[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2299 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2299

   To amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act and title 38, United 
States Code, to improve the provision of civil relief to members of the 
  uniformed services and to improve the enforcement of employment and 
      reemployment rights of such members, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 18, 2012

Mrs. Murray (for herself, Mr. Begich, Mr. Whitehouse, Mr. Rockefeller, 
and Mr. Akaka) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
             referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act and title 38, United 
States Code, to improve the provision of civil relief to members of the 
  uniformed services and to improve the enforcement of employment and 
      reemployment rights of such members, 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 ``Servicemembers Rights Enforcement 
Improvement Act of 2012''.

SEC. 2. MODIFICATION OF PLAINTIFF AFFIDAVIT FILING REQUIREMENT FOR 
              DEFAULT JUDGMENTS AGAINST SERVICEMEMBERS.

    Paragraph (1) of section 201(b) of the Servicemembers Civil Relief 
Act (50 U.S.C. App. 521(b)) is amended to read as follows:
            ``(1) Plaintiff to file affidavit.--
                    ``(A) In general.--In any action or proceeding 
                covered by this section, the plaintiff, before seeking 
                a default judgment, shall file with the court an 
                affidavit--
                            ``(i) stating whether or not the defendant 
                        is in military service and showing necessary 
                        facts to support the affidavit; or
                            ``(ii) if the plaintiff is unable to 
                        determine whether or not the defendant is in 
                        military service, stating that the plaintiff is 
                        unable to determine whether or not the 
                        defendant is in military service.
                    ``(B) Due diligence.--Before filing the affidavit, 
                the plaintiff shall conduct a diligent and reasonable 
                investigation to determine whether or not the defendant 
                is in military service, including a search of available 
                records of the Department of Defense and any other 
                information available to the plaintiff. The affidavit 
                shall set forth in the affidavit all steps taken to 
                determine the defendant's military status.''.

SEC. 3. RETROACTIVE APPLICATION OF PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION UNDER 
              SERVICEMEMBERS CIVIL RELIEF ACT.

    Section 802(a) of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (50 U.S.C. 
App. 597a(a)) shall apply with respect to violations of such Act 
occurring on or after December 19, 2003.

SEC. 4. ENFORCEMENT OF RIGHTS OF MEMBERS OF UNIFORMED SERVICES WITH 
              RESPECT TO STATES AND PRIVATE EMPLOYERS.

    (a) Action for Relief.--Subsection (a) of section 4323 of title 38, 
United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1)--
                    (A) by striking ``appear on behalf of, and act as 
                attorney for, the person on whose behalf the complaint 
                is submitted and'';
                    (B) by striking ``for such person'';
                    (C) by striking the fourth sentence; and
                    (D) by adding at the end the following: ``The 
                person on whose behalf the complaint is referred may, 
                upon timely application, intervene in such action, and 
                may obtain such appropriate relief as is provided in 
                subsections (d) and (e).'';
            (2) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the following 
        new paragraph (2):
    ``(2)(A) Not later than 60 days after the date the Attorney General 
receives a referral under paragraph (1), the Attorney General shall 
transmit, in writing, to the person on whose behalf the complaint is 
submitted--
            ``(i) if the Attorney General has made a decision to 
        commence an action for relief under paragraph (1) relating to 
        the complaint of the person, notice of the decision; and
            ``(ii) if the Attorney General has not made such a 
        decision, notice of when the Attorney General expects to make 
        such a decision.
    ``(B) If the Attorney General notifies a person that the Attorney 
General expects to make a decision under subparagraph (A)(ii), the 
Attorney General shall, not later than 30 days after the date on which 
the Attorney General makes such decision, notify, in writing, the 
person of such decision.'';
            (3) by redesignating paragraph (3) as paragraph (4),
            (4) by inserting after paragraph (2) the following new 
        paragraph (3):
    ``(3) Whenever the Attorney General has reasonable cause to believe 
that a State (as an employer) or a private employer is engaged in a 
pattern or practice of resistance to the full enjoyment of any of the 
rights and benefits provided for under this chapter, and that the 
pattern or practice is of such a nature and is intended to deny the 
full exercise of such rights and benefits, the Attorney General may 
commence an action for relief under this chapter.''; and
            (5) in paragraph (4), as redesignated by paragraph (3), by 
        striking subparagraph (C) and inserting the following new 
        subparagraph (C):
            ``(C) has been notified by the Attorney General that the 
        Attorney General does not intend to commence an action for 
        relief under paragraph (1) with respect to the complaint under 
        such paragraph.''.
    (b) Standing.--Subsection (f) of such section is amended to read as 
follows:
    ``(f) Standing.--An action under this chapter may be initiated only 
by the Attorney General or by a person claiming rights or benefits 
under this chapter under subsection (a).''.
    (c) Conforming Amendment.--Subsection (h)(2) of such section is 
amended by striking ``under subsection (a)(2)'' and inserting ``under 
paragraph (1) or (4) of subsection (a)''.

SEC. 5. SUBPOENA POWER FOR SPECIAL COUNSEL IN ENFORCEMENT OF EMPLOYMENT 
              AND REEMPLOYMENT RIGHTS OF MEMBERS OF UNIFORMED SERVICES 
              WITH RESPECT TO FEDERAL EXECUTIVE AGENCIES.

    Section 4324 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding 
at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(e)(1) In order to carry out the Special Counsel's 
responsibilities under this section, the Special Counsel may require by 
subpoena the attendance and testimony of Federal employees and the 
production of documents from Federal employees and Federal executive 
agencies.
    ``(2) In the case of contumacy or failure to obey a subpoena issued 
under paragraph (1), upon application by the Special Counsel, the Merit 
Systems Protection Board may issue an order requiring a Federal 
employee or Federal executive agency to comply with a subpoena of the 
Special Counsel.
    ``(3) An order issued under paragraph (2) may be enforced by the 
Merit Systems Protection Board in the same manner as any order issued 
under section 1204 of title 5, United States Code.''.

SEC. 6. ISSUANCE AND SERVICE OF CIVIL INVESTIGATIVE DEMANDS BY ATTORNEY 
              GENERAL.

    (a) Issuance Under Servicemembers Civil Relief Act.--Section 801 of 
the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (50 U.S.C. App. 597) is amended by 
adding at the end the following:
    ``(d) Issuance and Service of Civil Investigative Demands.--
            ``(1) In general.--Whenever the Attorney General has reason 
        to believe that any person may be in possession, custody, or 
        control of any documentary material relevant to an 
        investigation under this Act, the Attorney General may, before 
        commencing a civil action under subsection (a), issue in 
        writing and serve upon such person, a civil investigative 
        demand requiring--
                    ``(A) the production of such documentary material 
                for inspection and copying;
                    ``(B) that the custodian of such documentary 
                material answer in writing written questions with 
                respect to such documentary material; or
                    ``(C) the production of any combination of such 
                documentary material or answers.
            ``(2) False claims.--The provisions of section 3733 of 
        title 31, United States Code, governing the authority to issue, 
        use, and enforce civil investigative demands shall apply with 
        respect to the authority to issue, use, and enforce civil 
        investigative demands under this section, except that, for 
        purposes of applying such section 3733--
                    ``(A) references to false claims law investigators 
                or investigations shall be considered references to 
                investigators or investigations under this Act;
                    ``(B) references to interrogatories shall be 
                considered references to written questions, and answers 
                to such need not be under oath;
                    ``(C) the definitions relating to `false claims 
                law' shall not apply; and
                    ``(D) provisions relating to qui tam relators shall 
                not apply.''.
    (b) Issuance Under Chapter 43 of Title 38, United States Code.--
Section 4323 of title 38, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsection (i) as subsection (j); and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (h) the following new 
        subsection (i):
    ``(i) Issuance and Service of Civil Investigative Demands.--(1) 
Whenever the Attorney General has reason to believe that any person may 
be in possession, custody, or control of any documentary material 
relevant to an investigation under this subchapter, the Attorney 
General may, before commencing a civil action under subsection (a), 
issue in writing and serve upon such person, a civil investigative 
demand requiring--
            ``(A) the production of such documentary material for 
        inspection and copying;
            ``(B) that the custodian of such documentary material 
        answer in writing written questions with respect to such 
        documentary material; or
            ``(C) the production of any combination of such documentary 
        material or answers.
    ``(2) The provisions of section 3733 of title 31 governing the 
authority to issue, use, and enforce civil investigative demands shall 
apply with respect to the authority to issue, use, and enforce civil 
investigative demands under this section, except that, for purposes of 
applying such section 3733--
            ``(A) references to false claims law investigators or 
        investigations shall be considered references to investigators 
        or investigations under this subchapter;
            ``(B) references to interrogatories shall be considered 
        references to written questions, and answers to such need not 
        be under oath;
            ``(C) the definitions relating to `false claims law' shall 
        not apply; and
            ``(D) provisions relating to qui tam relators shall not 
        apply.''.
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