[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 493 Introduced in House (IH)]






109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 493

  To amend title 37, United States Code, to establish an allowance to 
  cover the cost of premiums for Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance 
 coverage for members of the Armed Forces serving in combat zones, for 
        junior enlisted members, and for certain other members.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 1, 2005

  Mr. Reyes introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                      Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend title 37, United States Code, to establish an allowance to 
  cover the cost of premiums for Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance 
 coverage for members of the Armed Forces serving in combat zones, for 
        junior enlisted members, and for certain other members.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Ruben Estrella-Soto Act of 2005''.

SEC. 2. ALLOWANCE FOR CERTAIN MEMBERS TO COVER MONTHLY DEDUCTION FROM 
              BASIC PAY FOR SERVICEMEMBERS' GROUP LIFE INSURANCE 
              COVERAGE.

    (a) Allowance to Cover SGLI Deductions.--Chapter 7 of title 37, 
United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new 
section:
``Sec. 437. Allowance to cover monthly deduction from basic pay for 
              Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance coverage
    ``(a) Allowance Required.--The Secretary concerned shall provide an 
allowance under this section to a member of the armed forces who has 
obtained insurance coverage for the member under the Servicemembers' 
Group Life Insurance program for each month during which any of the 
following eligibility criteria apply with respect to the member, as 
determined by the Secretary concerned:
            ``(1) The member served at any time during the month in an 
        area for which special pay is available under section 310 of 
        this title (in this subsection referred to as a `combat zone').
            ``(2) The member underwent training at any time during the 
        month for immediate deployment to a combat zone.
            ``(3) The member underwent outprocessing at any time during 
        the month immediately following return from a combat zone.
            ``(4) The member was in transit at any time during the 
        month to or from a combat zone, including transit in connection 
        with authorized leave from the combat zone.
            ``(5) The member was hospitalized at any time during the 
        month as a result of a wound, injury, illness, or other medical 
        condition incurred or aggravated in a combat zone.
            ``(6) The member is serving in pay grade E-1 through E-4.
    ``(b) Amount of Allowance.--The amount of the allowance for a 
member for a month shall be equal to the amount of the deduction made 
for that month from the basic pay of the member for the level of 
Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance coverage obtained by the member 
under section 1967 of title 38.
    ``(c) Notice of Availability of Allowance.--To the maximum extent 
practicable, the Secretary concerned shall give members information the 
regarding the following:
            ``(1) The availability of the allowance under this section 
        for members insured under the Servicemembers' Group Life 
        Insurance program.
            ``(2) The ability of members who elected not to be insured 
        under Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance, or elected less 
        than the authorized maximum coverage, to obtain additional 
        coverage as provided in section 1967(c) of title 38.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the beginning of 
chapter 7 of title 37, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 
end the following new item:

``437. Allowance to cover monthly deduction from basic pay for 
                            Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance 
                            coverage.''.
    (c) Effective Date.--Section 437 of title 37, United States Code, 
as added by subsection (a), shall apply to months beginning after 
September 30, 2005.
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