I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2067

To amend title 10, United States Code, to authorize the Secretaries of

the military departments to provide temporary transitional and indemnity

compensation payments to the dependents of a member of the Armed

Forces who is separated from the Armed Forces following conviction

for an offense involving the abuse of one of those dependents, and

for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 11, 1993

Mr. KYL (for himself and Mrs. FOWLER) introduced the following bill; which

was referred to the Committee on Armed Services

A BILL

To amend title 10, United States Code, to authorize the

Secretaries of the military departments to provide temporary transitional and indemnity compensation payments to the dependents of a member of the Armed

Forces who is separated from the Armed Forces following conviction for an offense involving the abuse of one

of those dependents, 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. INDEMNITY COMPENSATION FOR DEPENDENTS

2 OF MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES DIS3 CHARGED FOR DEPENDENT ABUSE.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—(1) Chapter 53 of title 10, United

5 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the follow6 ing new section:

7 ‘‘§ 1058. Abused dependents: payment of transitional

8 and indemnity compensation

9 ‘‘(a) AUTHORITY TO PAY COMPENSATION.—If a

10 member of the armed forces is separated from the armed

11 forces as described in subsection (b), the Secretary of the

12 military department concerned may pay monthly transi13 tional and indemnity compensation in accordance with this

14 section to dependents or former dependents of the member

15 as specified in subsection (d).

16 ‘‘(b) SEPARATIONS COVERED.—(1) This section ap17 plies in the case of a member of the armed forces on active

18 duty for a period of more than 30 days—

19 ‘‘(A) who is convicted of a dependent-abuse of20 fense (as defined in subsection (c)) and whose con21 viction results in the member being—

22 ‘‘(i) administratively discharged with a

23 general discharge or under other than honor24 able conditions; or

25 ‘‘(ii) discharged or dismissed from the

26 armed forces by sentence of a court-martial; or
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1 ‘‘(B) against whom court-martial charges were

2 preferred for a dependent-abuse offense and who is

3 discharged in lieu of trial by court-martial in that

4 case upon approval of the member’s request or appli5 cation for discharge or, in the case of an officer, for

6 resignation.

7 ‘‘(2) For purposes of this section, a member of the

8 armed forces who is incarcerated by sentence of a court9 martial with total forfeiture of pay and allowances shall

10 be treated as a former member dismissed or discharged

11 by sentence of a court-martial.

12 ‘‘(c) DEPENDENT-ABUSE OFFENSES.—(1) For pur13 poses of this section, a dependent-abuse offense is conduct

14 by an individual while a member of the armed forces on

15 active duty for a period of more than 30 days—

16 ‘‘(A) that involves abuse of the spouse or a de17 pendent child of the member; and

18 ‘‘(B) that is a criminal offense specified in reg19 ulations prescribed by the Secretary of Defense

20 under paragraph (2).

21 ‘‘(2) The Secretary of Defense shall prescribe by reg22 ulation the criminal offenses, or categories of offenses,

23 under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (chapter 47

24 of this title), Federal criminal law, the criminal laws of

25 the States and other jurisdictions of the United States,
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1 and the laws of other nations that are to be considered

2 to be dependent-abuse offenses for the purposes of this

3 section.

4 ‘‘(d) RECIPIENTS OF PAYMENTS.—In any case of a

5 separation from active duty as described in subsection (b)

6 in which the Secretary of the military department con7 cerned determines that transitional and indemnity com8 pensation should be paid under this section, the Secretary

9 shall pay such compensation to dependents or former de10 pendents of the former member as follows:

11 ‘‘(1) If the former member was married at the

12 time of the commission of the dependent-abuse of13 fense resulting in the separation, such compensation

14 shall (except as otherwise provided in this sub15 section) be paid to the spouse or former spouse to

16 whom the member was married at that time.

17 ‘‘(2) If there is a spouse or former spouse who

18 (but for subsection (g)) would be eligible for com19 pensation under this section and if there is a de20 pendent child of the former member who does not

21 reside in the same household as that spouse or

22 former spouse, such compensation shall be paid to

23 each such dependent child of the former member

24 who does not reside in that household.
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1 ‘‘(3) If there is no spouse or former spouse who

2 is (or but for subsection (g) would be) eligible under

3 paragraph (1), such compensation shall be paid to

4 the dependent children of the former member.

5 ‘‘(4) For purposes of paragraphs (2) and (3),

6 an individual’s status as a ‘dependent child’ shall be

7 determined as of the date on which the member is

8 convicted of the dependent-abuse offense or, in a

9 case described in subsection (b)(1)(B), as of the date

10 on which the member is discharged.

11 ‘‘(e) COMMENCEMENT AND DURATION OF PAY12 MENT.—(1) Payment of transitional and indemnity com13 pensation under this section shall commence as of the date

14 of the discontinuance of the member’s pay and allowances

15 pursuant to the separation or sentencing of the member.

16 ‘‘(2) Payment of such compensation shall terminate

17 at the end of the dependents’ transitional period. The de18 pendents’ transitional period is the period (A) beginning

19 on the date on which the member is convicted of the de20 pendent-abuse offense or, in a case described in subsection

21 (b)(1)(B), on the date on which the member is discharged,

22 and (B) ending at the end of the transitional period deter23 mined by the Secretary concerned. Such transitional pe24 riod may not exceed 36 months, except that if the length

25 of the member’s service on active duty was less than 36
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1 months, the transitional period may not exceed the length

2 of such service.

3 ‘‘(f) AMOUNT OF PAYMENT.—(1) Payment to a

4 spouse or former spouse under this section for any month

5 shall be at the rate in effect for that month for the pay6 ment of dependency and indemnity compensation under

7 section 1311(a)(1) of title 38.

8 ‘‘(2) If a spouse or former spouse to whom compensa9 tion is paid under this section has custody of a dependent

10 child or children of the member, the amount of such com11 pensation paid for any month shall be increased for each

12 such dependent child by the amount in effect for that

13 month under section 1311(b) of title 38.

14 ‘‘(3) If compensation is paid under this section to a

15 child or children pursuant to subsection (d)(2) or (d)(3),

16 such compensation shall be paid in equal shares, with the

17 amount of such compensation for any month determined

18 in accordance with the rates in effect for that month under

19 section 1313 of title 38.

20 ‘‘(g) FORFEITURE PROVISIONS.—(1) If a former

21 spouse receiving compensation under this section remar22 ries, the Secretary shall terminate payment of such com23 pensation, effective as of the date of such marriage. The

24 Secretary may not renew payment of compensation under
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1 this section to such former spouse in the event of the ter2 mination of such subsequent marriage.

3 ‘‘(2) If after the separation of the former member

4 as described in subsection (b) the former member resides

5 in the same household as the spouse or former spouse,

6 or dependent child, to whom compensation is otherwise

7 payable under this section, the Secretary shall terminate

8 payment of such compensation, effective as of the time the

9 former member begins residing in such household. Com10 pensation paid for a period after the former member’s sep11 aration, but before the former member resides in the

12 household, shall not be recouped. If the former member

13 subsequently ceases to reside in such household before the

14 end of the period of eligibility for such payments, the Sec15 retary may not resume such payments.

16 ‘‘(3) In a case in which the victim of the dependent17 abuse offense resulting in the separation of the former

18 member was a dependent child, the Secretary concerned

19 may not pay compensation under this section to a spouse

20 or former spouse who would otherwise be eligible to receive

21 such compensation if the Secretary determines (under reg22 ulations prescribed under subsection (i)) that the spouse

23 or former spouse was an active participant in the conduct

24 constituting the dependent-abuse offense.
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1 ‘‘(h) COORDINATION OF BENEFITS.—The Secretary

2 concerned may not make payments to a spouse or former

3 spouse under both this section and section 1408(h)(1) of

4 this title. In the case of a spouse or former spouse for

5 whom a court order provides for payments by the Sec6 retary pursuant to section 1408(h)(1) of this title and to

7 whom the Secretary offers payments under this section,

8 the spouse or former spouse shall elect which to receive.

9 ‘‘(i) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of each military

10 department shall prescribe regulations to carry out this

11 section with respect to members of the armed forces under

12 the jurisdiction of that Secretary. Such regulations shall

13 be as uniform as practicable and shall be subject to the

14 approval of the Secretary of Defense.

15 ‘‘(j) DEPENDENT CHILD DEFINED.—In this section,

16 the term ‘dependent child’, with respect to a member or

17 former member of the armed forces separated as described

18 in subsection (b), means an unmarried child, including an

19 adopted child or a stepchild, who was residing with the

20 member at the time of the dependent-abuse offense result21 ing in the separation of the former member and—

22 ‘‘(1) who is under 18 years of age;

23 ‘‘(2) who is 18 years of age or older and is in24 capable of self-support because of a mental or phys25 ical incapacity that existed before the age of 18 and
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1 who is (or was at the time of the former member’s

2 separation) dependent on the former member for

3 over one-half of the child’s support; or

4 ‘‘(3) who is 18 years of age or older but less

5 than 23 years of age, is enrolled in a full-time course

6 of study in an institution of higher learning ap7 proved by the Secretary of Defense and who is (or

8 was at the time of the former member’s separation)

9 dependent on the former member for over one-half

10 of the child’s support.’’.

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

12 chapter is amended by inserting after the item relating

13 to section 1056 the following new item:

‘‘1058. Abused dependents: payment of transitional and indemnity compensation.’’.

14 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—(1) Section 1058 of title 10,

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

16 apply with respect to former members of the Armed

17 Forces discharged or dismissed as described in subsection

18 (b) of such section after the date that is three years before

19 the date of the enactment of this Act.

20 (2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), no payment may

21 be made under such section 1058 with respect to any pe22 riod before the date of the enactment of this Act.

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