[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 249 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 249

   To provide that members of the Armed Forces performing hazardous 
 humanitarian services in West Africa to combat the spread of the 2014 
  Ebola virus outbreak shall be entitled to tax benefits in the same 
      manner as if such services were performed in a combat zone.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 22, 2015

  Mr. Cruz (for himself, Mr. Grassley, and Mr. Cornyn) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                                Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To provide that members of the Armed Forces performing hazardous 
 humanitarian services in West Africa to combat the spread of the 2014 
  Ebola virus outbreak shall be entitled to tax benefits in the same 
      manner as if such services were performed in a combat zone.

    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 ``Operation United Assistance Tax 
Exclusion Act of 2015''.

SEC. 2. TREATMENT OF CERTAIN HAZARDOUS HUMANITARIAN SERVICE AS COMBAT 
              ZONE SERVICE FOR PURPOSES OF THE COMBAT ZONE COMPENSATION 
              EXCLUSION.

    (a) In General.--For purposes of section 112 of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986, service by a qualified member of the Armed Forces 
during Operation United Assistance shall be treated as service in a 
combat zone in the same manner as if the President of the United States 
had by Executive Order designated the Ebola virus disease outbreak area 
as an area of combat under section 112(c)(2) of such Code.
    (b) Definitions.--
            (1) Qualified member of the armed forces.--The term 
        ``qualified member of the Armed Forces'' means a member of the 
        Armed Forces serving in Operation United Assistance who is 
        required to undergo a program of not less than 21 days of 
        controlled monitoring in a controlled monitoring area upon the 
        individual's return from the Ebola virus disease outbreak area.
            (2) Operation united assistance.--The term ``Operation 
        United Assistance'' means the mission beginning in September 
        2014 in the Ebola virus disease outbreak area.
            (3) Ebola virus disease outbreak area.--The term ``Ebola 
        virus disease outbreak area'' means Liberia, Sierra Leone, and 
        Guinea, and any other region designated by the Centers for 
        Disease Control and Prevention as experiencing a widespread 
        Ebola virus disease outbreak as of the date of the enactment of 
        this Act.
    (c) Effective Date.--This section shall apply with respect to 
compensation received for months before, on, or after the date of the 
enactment of this Act.
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