[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2067 Introduced in House (IH)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2067

To amend title 10, United States Code, to authorize the Secretaries of 
    the military departments to provide temporary transitional and 
 indemnity compensation payments to the dependents of a member of the 
     Armed Forces who is separated from the Armed Forces following 
     conviction for an offense involving the abuse of one of those 
                  dependents, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 11, 1993

 Mr. Kyl (for himself and Mrs. Fowler) introduced the following bill; 
         which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title 10, United States Code, to authorize the Secretaries of 
    the military departments to provide temporary transitional and 
 indemnity compensation payments to the dependents of a member of the 
     Armed Forces who is separated from the Armed Forces following 
     conviction for an offense involving the abuse of one of those 
                  dependents, and for other purposes.

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

SECTION 1. INDEMNITY COMPENSATION FOR DEPENDENTS OF MEMBERS OF THE 
              ARMED FORCES DISCHARGED FOR DEPENDENT ABUSE.

    (a) In General.--(1) Chapter 53 of title 10, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following new section:
``Sec. 1058. Abused dependents: payment of transitional and indemnity 
              compensation
    ``(a) Authority To Pay Compensation.--If a member of the armed 
forces is separated from the armed forces as described in subsection 
(b), the Secretary of the military department concerned may pay monthly 
transitional and indemnity compensation in accordance with this section 
to dependents or former dependents of the member as specified in 
subsection (d).
    ``(b) Separations Covered.--(1) This section applies in the case of 
a member of the armed forces on active duty for a period of more than 
30 days--
            ``(A) who is convicted of a dependent-abuse offense (as 
        defined in subsection (c)) and whose conviction results in the 
        member being--
                    ``(i) administratively discharged with a general 
                discharge or under other than honorable conditions; or
                    ``(ii) discharged or dismissed from the armed 
                forces by sentence of a court-martial; or
            ``(B) against whom court-martial charges were preferred for 
        a dependent-abuse offense and who is discharged in lieu of 
        trial by court-martial in that case upon approval of the 
        member's request or application for discharge or, in the case 
        of an officer, for resignation.
    ``(2) For purposes of this section, a member of the armed forces 
who is incarcerated by sentence of a court-martial with total 
forfeiture of pay and allowances shall be treated as a former member 
dismissed or discharged by sentence of a court-martial.
    ``(c) Dependent-Abuse Offenses.--(1) For purposes of this section, 
a dependent-abuse offense is conduct by an individual while a member of 
the armed forces on active duty for a period of more than 30 days--
            ``(A) that involves abuse of the spouse or a dependent 
        child of the member; and
            ``(B) that is a criminal offense specified in regulations 
        prescribed by the Secretary of Defense under paragraph (2).
    ``(2) The Secretary of Defense shall prescribe by regulation the 
criminal offenses, or categories of offenses, under the Uniform Code of 
Military Justice (chapter 47 of this title), Federal criminal law, the 
criminal laws of the States and other jurisdictions of the United 
States, and the laws of other nations that are to be considered to be 
dependent-abuse offenses for the purposes of this section.
    ``(d) Recipients of Payments.--In any case of a separation from 
active duty as described in subsection (b) in which the Secretary of 
the military department concerned determines that transitional and 
indemnity compensation should be paid under this section, the Secretary 
shall pay such compensation to dependents or former dependents of the 
former member as follows:
            ``(1) If the former member was married at the time of the 
        commission of the dependent-abuse offense resulting in the 
        separation, such compensation shall (except as otherwise 
        provided in this subsection) be paid to the spouse or former 
        spouse to whom the member was married at that time.
            ``(2) If there is a spouse or former spouse who (but for 
        subsection (g)) would be eligible for compensation under this 
        section and if there is a dependent child of the former member 
        who does not reside in the same household as that spouse or 
        former spouse, such compensation shall be paid to each such 
        dependent child of the former member who does not reside in 
        that household.
            ``(3) If there is no spouse or former spouse who is (or but 
        for subsection (g) would be) eligible under paragraph (1), such 
        compensation shall be paid to the dependent children of the 
        former member.
            ``(4) For purposes of paragraphs (2) and (3), an 
        individual's status as a `dependent child' shall be determined 
        as of the date on which the member is convicted of the 
        dependent-abuse offense or, in a case described in subsection 
        (b)(1)(B), as of the date on which the member is discharged.
    ``(e) Commencement and Duration of Payment.--(1) Payment of 
transitional and indemnity compensation under this section shall 
commence as of the date of the discontinuance of the member's pay and 
allowances pursuant to the separation or sentencing of the member.
    ``(2) Payment of such compensation shall terminate at the end of 
the dependents' transitional period. The dependents' transitional 
period is the period (A) beginning on the date on which the member is 
convicted of the dependent-abuse offense or, in a case described in 
subsection (b)(1)(B), on the date on which the member is discharged, 
and (B) ending at the end of the transitional period determined by the 
Secretary concerned. Such transitional period may not exceed 36 months, 
except that if the length of the member's service on active duty was 
less than 36 months, the transitional period may not exceed the length 
of such service.
    ``(f) Amount of Payment.--(1) Payment to a spouse or former spouse 
under this section for any month shall be at the rate in effect for 
that month for the payment of dependency and indemnity compensation 
under section 1311(a)(1) of title 38.
    ``(2) If a spouse or former spouse to whom compensation is paid 
under this section has custody of a dependent child or children of the 
member, the amount of such compensation paid for any month shall be 
increased for each such dependent child by the amount in effect for 
that month under section 1311(b) of title 38.
    ``(3) If compensation is paid under this section to a child or 
children pursuant to subsection (d)(2) or (d)(3), such compensation 
shall be paid in equal shares, with the amount of such compensation for 
any month determined in accordance with the rates in effect for that 
month under section 1313 of title 38.
    ``(g) Forfeiture Provisions.--(1) If a former spouse receiving 
compensation under this section remarries, the Secretary shall 
terminate payment of such compensation, effective as of the date of 
such marriage. The Secretary may not renew payment of compensation 
under this section to such former spouse in the event of the 
termination of such subsequent marriage.
    ``(2) If after the separation of the former member as described in 
subsection (b) the former member resides in the same household as the 
spouse or former spouse, or dependent child, to whom compensation is 
otherwise payable under this section, the Secretary shall terminate 
payment of such compensation, effective as of the time the former 
member begins residing in such household. Compensation paid for a 
period after the former member's separation, but before the former 
member resides in the household, shall not be recouped. If the former 
member subsequently ceases to reside in such household before the end 
of the period of eligibility for such payments, the Secretary may not 
resume such payments.
    ``(3) In a case in which the victim of the dependent-abuse offense 
resulting in the separation of the former member was a dependent child, 
the Secretary concerned may not pay compensation under this section to 
a spouse or former spouse who would otherwise be eligible to receive 
such compensation if the Secretary determines (under regulations 
prescribed under subsection (i)) that the spouse or former spouse was 
an active participant in the conduct constituting the dependent-abuse 
offense.
    ``(h) Coordination of Benefits.--The Secretary concerned may not 
make payments to a spouse or former spouse under both this section and 
section 1408(h)(1) of this title. In the case of a spouse or former 
spouse for whom a court order provides for payments by the Secretary 
pursuant to section 1408(h)(1) of this title and to whom the Secretary 
offers payments under this section, the spouse or former spouse shall 
elect which to receive.
    ``(i) Regulations.--The Secretary of each military department shall 
prescribe regulations to carry out this section with respect to members 
of the armed forces under the jurisdiction of that Secretary. Such 
regulations shall be as uniform as practicable and shall be subject to 
the approval of the Secretary of Defense.
    ``(j) Dependent Child Defined.--In this section, the term 
`dependent child', with respect to a member or former member of the 
armed forces separated as described in subsection (b), means an 
unmarried child, including an adopted child or a stepchild, who was 
residing with the member at the time of the dependent-abuse offense 
resulting in the separation of the former member and--
            ``(1) who is under 18 years of age;
            ``(2) who is 18 years of age or older and is incapable of 
        self-support because of a mental or physical incapacity that 
        existed before the age of 18 and who is (or was at the time of 
        the former member's separation) dependent on the former member 
        for over one-half of the child's support; or
            ``(3) who is 18 years of age or older but less than 23 
        years of age, is enrolled in a full-time course of study in an 
        institution of higher learning approved by the Secretary of 
        Defense and who is (or was at the time of the former member's 
        separation) dependent on the former member for over one-half of 
        the child's support.''.
    (2) The table of sections at the beginning of such chapter is 
amended by inserting after the item relating to section 1056 the 
following new item:

``1058. Abused dependents: payment of transitional and indemnity 
                            compensation.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--(1) Section 1058 of title 10, United States 
Code, as added by subsection (a), shall apply with respect to former 
members of the Armed Forces discharged or dismissed as described in 
subsection (b) of such section after the date that is three years 
before the date of the enactment of this Act.
    (2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), no payment may be made under 
such section 1058 with respect to any period before the date of the 
enactment of this Act.

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