I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3751 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide that withdrawals 
from section 401(k) and similar plans by victims of Presidentially de-
clared disasters shall not be includible in gross income and shall not 
be subject to the additional tax on early distributions. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 13, 2005 
Mr. MCHENRY introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Ways and Means 
A BILL 
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide 
that withdrawals from section 401(k) and similar plans 
by victims of Presidentially declared disasters shall not 
be includible in gross income and shall not be subject 
to the additional tax on early distributions. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Retirement Account 
Emergency Access Act of 2005’’.
SEC. 2. TAX-FREE WITHDRAWALS FROM CERTAIN RETIRE-
MENT 
PLANS 
FOR 
VICTIMS 
OF 
PRESI-
DENTIALLY DECLARED DISASTERS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Part III of subchapter B of chap-
ter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to 
items specifically excluded from gross income) is amended 
by inserting after section 139A the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 139B. DISTRIBUTIONS FROM CERTAIN RETIREMENT 
PLANS TO VICTIMS OF PRESIDENTIALLY DE-
CLARED DISASTERS. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Gross income shall not include 
any qualified disaster-relief distribution. 
‘‘(b) 
QUALIFIED
DISASTER-RELIEF
DISTRIBU-
TION.—For purposes of this section, the term ‘qualified 
disaster-relief distribution’ means any hardship distribu-
tion if— 
‘‘(1) the distribution is from a plan pursuant to 
section 401(k)(2)(B)(i)(IV) or paragraph (7)(A)(ii) 
or (11)(B) of section 403(b), 
‘‘(2) the distribution is to any individual any 
residence of whom (whether or not owned by the in-
dividual) is located in the area of a Presidentially 
declared disaster (as defined in section 1033(h)(3)), 
and
‘‘(3) the distribution is received during the 2- 
year period beginning on the date of the disaster 
declaration. 
‘‘(c) AMOUNT DISTRIBUTED MAY BE REPAID.—Any 
individual who receives a qualified disaster-relief distribu-
tion may, at any time during the 5-year period beginning 
on the day after the date on which such distribution was 
made, make one or more contributions to an individual 
retirement plan of such individual in an aggregate amount 
not to exceed the amount of such distribution. The dollar 
limitations otherwise applicable to contributions to indi-
vidual retirement plans shall not apply to any contribution 
made pursuant to the preceding sentence. No deduction 
shall be allowed for any contribution pursuant to this sub-
section.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 
for such part III is amended by inserting after the item 
relating to section 139A the following new item: 
‘‘Sec. 139B. Distributions from certain retirement plans to victims of Presi-
dentially declared disasters’’. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply to distributions received in taxable 
years ending after December 31, 2004. 
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