[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 556 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 556

To amend titles 5 and 37 of the United States Code to allow members of 
      the armed forces to participate in the Thrift Savings Plan.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 3, 1999

 Mr. Mica (for himself and Mr. Pickett) introduced the following bill; 
   which was referred to the Committee on Government Reform, and in 
    addition to the Committee on Armed Services, for a period to be 
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 
  of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
                               concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend titles 5 and 37 of the United States Code to allow members of 
      the armed forces to participate in the Thrift Savings Plan.

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

SECTION 1. AMENDMENTS TO TITLE 5, UNITED STATES CODE.

    (a) Authority for Members of the Armed Forces To Contribute to the 
Thrift Savings Fund.--(1) Subchapter III of chapter 84 of title 5, 
United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 8440e. Members of the Armed Forces
    ``(a)(1) A member of the armed forces may elect to contribute an 
amount of such individual's basic pay to the Thrift Savings Fund.
    ``(2) An election may be made under paragraph (1) only during a 
period, provided under section 8432(b) for individuals subject to this 
chapter, which either--
            ``(i) commences on or after the 180th day following the 
        date of enactment of this section; or
            ``(ii) commences before, but has not yet ended as of, the 
        180th day following the date of enactment of this section.
In the circumstance described in clause (ii), the period for making an 
election under paragraph (1) shall be at least 30 days in duration.
    ``(b)(1) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, the 
provisions of this subchapter and subchapter VII shall apply with 
respect to members of the armed forces making contributions to the 
Thrift Savings Fund.
    ``(2) The amount contributed by a member of the armed forces for 
any pay period shall not exceed 5 percent of such member's basic pay 
for such pay period.
    ``(3) No contributions under section 8432(c) shall be made for the 
benefit of a member of the armed forces making contributions to the 
Thrift Savings Fund under subsection (a).
    ``(4) In applying section 8433 to a member of the armed forces who 
has an account balance in the Thrift Savings Fund--
            ``(A) any reference in such section to separation from 
        Government employment shall be construed in the same manner as 
        set forth in section 211(b) of title 37; and
            ``(B) the reference in section 8433(g)(1) to contributions 
        made under section 8432(a) shall be considered a reference to 
        contributions made under sections 8351, 8432(a), and this 
        section, respectively.
    ``(c) For purposes of this section, the term `basic pay' has the 
meaning given such term by section 204 of title 37.''.
    (2) The table of sections at the beginning of chapter 84 of title 
5, United States Code, is amended by adding after the item relating to 
section 8440d the following:

``8440e. Members of the Armed Forces.''.
    (b) Amendments Relating to the Employee Thrift Advisory Council.--
Section 8473 of title 5, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsections (a) and (b) by striking ``14 members'' 
        and inserting ``15 members''; and
            (2) in subsection (b) by striking ``and'' at the end of 
        paragraph (8), by striking the period at the end of paragraph 
        (9) and inserting ``; and'', and by adding at the end the 
        following:
            ``(10) 1 shall be appointed to represent participants who 
        are members of the uniformed services (within the meaning of 
        section 8440e).''.
    (c) Technical and Conforming Amendments.--(1) Paragraph (11) of 
section 8351(b) of title 5, United States Code, is amended by 
redesignating such paragraph as paragraph (8).
    (2) Subparagraph (B) of section 8432b(b)(2) of title 5, United 
States Code, is amended by striking ``section 8432(a)'' and inserting 
``sections 8432(a) and 8440e, respectively,''.

SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO TITLE 37, UNITED STATES CODE.

    (a) In General.--(1) Chapter 3 of title 37, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 211. Contributions to Thrift Savings Fund
    ``(a) Authority of Members To Contribute.--A member of the armed 
forces who is performing active service may elect to contribute, in 
accordance with section 8440e of title 5, a portion of the basic pay of 
the member for that service to the Thrift Savings Fund established by 
section 8437 of title 5.
    ``(b) Separation From Service.--The release of a member from active 
service (not followed by a resumption of active service within 30 
consecutive calendar days), the transfer of a member to inactive 
status, or the transfer of a member to a retired list pursuant to title 
10 shall be considered a separation from service for purposes of 
section 8440e of title 5.''.
    (2) The table of sections at the beginning of such chapter is 
amended by adding at the end the following:

``211. Contributions to Thrift Savings Fund.''.
    (b) Regulations.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall issue regulations 
to implement section 211 of title 37, United States Code, as added by 
subsection (a).
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