I
105TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 3212
To amend title 38, United States Code, to revise the provisions of law
relating to retirement of judges of the United States Court of Veterans
Appeals, to provide for a staggered judicial retirement option, to rename
the Court as the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims,
and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY 12, 1998
Mr. STUMP (for himself and Mr. EVANS) (both by request) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs
A BILL
To amend title 38, United States Code, to revise the provi-
sions of law relating to retirement of judges of the
United States Court of Veterans Appeals, to provide
for a staggered judicial retirement option, to rename
the Court as the United States Court of Appeals for
Veterans Claims, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; REFERENCES TO TITLE 38,
UNITED STATES CODE.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the
‘‘Court of Veterans Appeals Act of 1998’’.
(b) REFERENCES
TO TITLE 38, UNITED STATES
CODE.—Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever
in this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms
of an amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other provi-
sion, the reference shall be considered to be made to a
section or other provision of title 38, United States Code.
TITLE I—ADMINISTRATIVE PRO-
VISIONS RELATING TO THE
COURT
SEC. 101. AUTHORITY TO PRESCRIBE RULES AND REGULA-
TIONS.
Section 7254 is amended by adding at the end the
following new subsection:
‘‘(f) The Court may prescribe rules and regulations
to carry out this chapter.’’.
SEC. 102. CALCULATION OF YEARS OF SERVICE AS A
JUDGE.
Section 7296(b) is amended by adding at the end the
following new paragraph:
‘‘(4) For purposes of calculating the years of service
of an individual under this subsection and subsection (c),
only those years of service as a judge of the Court shall
be credited. In determining the number of years of such
service, that portion of the aggregate number of years of
such service that is a fractional part of one year shall be
disregarded if less than 6 months and shall be credited
as a full year if 6 months or more.’’.
SEC. 103. LIMITATION ON COST-OF-LIVING ADJUSTMENT TO
RETIRED PAY.
Section 7296 is amended by adding at the end the
following new subsection:
‘‘(l)(1) If a cost-of-living adjustment provided by law
to be made to the retired pay payable under this section
of a retired chief judge of the Court would (but for this
subsection) result in the retired pay of that retired chief
judge being in excess of the annual rate of pay in effect
for the chief judge of the court as provided in section
7253(e)(1) of this title, such adjustment may be made
only in such amount as results in the retired pay of the
retired chief judge being the same as that annual rate of
pay (as in effect on the effective date of such adjustment).
‘‘(2) If a cost-of-living adjustment provided by law
to be made to the retired pay payable under this section
of a retired judge (other than a retired chief judge) of
the Court would (but for this subsection) result in the re-
tired pay of that retired judge being in excess of the an-
nual rate of pay in effect for judges of the court as pro-
vided in section 7253(e)(2) of this title, such adjustment
may be made only in such amount as results in the retired
pay of the retired judge being the same as that annual
rate of pay (as in effect on the effective date of such ad-
justment).’’.
SEC. 104. SURVIVOR ANNUITIES.
(a) ELECTION TO PARTICIPATE.—Subsection (b) of
section 7297 is amended in the first sentence by inserting
before the period the following: ‘‘or within 6 months after
the date on which the judge marries if the judge has re-
tired under section 7296 of this title’’.
(b) REDUCTION
OF CONTRIBUTIONS
OF ACTIVE
JUDGES.—(1) Subsection (c) of such section is amended
by striking out ‘‘3.5 percent of the judge’s pay’’ and in-
serting in lieu thereof ‘‘2.2 percent of the judge’s salary
received under section 7253(e) of this title, 3.5 percent
of the judge’s retired pay received under section 7296 of
this title when the judge is not serving in recall status
under section 7257 of this title, and 2.2 percent of the
judge’s retired pay received under such section 7296 when
the judge is serving in recall status under such section
7257’’.
(2) The amendment made by paragraph (1) shall
take effect on the first day of the first pay period begin-
ning on or after January 1, 1995.
(c) INTEREST PAYMENTS.—Subsection (d) of such
section is amended—
(1) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘(d)’’; and
(2) by adding at the end the following new
paragraph:
‘‘(2) If a judge has previously performed a period of
service as a judge, or has performed service as a judicial
official (as defined under section 376(a)(1) of title 28),
a Member of Congress, or a congressional employee, the
interest required under the first sentence of paragraph (1)
shall not be required for any period—
‘‘(A) during which a judge was separated from
all such service; and
‘‘(B) during which the judge was not receiving
retired pay or a retirement annuity based on service
as a judge or as a judicial official.’’.
(d) SERVICE ELIGIBILITY.—(1) Subsection (f) of
such section is amended—
(A) in the matter in paragraph (1) preceding
subparagraph (A)—
(i) by striking out ‘‘at least 5 years’’ and
inserting in lieu thereof ‘‘at least 18 months’’;
and
(ii) by striking out ‘‘last 5 years’’ and in-
serting in lieu thereof ‘‘last 18 months’’; and
(B) by adding at the end the following new
paragraph:
‘‘(5) If a judge dies as a result of an assassination
and leaves a survivor or survivors who are entitled to re-
ceive annuity benefits under this section, the matter in
paragraph (1) preceding subparagraph (A) shall not
apply.’’.
(2) Subsection (a) of such section is amended—
(A) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘who is in
active service or who has retired under section 7296
of this title’’ after ‘‘Court’’;
(B) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘7296(c)’’
and inserting ‘‘7296’’; and
(C) by adding at the end the following new
paragraph:
‘‘(8) The term ‘assassination’ means the killing of a
judge that is motivated by the performance by that judge
of the judge’s official duties.’’.
(e) AGE REQUIREMENT OF SURVIVING SPOUSE.—
Subparagraph (A) of subsection (f)(1) of such section is
amended by striking out ‘‘or following the surviving
spouse’s attainment of the age of 50 years, whichever is
later’’.
(f) COLA FOR SURVIVOR ANNUITIES.—Subsection
(o) of such section is amended to read as follows:
‘‘(o) Each survivor annuity payable from the retire-
ment fund shall be increased at the same time as, and
by the same percentage by which, annuities payable from
the Judicial Survivors’ Annuities Fund are increased pur-
suant to section 376(m) of title 28.’’.
SEC. 105. EXEMPTION OF RETIREMENT FUND FROM SE-
QUESTRATION ORDERS.
Section 7298 is amended by adding at the end the
following new subsection:
‘‘(g) For purpose of section 255(g)(1)(B) of the Bal-
anced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985
(2 U.S.C. 905(b)(1)(B)), the retirement fund shall be
treated in the same manner as the Court of Federal
Claims Judges’ Retirement Fund.’’.
SEC. 106. LIMITATION ON ACTIVITIES OF RETIRED JUDGES.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 72 is amended by adding
at the end the following new section:
‘‘§ 7299. Limitation on activities of retired judges
‘‘If a retired judge of the Court (as defined in section
7257(a)(2) of this title) in the practice of law represents
(or supervises or directs the representation of) a client in
making any claim relating to veterans’ benefits against the
United States or any agency thereof, the retired judge
shall forfeit all rights to retired pay under section 7296
of this title or under chapter 83 or 84 of title 5 for the
period beginning on the date on which the representation