I 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2855 
To provide for transitional emergency assistance to certain members of the 
Armed Forces and veterans who are severely injured while serving on 
active duty, to expand and improve programs for caregiver services for 
those members and veterans, to require improved screening and care 
for traumatic brain injury for returning servicemembers and veterans, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 25, 2007 
Mr. RODRIGUEZ introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Veterans’ Affairs, and in addition to the Committees on Ways 
and Means and Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently deter-
mined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 
as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To provide for transitional emergency assistance to certain 
members of the Armed Forces and veterans who are 
severely injured while serving on active duty, to expand 
and improve programs for caregiver services for those 
members and veterans, to require improved screening 
and care for traumatic brain injury for returning 
servicemembers and veterans, and for other purposes. 
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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Wounded Heroes’ Bill of Rights Act’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 
this Act is as follows: 
TITLE I—ECONOMIC 
ASSISTANCE MATTERS 
SEC. 101. PROVISION OF TRANSITIONAL EMERGENCY CASH 
ASSISTANCE TO WOUNDED HEROES. 
(a) PROVISION OF EMERGENCY CASH ASSISTANCE.— 
(1) The Secretary of Defense shall, through the head of 
the Military Severely Injured Center of the Department 
of Defense or through the heads of the programs to sup-
port the injured referred to in paragraph (2), provide 
prompt emergency cash assistance to a Wounded Hero (as 
defined in subsection (b)) who, due to a severe injury, due 
to subsequent treatment for that severe injury, or due to 
such other criteria related to that severe injury as the Sec-
retary may specify, is undergoing significant financial dif-
ficulty (as defined by the Secretary). Such emergency cash 
assistance shall be in an appropriate amount and for an 
appropriate period determined under regulations pre-
scribed by the Secretary under subsection (c) under such 
terms and conditions as the Secretary may specify. 
(2) For purposes of paragraph (1), the programs to 
support the injured referred to in this paragraph are pro-
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grams of the military departments (as defined in section 
101(a)(8) of title 10, United States Code) to provide as-
sistance to members of the Armed Forces who incur severe 
wounds or injuries while serving on active duty, and in-
clude the following programs: 
(A) Military One Source. 
(B) The Army Wounded Warrior Program. 
(C) The Marine Corps Marine for Life Support 
Program. 
(D) The Air Force Palace HART Program. 
(E) The Navy Safe Harbor. 
(b) WOUNDED HERO DEFINED.—(1) In this Act, the 
term ‘‘Wounded Hero’’ means a member of the Armed 
Forces or a veteran who on or after September 11, 2001, 
was severely injured while serving on active duty. 
(2) For purposes of paragraph (1)— 
(A) the term ‘‘severely’’ with respect to an in-
jury means— 
(i) the inability of an individual with the 
injury to perform one or more activities of daily 
living, 
(ii) a service-connected disability rated at 
30 percent or more (as determined by the Sec-
retary of Defense or Secretary of Veterans Af-
fairs, as the case may be), or 
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(iii) such other injuries or conditions as 
the Secretary of Defense may specify (such as 
injuries or conditions resulting in the designa-
tion as very severely injured or severely in-
jured); 
(B) the term ‘‘Armed Forces’’ has the meaning 
given that term in section 101(a)(4) of title 10, 
United States Code; and 
(C) the term ‘‘veteran’’ has the meaning given 
that term in section 101(2) of title 38, United 
States Code. 
(c) REGULATIONS.—(1) The Secretary of Defense 
shall prescribe regulations to carry out this section which 
may be effective and final immediately on an interim basis 
as of the date of publication of the interim final regula-
tion. 
(2) In establishing guidelines under such regulations 
to determine the need for emergency cash assistance, the 
amount of emergency cash assistance required, and the 
period for which cash assistance may be required, the Sec-
retary shall take into account the following: 
(A) The location of the facility providing med-
ical treatment to a Wounded Hero and the location 
of the residence of the Wounded Hero. 
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(B) The effect of the injury and medical treat-
ment of a wounded hero on family members, includ-
ing— 
(i) the cost of travel to and, if applicable, 
temporarily relocate to reside near the facility 
where the Wounded Hero is receiving medical 
treatment, and 
(ii) the financial impact on family members 
who care for the Wounded Hero. 
(C) Any change in pay status of a Wounded 
Hero. 
(D) Any applicable incorrect orders. 
(E) Debts owed by a Wounded Hero to the 
United States for equipment issued, or overpayment 
made, to the Wounded Hero by the military depart-
ment concerned. 
(F) Level of indebtedness of the Wounded Hero 
and family, including consideration of the ability of 
the family to secure basic necessities of life, such as 
food and shelter. 
(G) Consideration of the standard of living of 
the Wounded Hero and family before the severe in-
jury was incurred. 
(d) AUTHORIZATION
OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
are authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of De-
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fense $50,000,000 for each fiscal year, beginning with fis-
cal year 2008, to carry out this section. 
SEC. 102. CREDIT FOR EMPLOYERS HIRING WOUNDED HE-
ROES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart D of part IV of sub-
chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986 (relating to business-related credits) is amended by 
adding at the end the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 45O. CREDIT FOR EMPLOYERS HIRING WOUNDED HE-
ROES. 
‘‘(a) GENERAL RULE.—For purposes of section 38, 
the Wounded Hero employment credit for the taxable year 
shall be equal to— 
‘‘(1) 50 percent of the qualified first-year wages 
for such year, 
‘‘(2) 30 percent of the qualified second-year 
wages for such year, and 
‘‘(3) 20 percent of the qualified third-year 
wages for such year. 
‘‘(b) QUALIFIED WAGES.—For purposes of this sec-
tion— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘qualified wages’ 
means the wages paid or incurred by the employer 
during the taxable year to individuals who are 
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Wounded Heroes, but in no case greater than 
$60,000. 
‘‘(2) QUALIFIED
FIRST-YEAR
WAGES.—The 
term ‘qualified first-year wages’ means, with respect 
to any individual, qualified wages attributable to 
service rendered during the 1-year period beginning 
with the day the individual begins work for the em-
ployer. 
‘‘(3) QUALIFIED
SECOND-YEAR
WAGES.—The 
term ‘qualified second-year wages’ means, with re-
spect to any individual described in paragraph (2), 
qualified wages attributable to service rendered dur-
ing the 1-year period beginning with the day that 
succeeds the 1-year period referred to in paragraph 
(2). 
‘‘(4) QUALIFIED
THIRD-YEAR
WAGES.—The 
term ‘qualified third-year wages’ means, with respect 
to any individual described in paragraph (3), quali-
fied wages attributable to service rendered during 
the 1-year period beginning with the day that suc-
ceeds the 1-year period referred to in paragraph (3). 
‘‘(5) WAGES.—The term ‘wages’ has the mean-
ing given such term by section 51(c), without regard 
to paragraph (4) thereof. 
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‘‘(c) WOUNDED HERO; HIRING DATE.—For purposes 
of this section— 
‘‘(1) WOUNDED
HERO.—The term ‘Wounded 
Hero’ means a veteran (as that term is defined in 
section 101(2) of title 38) who, on or after Sep-
tember 11, 2001, was severely injured while serving 
on active duty. 
‘‘(2) SEVERELY
INJURED.—For purposes of 
paragraph (1), the term ‘severely’ with respect to an 
injury means— 
‘‘(A) the inability of an individual with the 
injury to perform one or more activities of daily 
living (as determined by the Secretary of Vet-
erans Affairs), 
‘‘(B) a service-connected disability rated at 
30 percent or more (as determined by the Sec-
retary of Veterans Affairs), and 
‘‘(C) such other injuries or conditions as 
the Secretary of Defense has specified under 
section 101(b)(2)(A)(iii) of the Wounded He-
roes’ Bill of Rights Act. 
‘‘(3) HIRING DATE.—The term ‘hiring date’ has 
the meaning given such term by section 51(d). 
‘‘(d) CERTAIN RULES TO APPLY.—Rules similar to 
the rules of section 52, and subsections (d)(11), (f), (g), 
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(i) (as in effect on the day before the date of the enact-
ment of the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997), (j), and (k) 
of section 51, shall apply for purposes of this section.’’. 
(b) CREDIT TO BE PART OF GENERAL BUSINESS 
CREDIT.—Subsection (b) of section 38 of such Code is 
amended by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph (30), 
by striking the period at the end of paragraph (31) and 
inserting ‘‘, plus’’, and by adding at the end the following 
new paragraph: 
‘‘(32) the Wounded Hero employment credit de-
termined under section 45O(a).’’. 
(c) TECHNICAL AMENDMENTS.— 
(1) Clause (iii) of section 41(b)(2)(D) of such 
Code is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(iii) EXCLUSION
FOR
WAGES
TO 
WHICH
EMPLOYMENT
CREDITS
APPLY.— 
The term ‘wages’ shall not include any 
amount taken into account in determining 
the credit under section 45O(a) or 51(a).’’. 
(2) Subparagraph (B) of section 45A(b)(1) of 
such Code is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(B) COORDINATION
WITH
OTHER
EM-
PLOYMENT
CREDITS.—The 
term 
‘qualified 
wages’ shall not include wages attributable to 
service rendered during the 1-year period begin-
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ning with the day the individual begins work for 
the employer if any portion of such wages is 
taken into account in determining the credit 
under section 45O or 51.’’ 
(3) Subsection (a) of section 280C of such Code 
is amended by inserting ‘‘45O(a),’’ after ‘‘45A(a),’’. 
(4) Paragraph (3) of section 1396(c) of such 
Code is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(3) COORDINATION
WITH
OTHER
EMPLOY-
MENT CREDITS.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The term ‘qualified 
wages’ shall not include wages taken into ac-
count in determining the credit under section 
45O or 51. 
‘‘(B) COORDINATION
WITH
PARAGRAPH 
(2).—The $15,000 amount in paragraph (2) 
shall be reduced for any calendar year by the 
amount of wages paid or incurred during such 
year which are taken into account in deter-
mining the credits under sections 45O and 
51.’’. 
(d) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 
for subpart D of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 
of such Code is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new item: 
‘‘Sec. 45O. Credit for employers hiring Wounded Heroes.’’. 
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(e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
this section shall apply to individuals who begin work for 
the employer after the date of the enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 
103. 
EXPANSION 
OF 
PROTECTIONS 
UNDER 
SERVICEMEMBERS CIVIL RELIEF ACT. 
(a) EXTENSION OF PERIOD OF MORTGAGE FORE-
CLOSURE PROTECTION.— 
(1) 12 
MONTHS.—Section 303(c) of the 
Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (50 U.S.C. App. 
533(c)) is amended by inserting after ‘‘90 days’’ the 
following: ‘‘, or in the case of a Wounded Hero (as 
defined in section 101(b) of the Wounded Heroes’ 
Bill of Rights Act) one year,’’. 
(2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made 
by paragraph (1) shall apply with respect to any 
person performing a period of military service (as 
such term is defined in section 101(2) of such Act 
(50 U.S.C. App. 511(2))) that begins on or after 
February 1, 2003. 
(b) EXTENSION OF PERIOD OF PROTECTION FROM 
EVICTION.— 
(1) 
MONTHS.—Section 
301 
of 
the 
Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (50 U.S.C. App. 
531) is amended— 
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(A) in subsection (a)(1)(A), by inserting 
after ‘‘service of the servicemember’’ the fol-
lowing: ‘‘, or in the case of a Wounded Hero (as 
defined in section 101(b) of the Wounded He-
roes’ Bill of Rights Act) during the period of 
such service plus one year,’’; and 
(B) in subsection (b)(1)(A), by inserting 
after ‘‘90 days’’ the following: ‘‘, or in the case 
of a Wounded Hero (as defined in section 
101(b) of the Wounded Heroes Bill of Rights 
Act) one year,’’. 
(2) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 
by paragraph (1) shall apply with respect to any 
person performing a period of military service (as 
such term is defined in section 101(2) of such Act 
(50 U.S.C. App. 511(2))) that begins on or after 
February 1, 2003. 
(c) PROTECTION OF CREDIT RATINGS.— 
(1) PROTECTION.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Servicemembers 
Civil Relief Act (50 U.S.C. App. 501 et seq.) is 
amended by inserting at the end of title I the 
following new section: 
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