II

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2322

To amend title 37, United States Code, to establish a special subsistence

allowance for certain members of the uniformed services who are eligible

to receive food stamp assistance, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MARCH 29, 2000

Mr. MCCAIN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Armed Services

A BILL

To amend title 37, United States Code, to establish a special

subsistence allowance for certain members of the uniformed services who are eligible to receive food stamp

assistance, 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 ‘‘Remove

5 Servicemembers from Food Stamps Act of 2000’’.
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1 SEC. 2. SPECIAL SUBSISTENCE ALLOWANCE FOR MEMBERS

2 ELIGIBLE TO RECEIVE FOOD STAMP ASSIST3 ANCE.

4 (a) ALLOWANCE.—(1) Chapter 7 of title 37, United

5 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 402 the

6 following new section:

7 ‘‘§ 402a. Special subsistence allowance

8 ‘‘(a) ENTITLEMENT.—Upon the application of an eli9 gible member of a uniformed service described in sub10 section (b), the Secretary concerned shall pay the member

11 a special subsistence allowance for each month for which

12 the member is eligible to receive food stamp assistance.

13 ‘‘(b) COVERED MEMBERS.—An enlisted member re14 ferred to in subsection (a) is an enlisted member in pay

15 grade E–5 or below.

16 ‘‘(c) TERMINATION OF ENTITLEMENT.—The entitle17 ment of a member to receive payment of a special subsist18 ence allowance terminates upon the occurrence of any of

19 the following events:

20 ‘‘(1) Termination of eligibility for food stamp

21 assistance.

22 ‘‘(2) Payment of the special subsistence allow23 ance for 12 consecutive months.

24 ‘‘(3) Promotion of the member to a higher

25 grade.
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1 ‘‘(4) Transfer of the member in a permanent

2 change of station.

3 ‘‘(d) REESTABLISHED ENTITLEMENT.—(1) After a

4 termination of a member’s entitlement to the special sub5 sistence allowance under subsection (c), the Secretary con6 cerned shall resume payment of the special subsistence al7 lowance to the member if the Secretary determines, upon

8 further application of the member, that the member is eli9 gible to receive food stamps.

10 ‘‘(2) Payments resumed under this subsection shall

11 terminate under subsection (c) upon the occurrence of an

12 event described in that subsection after the resumption of

13 the payments.

14 ‘‘(3) The number of times that payments are resumed

15 under this subsection is unlimited.

16 ‘‘(e) DOCUMENTATION OF ELIGIBILITY.—A member

17 of the uniformed services applying for the special subsist18 ence allowance under this section shall furnish the Sec19 retary concerned with such evidence of the member’s eligi20 bility for food stamp assistance as the Secretary may re21 quire in connection with the application.

22 ‘‘(f) AMOUNT OF ALLOWANCE.—The monthly

23 amount of the special subsistence allowance under this

24 section is $180.
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1 ‘‘(g) RELATIONSHIP TO BASIC ALLOWANCE FOR

2 SUBSISTENCE.—The special subsistence allowance under

3 this section is in addition to the basic allowance for sub4 sistence under section 402 of this title.

5 ‘‘(h) FOOD STAMP ASSISTANCE DEFINED.—In this

6 section, the term ‘food stamp assistance’ means assistance

7 under the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et

8 seq.).

9 ‘‘(i) TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY.—No special sub10 sistence allowance may be made under this section for any

11 month beginning after September 30, 2005.’’.

12 (2) The table of sections at the beginning of such

13 chapter is amended by inserting after the item relating

14 to section 402 the following:

‘‘402a. Special subsistence allowance.’’.

15 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Section 402a of title 37,

16 United States Code, shall take effect on the first day of

17 the first month that begins on or after the date of the

18 enactment of this Act.

19 (c) ANNUAL REPORT.—(1) Not later than March 1

20 of each year after 2000, the Comptroller General of the

21 United States shall submit to Congress a report setting

22 forth the number of members of the uniformed services

23 who are eligible for assistance under the Food Stamp Act

24 of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.).
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1 (2) In preparing the report, the Comptroller General

2 shall consult with the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary

3 of Transportation (with respect to the Coast Guard), the

4 Secretary of Health and Human Services (with respect to

5 the commissioned corps of the Public Health Service), and

6 the Secretary of Commerce (with respect to the commis7 sioned officers of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric

8 Administration), who shall provide the Comptroller Gen9 eral with any information that the Comptroller General

10 determines necessary to prepare the report.

11 (3) No report is required under this subsection after

12 March 1, 2005.

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