[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3616 Introduced in House (IH)]

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114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3616

To appropriate such funds as may be necessary to ensure that members of 
the Armed Forces, including reserve components thereof, and supporting 
     civilian and contractor personnel continue to receive pay and 
 allowances for active service performed when a funding gap caused by 
the failure to enact interim or full-year appropriations for the Armed 
Forces occurs, which results in the furlough of non-emergency personnel 
  and the curtailment of Government activities and services, and for 
                            other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 25, 2015

  Mr. Forbes introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committee on Ways 
 and Means, 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 appropriate such funds as may be necessary to ensure that members of 
the Armed Forces, including reserve components thereof, and supporting 
     civilian and contractor personnel continue to receive pay and 
 allowances for active service performed when a funding gap caused by 
the failure to enact interim or full-year appropriations for the Armed 
Forces occurs, which results in the furlough of non-emergency personnel 
  and the curtailment of Government activities and services, 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 ``Defending Our Defenders Act''.

SEC. 2. EMERGENCY APPROPRIATION OF FUNDS TO PROVIDE PAY AND ALLOWANCES 
              FOR MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES AND SUPPORTING CIVILIAN 
              AND CONTRACTOR PERSONNEL DURING FUNDING GAP IMPACTING THE 
              DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE OR DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY.

    (a) Appropriation of Funds for Military Pay and Allowances.--During 
a funding gap impacting the Armed Forces, the Secretary of the Treasury 
shall make available to the Secretary of Defense (and the Secretary of 
Homeland Security in the case of the Coast Guard), out of any amounts 
in the general fund of the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, such 
amounts as the Secretary of Defense (and the Secretary of Homeland 
Security in the case of the Coast Guard) determines to be necessary to 
continue to provide pay and allowances (without interruption) to the 
following:
            (1) Members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and 
        Coast Guard, including reserve components thereof, who perform 
        active service during the funding gap.
            (2) At the discretion of the Secretary of Defense, such 
        civilian personnel of the Department of Defense who are 
        providing support to the members of the Armed Forces described 
        in paragraph (1) as the Secretary considers appropriate.
            (3) At the discretion of the Secretary of Defense, such 
        personnel of contractors of the Department of Defense who are 
        providing support to the members of the Armed Forces described 
        in paragraph (1) as the Secretary considers appropriate.
    (b) Funding Gap Defined.--In this section, the term ``funding gap'' 
means any period of time after the beginning of a fiscal year for which 
interim or full-year appropriations for the personnel accounts of the 
Armed Forces for that fiscal year have not been enacted.

SEC. 3. LIMITATION ON FURLOUGH OF DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE EMPLOYEES PAID 
              THROUGH WORKING-CAPITAL FUNDS.

    Section 2208 of title 10, United States Code, is amended by adding 
at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(s) Furlough of Employees.--(1) Except as provided under 
paragraph (2), the Secretary of Defense or the Secretary of a military 
department may not furlough any employee of the Department of Defense 
whose salary is funded by a working-capital fund unless the Secretary 
determines that--
            ``(A) the working-capital fund is insolvent; or
            ``(B) there are insufficient funds in the working-capital 
        fund to pay the labor costs of the employee.
    ``(2) The Secretary of Defense or the Secretary of a military 
department may waive the restriction under paragraph (1) if the 
Secretary determines such a waiver is in the interest of the national 
security of the United States.
    ``(3) In this subsection, the term `furlough' means the placement, 
for nondisciplinary reasons, of an employee in a temporary status in 
which the employee has no duties and is not paid, but does not include 
administrative leave or an excused absence.''.

SEC. 4. PRIORITIZE OBLIGATIONS ON THE DEBT HELD BY THE PUBLIC AND 
              MILITARY PAY.

    In the event that the debt of the United States Government reaches 
the statutory limit as defined in section 3101 of title 31, United 
States Code, the following shall take equal priority over all other 
obligations incurred by the Government of the United States:
            (1) The authority of the Department of the Treasury 
        contained in section 3123 of title 31, United States Code, to 
        pay with legal tender the principal and interest on debt held 
        by the public.
            (2) The payment of pay and allowances for members of the 
        Armed Forces on active duty.
            (3) The payment of salaries for Department of Defense 
        civilian employees.
            (4) The payment of salaries for employees of contractors of 
        the Department of Defense.

SEC. 5. TERMINATION.

    Appropriations and funds made available and authority granted 
pursuant to this Act shall be available until the earlier of the 
following dates:
            (1) The date of the enactment into law of an appropriation 
        (including a continuing appropriation) for any purpose for 
        which amounts are made available in section 2.
            (2) The date of the enactment into law of the applicable 
        regular or continuing appropriations resolution or other Act 
        without any appropriation for such purpose.
            (3) January 1, 2016.
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