103.IH H1103

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1 able judgment, which claim is based in whole or in part 

2 upon the physical, sexual, or emotional abuse of an indi3 vidual under 18 years of age, whether or not that abuse 

4 is accompanied by other actionable wrongdoing, such as 

5 sexual exploitation or gross negligence. 

6 ‘‘(5) If the Secretary concerned is served with more 

7 than one court order with respect to the retired pay of 

8 a member, the disposable retired pay of the member shall 

9 be available to satisfy such court orders on a first-come, 

10 first-served basis, with any such process being satisfied 

11 out of such moneys as remain after the satisfaction of all 

12 such processes which have been previously served. 

13 ‘‘(6) The Secretary concerned shall not be required 

14 to vary normal pay and disbursement cycles for retired 

15 pay in order to comply with a child abuse garnishment 

16 order.’’. 

17 (b) APPLICATION OF AMENDMENT.—Subsection (l) 

18 of section 1408 of title 10, United States Code, as added 

19 by subsection (a), shall apply with respect to a court order 

20 received by the Secretary concerned on or after the date 

21 of the enactment of this Act, regardless of the date of the 

22 court order. 

Æ 


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