[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2502 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2502

 To direct the Secretaries concerned to take certain actions to reduce 
gender-related inequities in costs of uniforms to members of the Armed 
                                Forces.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 14, 2021

Ms. Brownley (for herself, Ms. Speier, and Ms. Stefanik) introduced the 
 following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To direct the Secretaries concerned to take certain actions to reduce 
gender-related inequities in costs of uniforms to members of the Armed 
                                Forces.

    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 ``Equal Pay for Servicewomen Act''.

SEC. 2. REDUCTION OF GENDER-RELATED INEQUITIES IN COSTS OF UNIFORMS TO 
              MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES.

    (a) Implementation of GAO Recommendations.--Not later than 
September 30, 2022, the Secretary of Defense shall implement the four 
recommendations of the Government Accountability Office in the report 
titled ``Military Service Uniforms DOD Could Better Identify and 
Address Out-of-Pocket Cost Inequities'' (GAO-21-120).
    (b) Regulations.--Not later than September 30, 2022, each Secretary 
concerned (as that term is defined in section 101 of title 10, United 
States Code) shall prescribe regulations that ensure the following:
            (1) The out-of-pocket cost to an officer or enlisted member 
        of an Armed Force for a uniform (or part of such uniform) may 
        not exceed such cost to another officer or enlisted member of 
        that Armed Force for such uniform (or part, or equivalent part, 
        of such uniform) solely based on gender.
            (2) If a change to a uniform of an Armed Force affects only 
        officers or enlisted members of one gender, an officer or 
        enlisted member of such gender in such Armed Force shall be 
        entitled to an allowance equal to the out-of-pocket cost to the 
        officer or enlisted member relating to such change.
    (c) One-Time Allowance.--Not later than September 30, 2022, each 
Secretary concerned shall provide a one-time allowance to each female 
officer and female enlisted member under the jurisdiction of the 
Secretary concerned. The amount of such an allowance shall be--
            (1) based on gender disparities in out-of-pocket costs 
        relating to uniforms (including the costs of changes to 
        uniforms that affected only one gender) during the 10 years 
        preceding the date of the enactment of this Act; and
            (2) proportional to the length of service of the officer or 
        enlisted member in the Armed Forces.
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