Title: To amend the Uniform Code of Military Justice to prohibit the payment of back pay and allowances to certain members of the Armed Forces who are guilty of desertion and to use the amount of any such unpaid pay and allowances to provide additional compensation to other members of the Armed Forces who were killed or wounded during missions to search for the missing members.
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security

Summary:
This bill amends the Uniform Code of Military Justice to deny back pay and allowances to any person who is guilty of desertion.
The Department of Defense shall use payments and allowances denied to a deserter under this bill to provide compensation to any members of the Armed Forces who were wounded while searching for the deserter or to representatives of any members who were killed while searching for the deserter.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4437 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4437

 To amend the Uniform Code of Military Justice to prohibit the payment 
 of back pay and allowances to certain members of the Armed Forces who 
 are guilty of desertion and to use the amount of any such unpaid pay 
 and allowances to provide additional compensation to other members of 
 the Armed Forces who were killed or wounded during missions to search 
                        for the missing members.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           November 16, 2017

Mr. Graves of Louisiana (for himself, Mr. Walz, Mr. Abraham, Mr. Babin, 
Mr. Crawford, Mr. Kinzinger, Mr. Smith of Missouri, Mrs. Hartzler, and 
 Ms. McSally) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                      Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Uniform Code of Military Justice to prohibit the payment 
 of back pay and allowances to certain members of the Armed Forces who 
 are guilty of desertion and to use the amount of any such unpaid pay 
 and allowances to provide additional compensation to other members of 
 the Armed Forces who were killed or wounded during missions to search 
                        for the missing members.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. LOSS OF BACK PAY AND ALLOWANCES BY CERTAIN MEMBERS OF THE 
              ARMED FORCES GUILTY OF DESERTION.

    (a) In General.--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) In addition to the punishments authorized under subsection 
(c), any person who is guilty of desertion, and who in connection with 
the person's absence without authority was also listed in the duty 
status of missing-captive, is not entitled to any pay and allowances 
otherwise payable under subsection (a) of section 552 of title 37 for 
any period during which the person was listed in any missing status, 
including such missing-captive, after the date on which the person was 
first determined to be absent from the person's post of duty without 
authority. As provided in subsection (c) of such section 552, the 
person is indebted to the United States for payments from amounts 
credited to the person's account for that period.
    ``(2) The Secretary of Defense shall use amounts unpaid or 
recovered by reason of operation of paragraph (1) to provide 
compensation, in such amounts as the Secretary considers appropriate, 
to--
            ``(A) any members of the armed forces who were wounded 
        while searching for the person guilty of desertion; and
            ``(B) the designated representatives of any members of the 
        armed forces who were killed while searching for the person.''.
    (b) Effective Period of Amendment.--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 only with 
respect to a member of the Armed Forces who, during the one-year period 
beginning on October 1, 2017, is guilty of desertion as described in 
such subsection (d).
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