IB 
Union Calendar No. 45
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 100
[Report No. 108–81] 
To restate, clarify, and revise the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Civil Relief Act 
of 1940. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 7, 2003
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself and Mr. EVANS) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 
APRIL 30, 2003
Additional sponsors: Mr. REYES, Mr. FILNER, Mr. MICHAUD, Mr. GUTIER-
REZ, Mr. BROWN of South Carolina, Mr. BILIRAKIS, Ms. CORRINE 
BROWN of Florida, Mr. RODRIGUEZ, Ms. HOOLEY of Oregon, Mr. 
STRICKLAND, Ms. BERKLEY, Mr. HOLDEN, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of Cali-
fornia, Mr. MURPHY, Mr. RENZI, Mr. UDALL of New Mexico, Mr. ABER-
CROMBIE, Mr. RYAN of Ohio, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mrs. DAVIS of Cali-
fornia, Mr. BEAUPREZ, Mr. SIMMONS, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr. MILLER of 
Florida, Mr. FROST, Mr. PLATTS, Mr. HAYES, Mr. SNYDER, Mr. 
HEFLEY, Ms. CARSON of Indiana, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. GILCHREST, Mr. 
BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr. COOPER, Mr. ISRAEL, Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA, 
Mr. GARRETT of New Jersey, Mr. JONES of North Carolina, and Mr. ED-
WARDS
APRIL 30, 2003
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on January 7, 2003] 
A BILL 
To restate, clarify, and revise the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Civil 
Relief Act of 1940.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. RESTATEMENT OF ACT. 
The Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Civil Relief Act of 1940 (50 
U.S.C. App. 501 et seq.) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
‘‘(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘Servicemembers Civil Relief Act’. 
‘‘(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 
this Act is as follows:
‘‘Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
‘‘Sec. 2. Purpose. 
‘‘TITLE I—GENERAL PROVISIONS 
‘‘Sec. 101. Definitions. 
‘‘Sec. 102. Jurisdiction and applicability of Act. 
‘‘Sec. 103. Protection of persons secondarily liable. 
‘‘Sec. 104. Extension of protections to citizens serving with allied forces. 
‘‘Sec. 105. Notification of benefits. 
‘‘Sec. 106. Extension of rights and protections to Reserves ordered to report for 
military service and to persons ordered to report for induction. 
‘‘Sec. 107. Waiver of rights pursuant to written agreement. 
‘‘Sec. 108. Exercise of rights under Act not to affect certain future financial 
transactions. 
‘‘Sec. 109. Legal representatives. 
‘‘TITLE II—GENERAL RELIEF 
‘‘Sec. 201. Protection of servicemembers against default judgments.
‘‘Sec. 202. Stay of proceedings when servicemember defendant has notice. 
‘‘Sec. 203. Fines and penalties under contracts. 
‘‘Sec. 204. Stay or vacation of execution of judgments, attachments, and garnish-
ments. 
‘‘Sec. 205. Duration and term of stays; codefendants not in service. 
‘‘Sec. 206. Statute of limitations. 
‘‘Sec. 207. Maximum rate of interest on debts incurred before military service. 
‘‘TITLE III—RENT, INSTALLMENT CONTRACTS, MORTGAGES, LIENS, 
ASSIGNMENT, LEASES. 
‘‘Sec. 301. Evictions and distress. 
‘‘Sec. 302. Protection under installment contracts for purchase or lease. 
‘‘Sec. 303. Mortgages and trust deeds. 
‘‘Sec. 304. Settlement of stayed cases relating to personal property. 
‘‘Sec. 305. Termination of leases by lessees. 
‘‘Sec. 306. Protection of life insurance policy. 
‘‘Sec. 307. Enforcement of storage liens. 
‘‘Sec. 308. Extension of protections to dependents. 
‘‘TITLE IV—LIFE INSURANCE 
‘‘Sec. 401. Definitions. 
‘‘Sec. 402. Insurance rights and protections. 
‘‘Sec. 403. Application for insurance protection. 
‘‘Sec. 404. Policies entitled to protection and lapse of policies. 
‘‘Sec. 405. Policy restrictions. 
‘‘Sec. 406. Deduction of unpaid premiums. 
‘‘Sec. 407. Premiums and interest guaranteed by United States. 
‘‘Sec. 408. Regulations. 
‘‘Sec. 409. Review of findings of fact and conclusions of law. 
‘‘TITLE V—TAXES AND PUBLIC LANDS 
‘‘Sec. 501. Taxes respecting personal property, money, credits, and real property. 
‘‘Sec. 502. Rights in public lands. 
‘‘Sec. 503. Desert-land entries. 
‘‘Sec. 504. Mining claims. 
‘‘Sec. 505. Mineral permits and leases. 
‘‘Sec. 506. Perfection or defense of rights. 
‘‘Sec. 507. Distribution of information concerning benefits of title. 
‘‘Sec. 508. Land rights of servicemembers. 
‘‘Sec. 509. Regulations. 
‘‘Sec. 510. Income taxes. 
‘‘Sec. 511. Residence for tax purposes. 
‘‘TITLE VI—ADMINISTRATIVE REMEDIES 
‘‘Sec. 601. Inappropriate use of Act. 
‘‘Sec. 602. Certificates of service; persons reported missing. 
‘‘Sec. 603. Interlocutory orders. 
‘‘TITLE VII—FURTHER RELIEF 
‘‘Sec. 701. Anticipatory relief. 
‘‘Sec. 702. Power of attorney. 
‘‘Sec. 703. Professional liability protection.
‘‘Sec. 704. Health insurance reinstatement. 
‘‘Sec. 705. Guarantee of residency for military personnel.
‘‘SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 
‘‘The purposes of this Act are—
‘‘(1) to provide for, strengthen, and expedite the 
national defense through protection extended by this 
Act to servicemembers of the United States to enable 
such persons to devote their entire energy to the de-
fense needs of the Nation; and 
‘‘(2) to provide for the temporary suspension of 
judicial and administrative proceedings and trans-
actions that may adversely affect the civil rights of 
servicemembers during their military service. 
‘‘TITLE I—GENERAL PROVISIONS 
‘‘SEC. 101. DEFINITIONS. 
‘‘For the purposes of this Act: 
‘‘(1) 
SERVICEMEMBER.—The 
term 
‘servicemember’ means a member of the uniformed 
services, as that term is defined in section 101(a)(5) 
of title 10, United States Code.
‘‘(2) MILITARY
SERVICE.—The term ‘military 
service’ means—
‘‘(A) in the case of a servicemember who is 
a member of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine 
Corps, or Coast Guard—
‘‘(i) active duty, as defined in section 
101(d)(1) of title 10, United States Code, 
and 
‘‘(ii) in the case of a member of the 
National Guard, includes service under a 
call to active service authorized by the 
President or the Secretary of Defense for a 
period of more than 30 consecutive days 
under section 502(f) of title 32, United 
States Code, for purposes of responding to a 
national emergency declared by the Presi-
dent and supported by Federal funds; and 
‘‘(B) in the case of a servicemember who is 
a commissioned officer of the Public Health 
Service or the National Oceanic and Atmos-
pheric Administration, active service. 
‘‘(3) PERIOD OF MILITARY SERVICE.—The term 
‘period of military service’ means the period begin-
ning on the date on which a servicemember enters 
military service and ending on the date on which the 
servicemember is released from military service or 
dies while in military service. 
‘‘(4) DEPENDENT.—The term ‘dependent’, with 
respect to a servicemember, means—
‘‘(A) the servicemember’s spouse;
‘‘(B) the servicemember’s child (as defined 
in section 101(4) of title 38, United States 
Code); or 
‘‘(C) 
an 
individual 
for 
whom 
the 
servicemember provided more than one-half of 
the individual’s support for 180 days imme-
diately preceding an application for relief under 
this Act. 
‘‘(5) COURT.—The term ‘court’ means a court or 
an administrative agency of the United States or of 
any State (including any political subdivision of a 
State), whether or not a court or administrative agen-
cy of record. 
‘‘(6) STATE.—The term ‘State’ includes—
‘‘(A) a commonwealth, territory, or posses-
sion of the United States; and 
‘‘(B) the District of Columbia. 
‘‘(7) SECRETARY CONCERNED.—The term ‘Sec-
retary concerned’—
‘‘(A) with respect to a member of the armed 
forces, has the meaning given that term in sec-
tion 101(a)(9) of title 10, United States Code; 
‘‘(B) with respect to a commissioned officer 
of the Public Health Service, means the Sec-
retary of Health and Human Services; and