I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4413 
To amend the Uniform Code of Military Justice to prevent the receipt of 
unpaid pay and allowances by Bowe Bergdahl and other members of 
the Armed Forces who are guilty of desertion and to reserve such 
unpaid pay and allowances to provide additional compensation to mem-
bers of the Armed Forces who are killed, wounded, or injured while 
searching for a missing member of the Armed Forces who turns out 
to have deserted. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 15, 2017 
Mr. PEARCE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Armed Services 
A BILL 
To amend the Uniform Code of Military Justice to prevent 
the receipt of unpaid pay and allowances by Bowe 
Bergdahl and other members of the Armed Forces who 
are guilty of desertion and to reserve such unpaid pay 
and allowances to provide additional compensation to 
members of the Armed Forces who are killed, wounded, 
or injured while searching for a missing member of the 
Armed Forces who turns out to have deserted. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘No Back Pay for 
Bergdahl Act’’. 
SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON RECEIPT OF UNPAID PAY AND AL-
LOWANCES BY MEMBERS OF THE ARMED 
FORCES GUILTY OF DESERTION. 
(a) PROHIBITION.—Section 885 of title 10, United 
States Code (article 85 of the Uniform Code of Military 
Justice), is amended by adding at the end the following 
new subsection: 
‘‘(d)(1) Any person found guilty of desertion or an 
attempt to desert is not entitled to any payments or bene-
fits otherwise provided under section 552 or 559 of title 
37 for any period during which the person is treated as 
being in a missing or captive status after the date on 
which the person was first determined to be absent from 
the person’s post of duty without authority. 
‘‘(2) If payments or benefits described in paragraph 
(1) have already been made for that period, the person 
is indebted to the United States for the full amount of 
such payments or benefits. 
‘‘(3) The punishment under paragraph (1) is in addi-
tion to the punishments authorized under subsection (c). 
‘‘(4) The Secretary of Defense shall use amounts un-
paid by reason of operation of paragraph (1) or recovered 
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under paragraph (2) to provide compensation, in such 
amounts as the Secretary considers appropriate, to— 
‘‘(A) any members of the armed forces who 
were wounded or injured while searching for the per-
son found guilty of desertion or attempt to desert; 
and 
‘‘(B) the designated representatives of any 
members of the armed forces who were killed while 
searching for the person. 
‘‘(5) In the absence of members of the armed forces 
described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (4), 
the Secretary of Defense shall use the amounts as pro-
vided in section 2601(b) of this title.’’. 
(b) APPLICATION
OF
AMENDMENT
TO
BOWE 
BERGDAHL.—Subsection (d) of section 885 of title 10, 
United States Code (article 85 of the Uniform Code of 
Military Justice), as added by subsection (a), shall apply 
with respect to Bowe Bergdahl. 
Æ 
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