[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2400 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
110th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 2400
To amend title 37, United States Code, to require the Secretary of
Defense to continue to pay to a member of the Armed Forces who is
retired or separated from the Armed Forces due to a combat-related
injury certain bonuses that the member was entitled to before the
retirement or separation and would continue to be entitled to if the
member was not retired or separated, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
December 3, 2007
Mr. Sessions (for himself, Mrs. Clinton, Mr. McCain, Mr. Casey, Mr.
Martinez, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Lautenberg, and Mr. Dorgan) introduced the
following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
Armed Services
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend title 37, United States Code, to require the Secretary of
Defense to continue to pay to a member of the Armed Forces who is
retired or separated from the Armed Forces due to a combat-related
injury certain bonuses that the member was entitled to before the
retirement or separation and would continue to be entitled to if the
member was not retired or separated, 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. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Wounded Warrior Bonus Equity Act''.
SEC. 2. CONTINUATION OF CERTAIN BONUS PAYMENTS TO MEMBERS OF THE ARMED
FORCES RETIRED OR SEPARATED DUE TO A COMBAT-RELATED
INJURY.
(a) Payment Required.--
(1) In general.--Chapter 17 of title 37, United States
Code, is amended by inserting after section 903 the following
new section:
``Sec. 904. Continued payment of bonuses to members retired or
separated due to combat-related injuries
``(a) Payment Required.--In the case of a member of the armed
forces who is retired or separated for disability under chapter 61 of
title 10, due to a combat-related injury, the Secretary of Defense
shall require the continued payment to the member of any bonus
described in subsection (b) that the member--
``(1) was entitled to immediately before the retirement or
separation of the member; and
``(2) would continue to be entitled to if the member was
not retired or separated.
``(b) Covered Bonuses.--The bonuses referred to in subsection (a)
are the following (numbers refer to the corresponding section in
chapter 5 of this title):
``(1) 301b. Special pay for aviation career officers
extending period of active duty.
``(2) 301d. Multiyear retention bonus for medical officers
of the armed forces.
``(3) 301e. Multiyear retention bonus for dental officers
of the armed forces.
``(4) 302d. Accession bonus for registered nurses.
``(5) 302h. Accession bonus for dental officers.
``(6) 302j. Accession bonus for pharmacy officers.
``(7) 302k. Accession bonus for medical officers in
critically short wartime specialties.
``(8) 302l. Accession bonus for dental specialist officers
in critically short wartime specialties.
``(9) 308. Reenlistment bonus.
``(10) 308b. Reenlistment bonus for members of the Selected
Reserve.
``(11) 308c. Bonus for affiliation or enlistment in the
Selected Reserve.
``(12) 308g. Bonus for enlistment in elements of the Ready
Reserve other than the Selected Reserve.
``(13) 308h. Bonus for reenlistment, or voluntary extension
of enlistment in elements of the Ready Reserve other than the
Selected Reserve.
``(14) 308i. Prior service enlistment bonus.
``(15) 308j. Affiliation bonus for officers in the Selected
Reserve.
``(16) 309. Enlistment bonus.
``(17) 312. Special pay for nuclear-qualified officers
extending period of active duty.
``(18) 312b. Nuclear career accession bonus.
``(19) 312c. Nuclear career annual incentive bonus.
``(20) 315. Engineering and scientific career continuation
pay.
``(21) 316. Bonus for members with foreign language
proficiency.
``(22) 317. Special pay for officers in critical
acquisition positions extending period of active duty.
``(23) 318. Special pay for special warfare officers
extending period of active duty.
``(24) 319. Surface warfare officer continuation pay.
``(25) 321. Judge advocate continuation pay.
``(26) 322. 15-year career status bonus for members
entering service on or after August 1, 1986.
``(27) 323. Retention incentives for members qualified in
critical military skills or assigned to high priority units.
``(28) 324. Accession bonus for new officers in critical
skills.
``(29) 326. Incentive bonus for conversion to military
occupational specialty to ease personnel shortage.
``(30) 327. Incentive bonus for transfer between armed
forces.
``(31) 329. Incentive bonus for retired members and reserve
component members volunteering for high-demand, low-density
assignments.
``(32) 330. Accession bonus for officer candidates.
``(c) Time for Payment.--A bonus required to be paid to a member
under this section shall be paid to the member in a lump sum not later
than 90 days after the date of the retirement or separation of the
member, notwithstanding any terms to the contrary in the agreement
under which the bonus was originally authorized.
``(d) Combat-Related Injury Defined.--In this section, the term
`combat-related injury' means an injury--
``(1) for which the member was awarded the Purple Heart; or
``(2) that was incurred (as determined under criteria
prescribed by the Secretary of Defense)--
``(A) as a direct result of armed conflict;
``(B) while engaged in hazardous service;
``(C) in the performance of duty under conditions
simulating war; or
``(D) through an instrumentality of war.''.
(2) Clerical amendment.--The table of sections at the
beginning of chapter 17 of such title is amended by inserting
after the item relating to section 903 the following new item:
``904. Continued payment of bonuses to members retired or separated due
to combat-related injuries.''.
(b) Cessation of Collection of Previously Paid Bonuses.--Effective
as of the date of the enactment, any collection of bonuses described in
subsection (b) of section 904 of title 37, United States Code (as added
by subsection (a) of this section), that were paid before the date of
the enactment of this Act to members of the Armed Forces retired or
separated under chapter 61 of title 10, United States Code, for a
combat-related injury (as defined in subsection (d) of such section
904) shall cease.
(c) Retroactive Payment of Bonuses.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary of Defense shall pay to each
member of the Armed Forces retired or separated under chapter
61 of title 10, United States Code, for a combat-related injury
(as defined in subsection (d) of section 904 of title 37,
United States Code (as so added)) during the period beginning
on September 11, 2001, and ending on the date of the enactment
of this Act, an amount equal to the amount of any continued
payment of bonus or bonuses to which such member would have
been entitled at the time of retirement or separation under
applicable provisions of such section 904 if such section 904
had been in effect as of September 11, 2001.
(2) Audit.--The Secretary shall identify the former members
of the Armed Forces to be paid amounts under this subsection,
and shall determined the amounts to be paid such members under
this subsection, through a financial audit or such other
mechanisms as the Secretary considers appropriate for purposes
of this subsection.
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