[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 127 (Tuesday, September 13, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: September 13, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
   UNIFORMED SERVICES EMPLOYMENT AND REEMPLOYMENT RIGHTS ACT OF 1993

  Mr. MONTGOMERY. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to take from the 
Speaker's table the bill (H.R. 995) to amend title 38, United States 
Code, to improve reemployment rights and benefits of veterans and other 
benefits of employment of certain members of the uniformed services, 
and for other purposes, with a Senate amendment thereto, and concur in 
the Senate amendment with an amendment.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The Clerk read the Senate amendment and the House amendment to the 
Senate amendment as follows:

       Senate amendment:
       Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert:

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Uniformed Services 
     Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1993''.

     SEC. 2. REVISION OF CHAPTER 43 OF TITLE 38.

       (a) Restatement and Improvement of Employment and 
     Reemployment Rights.--Chapter 43 of title 38, United States 
     Code, is amended to read as follows:

  ``CHAPTER 43--EMPLOYMENT AND REEMPLOYMENT RIGHTS OF MEMBERS OF THE 
                           UNIFORMED SERVICES

                        ``SUBCHAPTER I--GENERAL

``Sec.
``4301. Purposes; sense of Congress.
``4302. Relation to other law; construction.
``4303. Definitions.
``4304. Character of service.

 ``SUBCHAPTER II--EMPLOYMENT AND REEMPLOYMENT RIGHTS AND LIMITATIONS; 
                              PROHIBITIONS

``4311. Discrimination against persons who serve in the uniformed 
              services and acts of reprisal prohibited.
``4312. Reemployment rights of persons who serve in the uniformed 
              services.
``4313. Reemployment positions.
``4314. Reemployment by the Federal Government.
``4315. Reemployment by certain Federal agencies.
``4316. Rights, benefits, and obligations of persons absent from 
              employment for service in a uniformed service.
``4317. Employee pension benefit plans.

     ``SUBCHAPTER III--PROCEDURES FOR ASSISTANCE, ENFORCEMENT, AND 
                             INVESTIGATION

``4321. Assistance in obtaining reemployment or other employment rights 
              or benefits.
``4322. Enforcement of rights with respect to a State or private 
              employer.
``4323. Enforcement of rights with respect to the Federal executive 
              agencies.
``4324. Enforcement of rights with respect to certain Federal agencies.
``4325. Conduct of investigation; subpoenas.

                     ``SUBCHAPTER IV--MISCELLANEOUS

``4331. Regulations.
``4332. Outreach.

                        ``SUBCHAPTER I--GENERAL

     ``Sec. 4301. Purposes; sense of Congress

       ``(a) The purposes of this chapter are--
       ``(1) to encourage noncareer service in the uniformed 
     services by eliminating or minimizing the disadvantages to 
     civilian careers and employment which can result from such 
     service;
       ``(2) to minimize the disruption to the lives of persons 
     performing service in the uniformed services as well as to 
     their employers, their fellow employees, and their 
     communities, by providing for the prompt reemployment of such 
     persons upon their completion of such service under honorable 
     conditions; and
       ``(3) to prohibit discrimination against persons because of 
     their service in the uniformed services.
       ``(b) It is the sense of Congress that the Federal 
     Government should be a model employer in carrying out the 
     provisions of this chapter.

     ``Sec. 4302. Relation to other law; construction

       ``(a) Nothing in this chapter shall supersede, nullify or 
     diminish any Federal or State law (including any local law or 
     ordinance) or employer practice, policy, agreement, or plan 
     that establishes a right or benefit that is more beneficial 
     to, or is in addition to, a right or benefit provided for 
     such person in this chapter.
       ``(b) This chapter supersedes any State law (including any 
     local law or ordinance) or employer practice, policy, 
     agreement, or plan that reduces, limits, or eliminates in any 
     manner any right or benefit provided by this chapter, 
     including the establishment of additional prerequisites to 
     the exercise of any such right or the receipt of any such 
     benefit.

     ``Sec. 4303. Definitions

       ``For the purposes of this chapter--
       ``(1) The term `Attorney General' means the Attorney 
     General of the United States or any person designated by the 
     Attorney General to carry out a responsibility of the 
     Attorney General under this chapter.
       ``(2) The term `benefit', `benefit of employment', or 
     `rights and benefits' means any advantage, profit, privilege, 
     gain, status, account, or interest (other than wages or 
     salary for work performed) that accrues by reason of an 
     employment contract or an employer practice or custom and 
     includes rights and benefits under a pension plan, a health 
     plan, an employee stock ownership plan, insurance coverage 
     and awards, bonuses, severance pay, supplemental unemployment 
     benefits, vacations, and the opportunity to select work hours 
     or location of employment.
       ``(3)(A) The term `employee' means any person employed by 
     an employer.
       ``(B) With respect to employment in a foreign country, the 
     term `employee' includes an individual who is a citizen of 
     the United States.
       ``(4)(A) Except as provided in subparagraphs (B) and (C), 
     the term `employer' means any person, institution, 
     organization, or other entity that pays salary or wages for 
     work performed or that has control over employment 
     opportunities, including--
       ``(i) a person, institution, organization, or other entity 
     to whom the employer has delegated the performance of 
     employment-related responsibilities;
       ``(ii) the Federal Government;
       ``(iii) a State;
       ``(iv) any successor in interest to a person, institution, 
     organization, or other entity referred to in this 
     subparagraph; and
       ``(v) a person, institution, organization, or other entity 
     that has denied initial employment in violation of section 
     4311 of this title.
       ``(B) In the case of a National Guard technician employed 
     under section 709 of title 32, the term `employer' means the 
     adjutant general of the State in which the technician is 
     employed.
       ``(C) Except as an actual employer of employees, an 
     employee pension benefit plan described in section 3(2) of 
     the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 
     U.S.C. 1002(2)) shall be deemed to be an employer only with 
     respect to the obligation to provide benefits described in 
     section 4317 of this title.
       ``(5) The term `Federal executive agency' includes the 
     United States Postal Service, the Postal Rate Commission, any 
     nonappropriated fund instrumentality of the United States, 
     and any Executive agency (as that term is defined in section 
     105 of title 5) other than an agency referred to in section 
     2302(a)(2)(C)(ii) of title 5.
       ``(6) The term `Federal Government' includes any Federal 
     executive agency, the legislative branch of the United 
     States, and the judicial branch of the United States.
       ``(7) The term `health plan' means an insurance policy or 
     contract, medical or hospital service agreement, membership 
     or subscription contract, or other arrangement under which 
     health services for individuals are provided or the expenses 
     of such services are paid.
       ``(8) The term `notice' means (with respect to subchapter 
     II) any written or verbal notification of an obligation or 
     intention to perform service in the uniformed services 
     provided to an employer by the employee who will perform such 
     service or by the uniformed service in which such service is 
     to be performed.
       ``(9) The term `qualified', with respect to an employment 
     position, means having the ability to perform the essential 
     tasks of the position.
       ``(10) The term `reasonable efforts', in the case of 
     actions required of an employer under this chapter, means 
     actions, including training provided by an employer, that do 
     not place an undue hardship on the employer.
       ``(11) The term `Secretary' means the Secretary of Labor or 
     any person designed by such Secretary to carry out an 
     activity under this chapter.
       ``(12) The term `seniority' means longevity in employment 
     together with any benefits of employment which accrue with, 
     or are determined by, longevity in employment.
       ``(13) The term `service in the uniformed services' means 
     the performance of duty on a voluntary or involuntary basis 
     in a uniformed service under competent authority and includes 
     active duty, active duty for training, initial active duty 
     for training, inactive duty training, full-time National 
     Guard duty, and a period for which a person is absent from a 
     position of employment for the purpose of an examination to 
     determine the fitness of the person to perform any such duty.
       ``(14) The term `State' means each of the several States of 
     the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth 
     of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands, and other 
     territories of the United States (including the agencies and 
     political subdivisions thereof).
       ``(15) The term `undue hardship', in the case of actions 
     taken by an employer, means actions requiring significant 
     difficulty or expense, when considered in light of--
       ``(A) the nature and cost of the action needed under this 
     chapter;
       ``(B) the overall financial resources of the facility or 
     facilities involved in the provision of the action; the 
     number of persons employed at such facility; the effect on 
     expenses and resources, or the impact otherwise of such 
     action upon the operation of the facility;
       ``(C) the overall financial resources of the employer; the 
     overall size of the business of an employer with respect to 
     the number of its employees; the number, type, and location 
     of its facilities; and
       ``(D) the type of operation or operations of the employer, 
     including the composition, structure, and functions of the 
     work force of such employer; the geographic separateness, 
     administrative, or fiscal relationship of the facility or 
     facilities in question to the employer.
       ``(16) The term `uniformed services' means the Armed 
     Forces, the Army National Guard and the Air National Guard 
     when engaged in active duty for training, inactive duty 
     training, or full-time National Guard duty, the commissioned 
     corps of the Public Health Service, and any other category of 
     persons designated by the President in time of war or 
     emergency.

     ``Sec.  4304. Character of service

       ``A person's entitlement to the benefits of this chapter by 
     reason of the service of such person in one of the uniformed 
     services terminates upon the occurrence of any of the 
     following events:
       ``(1) A separation of such person from such uniformed 
     service with a dishonorable or bad conduct discharge.
       ``(2) A separation of such person from such uniformed 
     service under other than honorable conditions, as 
     characterized pursuant to regulations prescribed by the 
     Secretary concerned.
       ``(3) A dismissal of such person permitted under section 
     1161(a) of title 10.
       ``(4) A dropping of such person from the rolls pursuant to 
     section 1161(b) of title 10.

 ``SUBCHAPTER II--EMPLOYMENT AND REEMPLOYMENT RIGHTS AND LIMITATIONS; 
                              PROHIBITIONS

     ``Sec. 4311. Discrimination against persons who serve in the 
       uniformed services and acts of reprisal prohibited

       ``(a) A person who is a member of, applies to be a member 
     of, performs, has performed, applies to perform, or has an 
     obligation to perform service in a uniformed service shall 
     not be denied initial employment, reemployment, retention in 
     employment, promotion, or any benefit of employment by an 
     employer on the basis of that membership, application for 
     membership, performance, service, application for service, or 
     obligation.
       ``(b) An employer shall be considered to have denied a 
     person initial employment, reemployment, retention in 
     employment, promotion, or a benefit of employment in 
     violation of this section if the person's membership, 
     application for membership, service, application for service, 
     or obligation for service in the uniformed services is a 
     motivating factor in the employer's action, unless the 
     employer can demonstrate that the action would have been 
     taken in the absence of such membership, application for 
     membership, performance, service, application for service, or 
     obligation.
       ``(c)(1) An employer may not discriminate in employment 
     against or take any adverse employment action against any 
     person because such person has taken an action to enforce a 
     protection afforded any person under this chapter, has 
     testified or otherwise made a statement in or in connection 
     with any proceeding under this chapter, has assisted or 
     otherwise participated in an investigation under this 
     chapter, or has exercised a right provided for in this 
     chapter.
       ``(2) The prohibition in paragraph (1) shall apply with 
     respect to a person regardless of whether that person has 
     performed service in the uniformed services.
       ``(d)(1) An employer may take an action otherwise 
     prohibited by this section with respect to an employee in a 
     workplace in a foreign country if compliance with such 
     section would cause such employer to violate the law of the 
     foreign country in which the workplace is located.
       ``(2) If an employer controls a corporation incorporated 
     and located in a foreign country, any practice prohibited by 
     this chapter that is engaged in by such corporation shall be 
     presumed to be engaged in by such employer.
       ``(3)(A) The prohibitions of this section shall not apply 
     to a foreign employer not controlled by an American employer.
       ``(B) For purposes of this paragraph the determination of 
     whether an employer controls a corporation shall be based 
     on--
       ``(i) the interrelation of operations;
       ``(ii) the common management;
       ``(iii) the centralized control of labor relations; and
       ``(iv) the common ownership or financial control of the 
     employer and the corporation.

     ``Sec. 4312. Reemployment rights of persons who serve in the 
       uniformed services

       ``(a) Subject to subsections (b), (c), and (d), any person 
     who is absent from a position of employment by reason of 
     service in the uniformed services shall be entitled to the 
     reemployment rights and benefits and other employment 
     benefits of this chapter if--
       ``(1) the person (or an appropriate officer of the 
     uniformed service in which such service is performed) has 
     given advance written or verbal notice of such service to 
     such person's employer;
       ``(2) the cumulative length of the absence and of all 
     previous absences from a position of employment with that 
     employer by reason of service in the uniformed services does 
     not exceed five years; and
       ``(3) the person reports to, or submits an application for 
     reemployment to, such employer in accordance with subsection 
     (e).
       ``(b) No notice is required under subsection (a)(1) if the 
     giving of such notice is precluded by military necessity or 
     the giving of such notice is otherwise impossible or 
     unreasonable. A determination of military necessity for the 
     purposes of this subsection shall be made pursuant to 
     regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Defense and shall 
     not be subject to judicial review.
       ``(c) Subsection (a) shall apply to a person who is absent 
     from a position of employment by reason of service in the 
     uniformed services if such person's cumulative period of 
     service in the uniformed services, with respect to the 
     employer relationship for which a person seeks reemployment, 
     does not exceed five years, except that any such period of 
     service shall not include any service--
       ``(1) that is required, beyond five years, to complete an 
     initial period of obligated service;
       ``(2) during which such person was unable to obtain orders 
     releasing such person from a period of service in the 
     uniformed services before the expiration of such five-year 
     period and such inability was through no fault of such 
     person;
       ``(3) performed as required pursuant to section 270 of 
     title 10, under section 502(a) or 503 of title 32, or to 
     fulfill additional training requirements determined and 
     certified in writing by the Secretary concerned, to be 
     necessary for professional development, or for completion of 
     skill training or retraining; or
       ``(4) performed by a member of a uniformed service who is--
       ``(A) ordered to or retained on active duty under section 
     672(a), 672(g), 673, 673b, 673c, or 688 of title 10 or under 
     section 331, 332, 359, 360, 367, or 712 of title 14;
       ``(B) ordered to or retained on active duty (other than for 
     training) under any provision of law during a war or during a 
     national emergency declared by the President or the Congress;
       ``(C) ordered to active duty (other than for training) in 
     support, as determined by the Secretary concerned, of an 
     operational mission for which personnel have been ordered to 
     active duty under section 673b of title 10;
       ``(D) ordered to active duty in support, as determined by 
     the Secretary concerned, of a critical mission or requirement 
     of the uniformed services; or
       ``(E) called into Federal service as a member of the 
     National Guard under chapter 15 of title 10 or under section 
     3500 or 8500 of title 10.
       ``(d)(1) An employer is not required to reemploy a person 
     under this chapter if--
       ``(A) the employer's circumstances have so changed as to 
     make such reemployment impossible or unreasonable; or
       ``(B) in the case of a person entitled to reemployment 
     under subsection (a)(3), (a)(4), or (b)(2)(B) of section 4313 
     of this title, such employment would impose an undue hardship 
     on the employer.
       ``(2) In any proceeding involving an issue of whether--
       ``(A) any reemployment referred to in paragraph (1) is 
     impossible or unreasonable because of a change in an 
     employer's circumstances, or
       ``(B) any accommodation, training, or effort referred to in 
     subsection (a)(3), (a)(4), or (b)(2)(B) of section 4313 of 
     this title would impose an undue hardship on the employer,
     the employer shall have the burden of proving the 
     impossibility or unreasonableness or undue hardship.
       ``(e)(1) Subject to paragraph (2), a person referred to in 
     subsection (a) shall, upon the completion of a period of 
     service in the uniformed services, notify the employer 
     referred to in such subsection of the person's intent to 
     return to a position of employment with such employer as 
     follows:
       ``(A) In the case of a person whose period of service in 
     the uniformed services was less than 31 days, by reporting to 
     the employer--
       ``(i) not later than the beginning of the first full 
     regularly scheduled work period on the first full calendar 
     day following the completion of the period of service and the 
     expiration of eight hours after a period allowing for the 
     safe transportation of the person from the place of that 
     service to the person's residence; or
       ``(ii) as soon as possible after the expiration of the 
     eight-hour period referred to in clause (i), if reporting 
     within the period referred to in such clause is impossible or 
     unreasonable through no fault of the person.
       ``(B) In the case of a person who is absent from a position 
     of employment for a period of any length for the purposes of 
     an examination to determine the person's fitness to perform 
     service in the uniformed services, by reporting in the manner 
     and time referred to in subparagraph (A).
       ``(C) In the case of a person whose period of service in 
     the uniformed services was for more than 30 days but less 
     than 181 days, by submitting an application for reemployment 
     with the employer not later than 14 days after the completion 
     of the period of service.
       ``(D) In the case of a person whose period of service in 
     the uniformed services was for more than 180 days, by 
     submitting an application for reemployment with the employer 
     not later than 90 days after the completion of the period of 
     service.
       ``(2)(A) A person who is hospitalized for, or convalescing 
     from, an illness or injury incurred in, or aggravated by, the 
     performance of service in the uniformed services shall, at 
     the end of the period that is necessary for the person to 
     recover from such illness or injury, report to the person's 
     employer (in the case of a person described in subparagraph 
     (A) or (B) of paragraph (1)) or submit an application for 
     reemployment with such employer (in the case of a person 
     described in subparagraph (C) or (D) of such paragraph). 
     Except as provided in subparagraph (B), such period of 
     recovery may not exceed two years.
       ``(B) Such two-year period shall be extended by the minimum 
     time required to accommodate the circumstances beyond such 
     person's control which make reporting within the period 
     specified in subparagraph (A) impossible or unreasonable.
       ``(3) A person who fails to report for employment or 
     reemployment within the appropriate period specified in this 
     subsection shall not automatically forfeit such person's 
     entitlement to the rights and benefits referred to in 
     subsection (a) but shall be subject to the conduct rules, 
     established policy, and general practices of the employer 
     pertaining to explanations and discipline with respect to 
     absence from scheduled work.
       ``(f)(1) A person who submits an application for 
     reemployment in accordance with subparagraph (C) or (D) of 
     subsection (e)(1) or subsection (e)(2) shall provide to the 
     person's employer (upon the request of such employer) 
     documentation to establish that--
       ``(A) the person's application is timely;
       ``(B) the person has not exceeded the service limitations 
     set forth in subsection (a)(2) (except as permitted under 
     subsection (c)); and
       ``(C) the person's entitlement to the benefits under this 
     chapter has not been terminated pursuant to section 4304 of 
     this title.
       ``(2) Documentation of any matter referred to in paragraph 
     (1) that satisfies regulations prescribed by the Secretary 
     shall satisfy the documentation requirements in such 
     paragraph.
       ``(3)(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the 
     failure of a person to provide documentation that satisfies 
     regulations prescribed pursuant to paragraph (2) shall not be 
     a basis for denying reemployment in accordance with the 
     provisions of this chapter if the failure occurs because such 
     documentation does not exist or is not readily available at 
     the time of the request of the employer. If, after such 
     reemployment, documentation becomes available that 
     establishes that such person does not meet one or more of the 
     requirements referred to in subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C) 
     of paragraph (1), the employer of such person may terminate 
     the employment of the person and the provision of any rights 
     or benefits afforded the person under this chapter.
       ``(B) An employer who reemploys a person absent from a 
     position of employment for more than 90 days may require that 
     the person provide the employer with the documentation 
     referred to in subparagraph (A) before beginning to treat the 
     person as not having incurred a break in service for pension 
     purposes under section 4317(a)(2)(A) of this title.
       ``(4) An employer may not delay or attempt to defeat a 
     reemployment obligation by demanding documentation that does 
     not then exist or is not then readily available.
       ``(g) The right of a person to reemployment under this 
     section shall not entitle such person to retention, 
     preference, or displacement rights over any person with a 
     superior claim under the provisions of title 5, United States 
     Code, relating to veterans and other preference eligibles.
       ``(h) In any determination of a person's entitlement to 
     protection under this chapter, the timing, frequency, and 
     duration of the person's training or service, or the nature 
     of such training or service (including voluntary service) in 
     the uniformed services, shall not be a basis for denying 
     protection of this chapter if the service does not exceed the 
     limitations set forth in subsection (c) and the notice 
     requirements established in subsection (a)(1) and the 
     notification requirements established in subsection (e) are 
     met.

     ``Sec. 4313. Reemployment positions

       ``(a) Subject to subsection (b) (in the case of any 
     employee) and section 4314 of this title (in the case of an 
     employee of the Federal Government), a person entitled to 
     reemployment under section 4312 of this title upon completion 
     of a period of service in the uniformed services shall be 
     promptly reemployed in a position of employment in accordance 
     with the following order of priority:
       ``(1) Except as provided in paragraphs (3) and (4), in the 
     case of a person whose period of service in the uniformed 
     services was for less than 31 days--
       ``(A) in the position of employment in which the person 
     would have been employed if the continuous employment of such 
     person with the employer had not been interrupted by such 
     service, the duties of which the person is qualified to 
     perform; or
       ``(B) if the person is not qualified to perform the duties 
     of the position referred to in subparagraph (A), after 
     reasonable efforts by the employer to qualify the person, in 
     the position of employment in which the person was employed 
     on the date of the commencement of the service in the 
     uniformed services.
       ``(2) Except as provided in paragraphs (3) and (4), in the 
     case of a person whose period of service in the uniformed 
     services was for more than 30 days--
       ``(A) in the position of employment in which the person 
     would have been employed if the continuous employment of such 
     person with the employer had not been interrupted by such 
     service, or a position of like seniority, status, and pay, 
     the duties of which the person is qualified to perform; or
       ``(B) if the person is not qualified to perform the duties 
     of a position referred to in subparagraph (A), after 
     reasonable efforts by the employer to qualify the person, in 
     the position of employment in which the person was employed 
     on the date of the commencement of the service in the 
     uniformed services, or a position of like seniority, status 
     and pay, the duties of which the person is qualified to 
     perform.
       ``(3) In the case of a person who has a disability incurred 
     in, or aggravated by, such service, and who (after reasonable 
     efforts by the employer to accommodate the disability) is not 
     qualified due to such disability to be employed in the 
     position of employment in which the person would have been 
     employed if the continuous employment of such person with the 
     employer had not been interrupted by such service--
       ``(A) in any other position which is equivalent in 
     seniority, status, and pay, the duties of which the person is 
     qualified to perform or would become qualified to perform 
     with reasonable efforts by the employer; or
       ``(B) if not employed under subparagraph (A), in a position 
     which is the nearest approximation to a position referred to 
     in subparagraph (A) in terms of seniority, status, and pay 
     consistent with circumstances of such person's case.
       ``(4) In the case of a person who (A) is not qualified to 
     be employed in (i) the position of employment in which the 
     person would have been employed if the continuous employment 
     of such person with the employer had not been interrupted by 
     such service, or (ii) in the position of employment in which 
     such person was employed on the date of the commencement of 
     the service in the uniform services for any reason (other 
     than disability incurred in, or aggravated by, service in the 
     uniformed services), and (B) cannot become qualified with 
     reasonable efforts by the employer, in any other position of 
     lesser status and pay which such person is qualified to 
     perform, with full seniority.
       ``(b)(1) If two or more persons are entitled to 
     reemployment under section 4312 of this title in the same 
     position of employment and more than one of them has reported 
     for such reemployment, the person who left the position first 
     shall have the prior right to reemployment in that position.
       ``(2) Any person entitled to reemployment under section 
     4312 of this title who is not reemployed in a position of 
     employment by reason of paragraph (1) shall be entitled to be 
     reemployed as follows:
       ``(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), in any other 
     position of employment referred to in subsection (a)(1) or 
     (a)(2), as the case may be (in the order of priority set out 
     in the applicable subsection), that provides a similar status 
     and pay to a position of employment referred to in paragraph 
     (1) of this subsection, consistent with circumstances of such 
     person's case, with full seniority.
       ``(B) In the case of a person who has a disability incurred 
     in, or aggravated by, service in the uniformed services that 
     requires reasonable efforts by the employer for the person to 
     be able to perform the duties of the position of employment, 
     in any position referred to in subsection (a)(3) (in the 
     order of priority set out in that subsection) that provides a 
     similar status and pay to a position referred to in paragraph 
     (1), consistent with circumstances of such person's case, 
     with full seniority.

     ``Sec. 4314. Reemployment by the Federal Government

       ``(a) Except as provided in subsections (b), (c), and (d), 
     if a person is entitled to reemployment by the Federal 
     Government under section 4312 of this title, such person 
     shall be reemployed in a position of employment as described 
     in section 4313 of this title.
       ``(b)(1) If the Director of the Office of Personnel 
     Management makes a determination described in paragraph (2) 
     with respect to a person who was employed by a Federal 
     executive agency at the time the person entered the service 
     from which the person seeks reemployment under this section, 
     the Director shall--
       ``(A) identify a position of like seniority, status, and 
     pay at another Federal executive agency that satisfies the 
     requirements of section 4313 of this title and for which the 
     person is qualified; and
       ``(B) ensure that the person is offered such position.
       ``(2) The Director shall carry out the duties referred to 
     in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (1) if the Director 
     determines that--
       ``(A) the Federal executive agency that employed the person 
     referred to in such paragraph no longer exists and the 
     functions of such agency have not been transferred to another 
     Federal executive agency; or
       ``(B) it is impossible or unreasonable for the agency to 
     reemploy the person.
       ``(c) If the employer of a person described in subsection 
     (a) was, at the time such person entered the service from 
     which such person seeks reemployment under this section, a 
     part of the judicial branch or the legislative branch of the 
     Federal Government, and such employer determines that it is 
     impossible or unreasonable for such employer to reemploy such 
     person, such person shall, upon application to the Director 
     of the Office of Personnel Management, be ensured an offer of 
     employment in an alternative position in a Federal executive 
     agency on the basis described in subsection (b).
       ``(d) If the adjutant general of a State determines that it 
     is impossible or unreasonable to reemploy a person who was a 
     National Guard technician employed under section 709 of title 
     32, such person shall, upon application to the Director of 
     the Office of Personnel Management, be ensured an offer of 
     employment in an alternative position in a Federal executive 
     agency on the basis described in subsection (b).

     ``Sec.  4315. Reemployment by certain Federal agencies

       ``(a) The head of each agency referred to in section 
     2302(a)(2)(C)(ii) of title 5 shall prescribe procedures for 
     ensuring that the rights under this chapter apply to the 
     employees of such agency.
       ``(b) In prescribing procedures under subsection (a), the 
     head of an agency referred to in that subsection shall 
     ensure, to the maximum extent practicable, that the 
     procedures of the agency for reemploying persons who serve in 
     the uniformed services provide for the reemployment of such 
     persons in the agency in a manner similar to the manner of 
     reemployment described in section 4313 of this title.
       ``(c)(1) The regulations prescribed under subsection (a) 
     shall designate an official at the agency who shall determine 
     whether or not the reemployment of a person referred to in 
     subsection (b) by the agency is impossible or unreasonable.
       ``(2) Upon making a determination that the reemployment by 
     the agency of a person referred to in subsection (b) is 
     impossible or unreasonable, the official referred to in 
     paragraph (1) shall notify the person and the Director of the 
     Office of Personnel Management of such determination.
       ``(3) A determination pursuant to this subsection shall not 
     be subject to judicial review.
       ``(4) The head of each agency referred to in subsection (a) 
     shall submit to the Select Committee on Intelligence of the 
     Senate and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of 
     the House of Representatives on an annual basis a report on 
     the number of persons whose reemployment with the agency was 
     determined under this subsection to be impossible or 
     unreasonable during the year preceding the report, including 
     the reason for each such determination.
       ``(d)(1) Except as provided in this section, nothing in 
     this section, section 4313 of this title, or section 4324 of 
     this title shall be construed to exempt any agency referred 
     to in subsection (a) from compliance with any other 
     substantive provision of this chapter.
       ``(2) This section may not be construed--
       ``(A) as prohibiting an employee of an agency referred to 
     in subsection (a) from seeking information from the Secretary 
     regarding assistance in seeking reemployment from the agency 
     under this chapter, alternative employment in the Federal 
     Government under this chapter, or information relating to the 
     rights and obligations of employee and Federal agencies under 
     this chapter; or
       ``(B) as prohibiting such an agency from voluntarily 
     cooperating with or seeking assistance in or of clarification 
     from the Secretary or the Director of the Office of Personnel 
     Management of any matter arising under this chapter.
       ``(e) The Director of the Office of Personnel Management 
     shall ensure the offer of employment to a person in a 
     position in a Federal executive agency on the basis described 
     in subsection (b) if--
       ``(1) the person was an employee of an agency referred to 
     in section 2302(a)(2)(C)(ii) of title 5 at the time the 
     person entered the service from which the person seeks 
     reemployment under this section;
       ``(2) the appropriate officer of the agency determines 
     under section 4315(c) of this title that reemployment of the 
     person by the agency is impossible or unreasonable; and
       ``(3) the person submits an application to the Director for 
     an offer of employment under this subsection.

     ``Sec. 4316. Rights, benefits, and obligations of persons 
       absent from employment for service in a uniformed service

       ``(a) A person who is reemployed under this chapter after a 
     period of service in the uniformed services is entitled to 
     the seniority and other rights and benefits determined by 
     seniority that the person had on the date of the commencement 
     of such service plus the additional seniority and rights and 
     benefits that such person would have attained if the person 
     had remained continuously employed.
       ``(b)(1)(A) Subject to paragraphs (2) through (6), a person 
     who performs service in the uniformed services shall be--
       ``(i) deemed to be on furlough or leave of absence while 
     performing such service; and
       ``(ii) entitled to such other rights and benefits not 
     determined by seniority as are generally provided by the 
     employer of the person to employees having similar seniority, 
     status, and pay who are on furlough or leave of absence under 
     a practice, policy, agreement, or plan in effect at the 
     commencement of such service or established while such person 
     performs such service.
       ``(B) Such person may be required to pay the employee cost, 
     if any, of any funded benefit continued pursuant to 
     subparagraph (A) to the extent other employees on furlough or 
     leave of absence are so required. In the case of a 
     multiemployer plan, as defined in section 3(37) of the 
     Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 
     1002(37)), any liability of the plan arising under this 
     paragraph shall be allocated by the plan in such manner as 
     the sponsor maintaining the plan may provide (or, if the 
     sponsor does not so provide, shall be allocated to the last 
     employer employing the person before the period served by the 
     person in the uniformed services).
       ``(2) A person deemed to be on furlough or leave of absence 
     under this subsection while serving in the uniformed services 
     shall not be entitled under this subsection to any benefits 
     which the person would not otherwise be entitled if the 
     person were not on a furlough or leave of absence.
       ``(3) A person is not entitled under this subsection to 
     coverage under a health plan to the extent that the person is 
     entitled to care or treatment from the Federal Government as 
     a result of such person's service in the uniformed services.
       ``(4) A person is not entitled under this subsection to 
     coverage, under a disability insurance policy, of an injury 
     or disease incurred or aggravated during a period of active 
     duty service in excess of 31 days to the extent such coverage 
     is excluded or limited by a provision of such policy.
       ``(5) A person is not entitled under this subsection to 
     coverage, under a life insurance policy, of a death incurred 
     by the person as a result of the person's participation in, 
     or assignment to an area of, armed conflict to the extent 
     that such coverage is excluded or limited by a provision of 
     such policy.
       ``(6) The requirement that an employer provide rights or 
     benefits under paragraph (1) to a person deemed to be on 
     furlough or leave of absence shall expire on the earlier of--
       ``(A) the date of the end of the 18-month period that 
     begins on the date on which the person commences the 
     performance of the service referred to in paragraph (1); or
       ``(B) the date of the expiration of the person's obligation 
     with respect to such service to notify the person's employer 
     of the person's intent to return to a position of employment 
     under section 4312(e) of this title.
       ``(7) The entitlement of a person to a right or benefit 
     under an employee pension benefit plan is provided for under 
     section 4317 of this title.
       ``(c)(1)(A) Subject to paragraphs (2) and (3), if a 
     person's employer-sponsored health-plan coverage would 
     otherwise terminate due to an extended absence from 
     employment for purposes of performing service in the 
     uniformed services, the person may elect to continue health-
     plan coverage acquired through civilian employment in 
     accordance with this paragraph so that such coverage 
     continues for not more than 18 months after such absence 
     begins.
       ``(B) A person who elects to continue health-plan coverage 
     under this paragraph may be required to pay not more than 102 
     percent of the full premium (determined in the same manner as 
     the applicable premium under section 4980B(f)(4) of the 
     Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 4980B(f)(4))) 
     associated with such coverage for the employer's other 
     employees, except that in the case of a person who performs a 
     period of service in the uniformed services for less than 31 
     days, such person may not be required to pay more than the 
     employee share, if any, for such coverage.
       ``(C) In the case of a multiemployer plan, as defined in 
     section 3(37) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act 
     of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1002(37)), any liability of the plan 
     arising under this paragraph shall be allocated by the plan 
     in such manner as the sponsor maintaining the plan may 
     provide (or, if the sponsor does not so provide, shall be 
     allocated to the last employer employing the person before 
     the period served by the person in the uniformed services).
       ``(2) A person who elects to continue health-plan coverage 
     under this subsection shall not be entitled to coverage under 
     the plan to the extent that the person is entitled to care or 
     treatment from the Federal Government as a result of such 
     person's service in the uniformed services.
       ``(3) The period of coverage of a person and the person's 
     dependents under a continuation of health-plan coverage 
     elected by the person under this subsection shall be the 
     lesser of--
       ``(A) the 18-month period beginning on the date on which 
     the absence referred to in paragraph (1) begins; or
       ``(B) the aggregate of the period of the person's service 
     in the uniformed services and the period in which the person 
     is required to notify the person's employer of the person's 
     intent to return to a position of employment under section 
     4312(e) of this title.
       ``(d)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), in the case 
     of a person whose coverage by an employer-sponsored health 
     plan as an employee is terminated by reason of the service of 
     such person in the uniformed services, an exclusion or 
     waiting period may not be imposed in connection with the 
     reinstatement of the coverage of the person upon reemployment 
     under this chapter, or in connection with any other 
     individual who is covered by the health plan by reason of the 
     reinstatement of the coverage of such person upon 
     reemployment, if an exclusion or waiting period would not 
     have been imposed under such health plan had coverage of such 
     person by such health plan not been terminated as a result of 
     such service.
       ``(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to the condition of a 
     person if the Secretary determines that the condition was 
     incurred or aggravated during active military, naval, or air 
     service.
       ``(e) A person who is reemployed by an employer under this 
     chapter shall not be discharged from such employment, except 
     for cause--
       ``(1) within one year after the date of such reemployment, 
     if the person's period of service before the reemployment was 
     more than 180 days; or
       ``(2) within 180 days after the date of such reemployment, 
     if the person's period of service before the reemployment was 
     more than 30 days but less than 181 days.
       ``(f)(1) Any person described in paragraph (2) whose 
     employment with an employer referred to in that paragraph is 
     interrupted by a period of service in the uniformed services 
     shall be permitted, upon request of that person, to use 
     during such period of service any vacation or annual leave 
     with pay accrued by the person before the commencement of 
     such service.
       ``(2) A person entitled to the benefit described in 
     paragraph (1) is a person who--
       ``(A) has accrued vacation or annual leave with pay under a 
     policy or practice of a State (as an employer) or private 
     employer; or
       ``(B) has accrued such leave as an employee of the Federal 
     Government pursuant to subchapter I of chapter 63 of title 5.

     ``Sec. 4317. Employee pension benefit plans

       ``(a)(1)(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), in the 
     case of a right provided pursuant to an employee pension 
     benefit plan described in section 3(2) of the Employee 
     Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1002(2)) or 
     a right provided under any Federal or State law governing 
     pension benefits for governmental employees, the right to 
     pension benefits of a person reemployed under this chapter 
     shall be determined under this section.
       ``(B) In the case of benefits under the Thrift Savings 
     Plan, the rights of a person reemployed under this chapter 
     shall be those rights provided in section 8432b of title 5. 
     This subparagraph shall not be construed to affect any other 
     right or benefit under this chapter.
       ``(2)(A) Except as provided in section 4312(f)(3)(B) of 
     this title, a person reemployed under this chapter shall be 
     treated as not having incurred a break in service with the 
     employer or employers maintaining the plan by reason of such 
     person's period or periods of service in the uniformed 
     services.
       ``(B) Each period served by a person in the uniformed 
     services shall, upon reemployment under this chapter, be 
     deemed to constitute service with the employer or employers 
     maintaining the plan for purpose of determining the 
     nonforfeitability of the person's accrued benefits and for 
     the purpose of determining the accrual of benefits under the 
     plan.
       ``(b)(1) An employer reemploying a person under this 
     chapter shall be liable to an employee benefit pension plan 
     for funding any obligation of the plan to provide the 
     benefits described in subsection (a)(2). For purposes of 
     determining the amount of such liability and for purposes of 
     section 515 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 
     1974 (29 U.S.C. 1145) or any similar Federal or State law 
     governing pension benefits for governmental employees, 
     service in the uniformed services that is deemed under 
     subsection (a) to be service with the employer shall be 
     deemed to be service with the employer under the terms of the 
     plan or any applicable collective bargaining agreement. In 
     the case of a multiemployer plan, as defined in section 3(37) 
     of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 
     U.S.C. 1002(37)), any liability of the plan described in this 
     paragraph shall be allocated by the plan in such manner as 
     the sponsor maintaining the plan may provide (or, if the 
     sponsor does not so provide, shall be allocated to the last 
     employer employing the person before the period described in 
     subsection (a)(2)(B)).
       ``(2) A person reemployed under this chapter shall be 
     entitled to accrued benefits pursuant to subsection (a) that 
     are contingent on the making of, or derived from, employee 
     contributions or elective deferrals only to the extent the 
     person elects to make employee contributions or elective 
     deferrals that are attributable to the period of service 
     described in subsection (a)(2)(B). No such contributions or 
     deferrals may exceed the amount the person or employer would 
     have been permitted or required to make had the person 
     remained continuously employed by the employer throughout the 
     period of service described in subsection (a)(2)(B). Any 
     employee contribution or deferral to the plan described in 
     this paragraph shall be made during any reasonable continuous 
     period (beginning with the date of reemployment) as the 
     employer and the person may agree but in no event shall such 
     person be afforded a payment period shorter than the length 
     of absence for service for which the payments are due.
       ``(3) For purposes of computing an employer's liability 
     under paragraph (1) or the employee's contributions under 
     paragraph (2), the employee's compensation during the period 
     of service described in subsection (a)(2)(B)--
       ``(A) shall be computed at the rate the employee would have 
     received but for the absence during the period of service; or
       ``(B) if the employee's compensation was not based on a 
     fixed rate, shall be computed on the basis of the employee's 
     average rate of compensation during the 12-month period 
     immediately preceding such period (or, if shorter, the period 
     of employment immediately preceding such period).
       ``(4) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section--
       ``(A) no earnings shall be credited to an employee with 
     respect to any contribution prior to such contribution being 
     made; and
       ``(B) any forfeitures during the period described in 
     subsection (a)(2)(B) shall not be allocated to persons 
     reemployed under this chapter.
       ``(c) Any employer who reemploys a person under this 
     chapter and who is an employer contributing to a 
     multiemployer plan, as defined in section 3(37) of the 
     Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 
     1002(37)), under which benefits are or may be payable to such 
     person by reason of the obligations set forth in this 
     chapter, shall, within 30 days after the date of such 
     reemployment, provide notice of such reemployment to the 
     administrator of such plan.
       ``(d) No provision of this section shall apply to the 
     extent it--
       ``(1) requires any action to be taken which would cause the 
     plan, any of its participants, or employer to suffer adverse 
     tax or other consequences under the Internal Revenue Code of 
     1986; or
       ``(2) requires contributions to be returned or reallocated, 
     or additional contributions to be made, with respect to 
     employees not reemployed under this chapter.

     ``SUBCHAPTER III--PROCEDURES FOR ASSISTANCE, ENFORCEMENT, AND 
                             INVESTIGATION

     ``Sec. 4321. Assistance in obtaining reemployment or other 
       employment rights or benefits

       ``(a) The Secretary (through the Veterans' Employment and 
     Training Service) shall provide assistance to any person with 
     respect to the employment and reemployment rights and 
     benefits to which such person is entitled under this chapter. 
     In providing such assistance, the Secretary may request the 
     assistance of existing Federal and State agencies engaged in 
     similar or related activities and utilize the assistance of 
     volunteers.
       ``(b)(1)(A) A person referred to in subparagraph (B) may 
     submit a complaint to the Secretary with respect to the 
     matters described in clause (ii) of such subparagraph. Such 
     complaint shall be submitted in accordance with subsection 
     (c).
       ``(B) A person may submit a complaint under subparagraph 
     (A) if the person claims--
       ``(i) to be entitled under this chapter to employment or 
     reemployment rights or benefits with respect to employment by 
     an employer; and
       ``(ii) that the employer (including the Office of Personnel 
     Management, if the employer is the Federal Government) has 
     failed or refused, or is about to fail or refuse, to comply 
     with the provisions of this chapter.
       ``(2) The Secretary shall, upon request, provide technical 
     assistance to a potential claimant with respect to a 
     complaint under this subsection, and to such claimant's 
     employer.
       ``(c) A complaint submitted under subsection (b) shall be 
     in a form prescribed by the Secretary and shall include--
       ``(1) the name and address of the employer or potential 
     employer against whom the complaint is directed; and
       ``(2) a summary of the allegations upon which the complaint 
     is based.
       ``(d) The Secretary shall investigate each complaint 
     submitted pursuant to subsection (b). If the Secretary 
     determines as a result of the investigation that the action 
     alleged in such complaint occurred, the Secretary shall 
     resolve the complaint by making reasonable efforts to ensure 
     that the person or entity named in the complaint complies 
     with the provisions of this chapter.
       ``(e) If the efforts of the Secretary with respect to a 
     complaint under subsection (d) are unsuccessful, the 
     Secretary shall notify the person who submitted the complaint 
     of--
       ``(1) the results of the Secretary's investigation; and
       ``(2) the complainant's entitlement to proceed under the 
     enforcement of rights provisions provided under section 4322 
     of this title (in the case of a person submitting a complaint 
     against a State or private employer) or section 4323 of this 
     title (in the case of a person submitting a complaint against 
     the Federal Government).
       ``(f) This subchapter does not apply to any action relating 
     to benefits to be provided under the Thrift Savings Plan 
     under title 5.

     ``Sec. 4322. Enforcement of rights with respect to a State or 
       private employer

       ``(a)(1) A person who receives from the Secretary a 
     notification pursuant to section 4321(e) of this title of an 
     unsuccessful effort to resolve a complaint relating to a 
     State (as an employer) or a private employer may request that 
     the Secretary refer the complaint to the Attorney General. If 
     the Attorney General is reasonably satisfied that the person 
     on whose behalf the complaint is referred is entitled to the 
     rights or benefits sought, the Attorney General may appear on 
     behalf of, and act as attorney for, the person on whose 
     behalf the complaint is submitted and commence an action for 
     appropriate relief for such person in an appropriate United 
     States district court.
       ``(2)(A) A person referred to in subparagraph (B) may 
     commence an action for appropriate relief in an appropriate 
     United States district court.
       ``(B) A person entitled to commence an action for relief 
     with respect to a complaint under subparagraph (A) is a 
     person who--
       ``(i) has chosen not to apply to the Secretary for 
     assistance regarding the complaint under section 4321(c) of 
     this title;
       ``(ii) has chosen not to request that the Secretary refer 
     the complaint to the Attorney General under paragraph (1); or
       ``(iii) has been refused representation by the Attorney 
     General with respect to the complaint under such paragraph.
       ``(b) In the case of an action against a State as an 
     employer, the appropriate district court is the court for any 
     district in which the State exercises any authority or 
     carries out any function. In the case of a private employer 
     the appropriate district court is the district court for any 
     district in which the private employer of the person 
     maintains a place of business.
       ``(c)(1)(A) The district courts of the United States shall 
     have jurisdiction, upon the filing of a complaint, motion, 
     petition, or other appropriate pleading by or on behalf of 
     the person entitled to a right or benefit under this 
     chapter--
       ``(i) to require the employer to comply with the provisions 
     of this chapter;
       ``(ii) to require the State or private employer, as the 
     case may be, to compensate the person for any loss of wages 
     or benefits suffered by reason of such employer's failure to 
     comply with the provisions of this chapter; and
       ``(iii) to require the employer to pay the person an amount 
     equal to the amount referred to in clause (ii) as liquidated 
     damages, if the court determines that the employer's failure 
     to comply with the provisions of this chapter was willful.
       ``(B) Any compensation under clauses (ii) and (iii) of 
     subparagraph (A) shall be in addition to, and shall not 
     diminish, any of the other rights and benefits provided for 
     in this chapter.
       ``(2)(A) No fees or court costs shall be charged or taxed 
     against any person claiming rights under this chapter.
       ``(B) In any action or proceeding to enforce a provision of 
     this chapter by a person under subsection (a)(2) who obtained 
     private counsel for such action or proceeding, the court may 
     award any such person who prevails in such action or 
     proceeding reasonable attorney fees, expert witness fees, and 
     other litigation expenses.
       ``(3) The court may use its full equity powers, including 
     temporary or permanent injunctions and temporary restraining 
     orders, to vindicate fully the rights or benefits of persons 
     under this chapter.
       ``(4) An action under this chapter may be initiated only by 
     a person claiming rights or benefits under this chapter, and 
     not by an employer, prospective employer, or other entity 
     with obligations under this chapter.
       ``(5) In any such action, only a State and local government 
     (as an employer), an employer, or a potential employer, as 
     the case may be, shall be a necessary party respondent.
       ``(6) No State statute of limitations shall apply to any 
     proceeding under this chapter.
       ``(7) A State shall be subject to the same remedies, 
     including prejudgment interest, as may be imposed upon any 
     private employer under this section.

     ``Sec. 4323. Enforcement of rights with respect to Federal 
       executive agencies

       ``(a)(1) A person who receives from the Secretary a 
     notification pursuant to section 4321(e) of this title of an 
     unsuccessful effort to resolve a complaint relating to a 
     Federal executive agency may request that the Secretary refer 
     the complaint for litigation before the Merit Systems 
     Protection Board. The Secretary shall refer the complaint to 
     the Office of Special Counsel established by section 1211 of 
     title 5.
       ``(2)(A) If the Special Counsel is reasonably satisfied 
     that the person on whose behalf a complaint is referred under 
     paragraph (1) is entitled to the rights or benefits sought, 
     the Special Counsel (upon the request of the person 
     submitting the complaint) may appear on behalf of, and act as 
     attorney for, the person and initiate an action regarding 
     such complaint before the Merit Systems Protection Board.
       ``(B) If the Special Counsel decides not to initiate an 
     action and represent a person before the Merit Systems 
     Protection Board under subparagraph (A), the Special Counsel 
     shall notify such person of that decision.
       ``(b)(1) A person referred to in paragraph (2) may submit a 
     complaint against a Federal executive agency under this 
     subchapter directly to the Merit Systems Protection Board. A 
     person who seeks a hearing or adjudication by submitting such 
     a complaint under this paragraph may be represented at such 
     hearing or adjudication in accordance with the rules of the 
     Board.
       ``(2) A person entitled to submit a complaint to the Merit 
     Systems Protection Board under paragraph (1) is a person 
     who--
       ``(A) has chosen not to apply to the Secretary for 
     assistance regarding a complaint under section 4321(c) of 
     this title;
       ``(B) has received a notification from the Secretary under 
     section 4321(e) of this title;
       ``(C) has chosen not to be represented before the Board by 
     the Special Counsel pursuant to subsection (a)(2)(A); or
       ``(D) has received a notification of a decision from the 
     Special Counsel under subsection (a)(2)(B).
       ``(c)(1) The Merit Systems Protection Board shall 
     adjudicate any complaint brought before the Board pursuant to 
     subsection (a)(2)(A) or (b)(1).
       ``(2) If the Board determines that a Federal executive 
     agency has not complied with the provisions of this chapter 
     relating to the employment or reemployment of a person by the 
     agency, the Board shall enter an order requiring the agency 
     or employee to comply with such provisions and to compensate 
     such person for any loss of wages or benefits suffered by 
     such person by reason of such lack of compliance.
       ``(3) Any compensation received by a person pursuant to an 
     order under paragraph (1) shall be in addition to any other 
     right or benefit provided for by this chapter and shall not 
     diminish any such right or benefit.
       ``(4) If the Board determines as a result of a hearing or 
     adjudication conducted pursuant a complaint submitted by a 
     person directly to the Board pursuant to subsection (b)(1) 
     that such person is entitled to an order referred to in 
     paragraph (2), the Board may, in its discretion, award such 
     person reasonable attorney fees, expert witness fees, and 
     other litigation expenses.
       ``(d) A person adversely affected or aggrieved by a final 
     order or decision of the Merit Systems Protection Board under 
     subsection (c) may petition the United States Court of 
     Appeals for the Federal Circuit to review the final order or 
     decision. Such petition and review shall be in accordance 
     with the procedures set forth in section 7703 of title 5.
       ``(e) A person may be represented by the Special Counsel in 
     an action for review of a final order or decision issued by 
     the Merit Systems Protection Board pursuant to subsection (c) 
     that is brought pursuant to section 7703 of title 5 unless 
     the person was not represented by the Special Counsel before 
     the Merit Systems Protection Board regarding such order or 
     decision.

     ``Sec. 4324. Enforcement of rights with respect to certain 
       Federal agencies

       ``(a) This section applies to any person who alleges that--
       ``(1) the reemployment of such person by an agency referred 
     to in subsection (a) of section 4315 of this title was not in 
     accordance with procedures for the reemployment of such 
     person under subsection (b) of such section; or
       ``(2) the failure of such agency to reemploy the person 
     under such section was otherwise wrongful.
       ``(b) Any person referred to in subsection (a) may submit a 
     claim relating to an allegation referred to in that 
     subsection to the inspector general of the agency which is 
     the subject of the allegation. The inspector general shall 
     investigate and resolve the allegation pursuant to procedures 
     prescribed by the head of the agency.
       ``(c) In prescribing procedures for the investigation and 
     resolution of allegations under subsection (b), the head of 
     an agency shall ensure, to the maximum extent practicable, 
     that the procedures are similar to the procedures for 
     investigating and resolving complaints utilized by the 
     Secretary under section 4321(d) of this title.
       ``(d) This section may not be construed--
       ``(1) as prohibiting an employee of an agency referred to 
     in subsection (a) from seeking information from the Secretary 
     regarding assistance in seeking reemployment from the agency 
     under this chapter, alternative employment in the Federal 
     Government under this chapter, or information relating to the 
     rights and obligations of employee and Federal agencies under 
     this chapter; or
       ``(2) as prohibiting such an agency from voluntarily 
     cooperating with or seeking assistance in or of clarification 
     from the Secretary or the Director of the Office of Personnel 
     Management of any matter arising under this chapter.

     ``Sec. 4325. Conduct of investigation; subpoenas

       ``(a) In carrying out any investigation under this chapter, 
     the Secretary's duly authorized representatives shall, at all 
     reasonable times, have reasonable access to, for purposes of 
     examination, and the right to copy and receive, any documents 
     of any person or employer that the Secretary considers 
     relevant to the investigation.
       ``(b) In carrying out any investigation under this chapter, 
     the Secretary may require by subpoena the attendance and 
     testimony of witnesses and the production of documents 
     relating to any matter under investigation. In case of 
     disobedience of the subpoena or contumacy and on request of 
     the Secretary, the Attorney General may apply to any district 
     court of the United States in whose jurisdiction such 
     disobedience or contumacy occurs for an order enforcing the 
     subpoena.
       ``(c) Upon application, the district courts of the United 
     States shall have jurisdiction to issue writs commanding any 
     person or employer to comply with the subpoena of the 
     Secretary or to comply with any order of the Secretary made 
     pursuant to a lawful investigation under this chapter and 
     district courts shall have jurisdiction to punish failure to 
     obey a subpoena or other lawful order of the Secretary as a 
     contempt of court.
       ``(d) Subsections (b) and (c) shall not apply to the 
     legislative branch or the judicial branch of the United 
     States.

                     ``SUBCHAPTER IV--MISCELLANEOUS

     ``Sec. 4331. Regulations

       ``(a) The Secretary (in consultation with the Secretary of 
     Defense) may prescribe regulations implementing the 
     provisions of this chapter with respect to States and local 
     governments (as employers) and private employers.
       ``(b)(1) The Director of the Office of Personnel Management 
     (in consultation with the Secretary and the Secretary of 
     Defense) may prescribe regulations implementing the 
     provisions of this chapter with regard to the application of 
     this chapter to Federal executive agencies (other than the 
     agencies referred to in paragraph (2)) as employers. Such 
     regulations shall be consistent with the regulations 
     pertaining to the States as employers and private employers.
       ``(2) The following entities may prescribe regulations to 
     carry out the activities of such entities under this chapter:
       ``(A) The Merit Systems Protection Board.
       ``(B) The Office of Special Counsel.
       ``(C) The agencies referred to in section 2303(a)(2)(C)(ii) 
     of title 5.

     ``Sec.  4332. Outreach

       ``The Secretary, the Secretary of Defense, and the 
     Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall take such actions as such 
     Secretaries determine are appropriate to inform persons 
     entitled to rights and benefits under this chapter and 
     employers of the rights, benefits, and obligations of such 
     persons and employers under this chapter.''.
       (b) Table of Chapters.--The tables of chapters at the 
     beginning of title 38, United States Code, and the beginning 
     of part III of such title are each amended by striking out 
     the item relating to chapter 43 and inserting in lieu thereof 
     the following:

``43. Employment and reemployment rights of members of the uniformed 
  services......................................................4301''.

       (c) Report Relating to Implementation of Reemployment 
     Rights Provisions.--Not later than one year after the date of 
     the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor, the 
     Attorney General of the United States, and the Special 
     Counsel referred to in section 4323(a)(1) of title 38, United 
     States Code (as added by subsection (a)), shall each submit a 
     report to the Congress relating to the implementation of 
     chapter 43 of such title (as added by such subsection).

     SEC. 3. EXEMPTION FROM MINIMUM SERVICE REQUIREMENTS.

       Section 5303A(b)(3) of title 38, United States Code, is 
     amended--
       (1) by striking out ``or'' at the end of subparagraph (E);
       (2) by striking out the period at the end of subparagraph 
     (F) and inserting in lieu thereof ``; or''; and
       (3) by adding at the end thereof the following new 
     subparagraph:
       ``(G) to an entitlement to rights and benefits under 
     chapter 43 of this title.''.

     SEC. 4. REPEAL OF TITLE 5 PROVISIONS RELATING TO REEMPLOYMENT 
                   RIGHTS OF RESERVISTS.

       (a) Repeal.--Subchapter II of chapter 35 of title 5, United 
     States Code, is repealed.
       (b) Conforming Amendment.--The table of sections at the 
     beginning of such chapter is amended by striking out the 
     items relating to subchapter II and section 3551.

     SEC. 5. REVISION OF FEDERAL CIVIL SERVICE RETIREMENT BENEFIT 
                   PROGRAM FOR RESERVISTS.

       (a) Creditable Military Service Under CSRS.--Section 
     8331(13) of title 5, United States Code, is amended in the 
     flush matter by inserting ``or full-time National Guard duty 
     (as such term is defined in section 101(d) of title 10) if 
     such service interrupts creditable civilian service under 
     this subchapter and is followed by reemployment in accordance 
     with chapter 43 of title 38 that occurs on or after August 1, 
     1990'' before the semicolon.
       (b) Pay Deductions for Military Service Under CSRS.--
     Section 8334(j)(1) of such title is amended--
       (1) by striking out ``Each employee'' and inserting in lieu 
     thereof ``(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), each 
     employee''; and
       (2) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(B) In any case where military service interrupts 
     creditable civilian service under this subchapter and 
     reemployment pursuant to chapter 43 of title 38 occurs on or 
     after August 1, 1990, the deposit payable under this 
     paragraph may not exceed the amount that would have been 
     deducted and withheld under subsection (a)(1) from basic pay 
     during civilian service if the employee had not performed the 
     period of military service.''.
       (c) Creditable Military Service Under FERS.--Section 
     8401(31) of such title is amended in the flush matter by 
     inserting ``or full-time National Guard duty (as such term is 
     defined in section 101(d) of title 10) if such service 
     interrupts creditable civilian service under this subchapter 
     and is followed by reemployment in accordance with chapter 43 
     of title 38 that occurs on or after August 1, 1990'' before 
     the semicolon.
       (d) Pay Deductions for Military Service Under FERS.--
     Section 8422(e)(1) of such title is amended--
       (1) by striking out ``Each employee'' and inserting in lieu 
     thereof ``(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), each 
     employee''; and
       (2) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(B) In any case where military service interrupts 
     creditable civilian service under this subchapter and 
     reemployment pursuant to chapter 43 of title 38 occurs on or 
     after August 1, 1990, the deposit payable under this 
     paragraph may not exceed the amount that would have been 
     deducted and withheld under subsection (a)(1) from basic pay 
     during civilian service if the employee had not performed the 
     period of military service.''.
       (e) Technical Amendments.--Title 5, United States Code, is 
     amended as follows:
       (1) In section 8401(11), by striking out ``1954'' in the 
     flush matter above clause (i) and inserting in lieu thereof 
     ``1986''.
       (2) In section 8422(a)(2)(A)(ii), by striking out ``1954'' 
     and inserting in lieu thereof ``1986''.
       (3) In section 8432(d), by striking out ``1954'' in the 
     first sentence and inserting in lieu thereof ``1986''.
       (4) In section 8433(i)(4), by striking out ``1954'' and 
     inserting in lieu thereof ``1986''.
       (5) In section 8440--
       (A) by striking out ``1954'' in subsection (a) and 
     inserting in lieu thereof ``1986''; and
       (B) by striking out ``1954'' in subsection (c) and 
     inserting in lieu thereof ``1986''.

     SEC. 6. THRIFT SAVINGS PLAN.

       (a) In General.--(1) Title 5, United States Code, is 
     amended by inserting after section 8432a the following:

     ``Sec. 8432b. Contributions of persons who perform military 
       service

       ``(a) This section applies to any employee who--
       ``(1) separates or enters leave-without-pay status in order 
     to perform military service; and
       ``(2) is subsequently restored to or reemployed in a 
     position which is subject to this chapter, pursuant to 
     chapter 43 of title 38.
       ``(b)(1) Each employee to whom this section applies may 
     contribute to the Thrift Savings Fund, in accordance with 
     this subsection, an amount not to exceed the amount described 
     in paragraph (2).
       ``(2) The maximum amount which an employee may contribute 
     under this subsection is equal to--
       ``(A) the contributions under section 8432(a) which would 
     have been made, over the period beginning on date of 
     separation or commencement of leave-without-pay status (as 
     applicable) and ending on the day before the date of 
     restoration or reemployment (as applicable); reduced by
       ``(B) any contributions under section 8432(a) actually made 
     by such employee over the period described in subparagraph 
     (A).
       ``(3) Contributions under this subsection--
       ``(A) shall be made at the same time and in the same manner 
     as would any contributions under section 8432(a);
       ``(B) shall be made over the period of time specified by 
     the employee under paragraph (4)(B); and
       ``(C) shall be in addition to any contributions then 
     actually being made under section 8432(a).
       ``(4)(A) The Executive Director shall prescribe the time, 
     form, and manner in which an employee may specify--
       ``(i) the total amount such employee wishes to contribute 
     under this subsection with respect to any particular period 
     referred to in paragraph (2)(B); and
       ``(ii) the period of time over which the employee wishes to 
     make contributions under this subsection.
       ``(B) The employing agency may place a maximum limit on the 
     period of time referred to in subparagraph (A)(ii), which 
     cannot be shorter than two times the period referred to in 
     paragraph (2)(B) and not longer than four times such period.
       ``(c) If an employee makes contributions under subsection 
     (b), the employing agency shall make contributions to the 
     Thrift Savings Fund on such employee's behalf--
       ``(1) in the same manner as would be required under section 
     8432(c)(2) if the employee contributions were being made 
     under section 8432(a); and
       ``(2) disregarding any contributions then actually being 
     made under section 8432(a) and any agency contributions 
     relating thereto.
       ``(d) An employee to whom this section applies is entitled 
     to have contributed to the Thrift Savings Fund on such 
     employee's behalf an amount equal to--
       ``(1) 1 percent of such employee's basic pay (as determined 
     under subsection (e)) for the period referred to in 
     subsection (b)(2)(B); reduced by
       ``(2) any contributions actually made on such employee's 
     behalf under section 8432(c)(1) with respect to the period 
     referred to in subsection (b)(2)(B).
       ``(e) For purposes of any computation under this section, 
     an employee shall, with respect to the period referred to in 
     subsection (b)(2)(B), be considered to have been paid at the 
     rate which would have been payable over such period had such 
     employee remained continuously employed in the position which 
     such employee last held before separating or entering leave-
     without-pay status to perform military service.
       ``(f) Amounts paid under subsection (c) or (d) shall be 
     paid--
       ``(1) by the agency to which the employee is restored or in 
     which such employee is reemployed;
       ``(2) from the same source as would be the case under 
     section 8432(e) with respect to sums required under section 
     8432(c); and
       ``(3) within the time prescribed by the Executive Director.
       ``(g)(1) For purposes of section 8432(g), in the case of an 
     employee to whom this section applies--
       ``(A) a separation from civilian service in order to 
     perform the military service on which the employee's 
     restoration or reemployment rights are based shall be 
     disregarded; and
       ``(B) such employee shall be credited with a period of 
     civilian service equal to the period referred to in 
     subsection (b)(2)(B).
       ``(2)(A) An employee to whom this section applies may 
     elect, for purposes of section 8433(d), or paragraph (1) or 
     (2) of section 8433(h), as the case may be, to have such 
     employee's separation (described in subsection (a)(1)) 
     treated as if it had never occurred.
       ``(B) An election under this paragraph shall be made within 
     such period of time after restoration or reemployment (as the 
     case may be) and otherwise in such manner as the Executive 
     Director prescribes.
       ``(h) The Executive Director shall prescribe regulations to 
     carry out this section.''.
       (2) The table of sections at the beginning of chapter 84 of 
     title 5, United States Code, is amended by inserting after 
     the item relating to section 8432a the following:

``8432b. Contributions of persons who perform military service.''.

       (b) Preservation of Certain Rights.--(1) Section 8433(d) of 
     title 5, United States Code, is amended by striking 
     ``subsection (e).'' and inserting ``subsection (e), unless an 
     election under section 8432b(g)(2) is made to treat such 
     separation for purposes of this subsection as if it had never 
     occurred.''.
       (2) Paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 8433(h) are each 
     amended by striking the period at the end and inserting ``, 
     or unless an election under section 8432b(g)(2) is made to 
     treat such separation for purposes of this paragraph as if it 
     had never occurred.''.
       (c) Election To Resume Regular Contributions Upon 
     Restoration or Reemployment.--Section 8432 of title 5, United 
     States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
       ``(i)(1) This subsection applies to any employee--
       ``(A) to whom section 8432b applies; and
       ``(B) who, during the period of such employee's absence 
     from civilian service (as referred to in section 
     8432b(b)(2)(B))--
       ``(i) is eligible to make an election described in 
     subsection (b)(1); or
       ``(ii) would be so eligible but for having either elected 
     to terminate individual contributions to the Thrift Savings 
     Fund within 2 months before commencing military service or 
     separated in order to perform military service.
       ``(2) The Executive Director shall prescribe regulations to 
     ensure that any employee to whom this subsection applies 
     shall, within a reasonable time after being restored or 
     reemployed (in the manner described in section 8432b(a)(2)), 
     be afforded the opportunity to make, for purposes of this 
     section, any election which would be allowable during a 
     period described in subsection (b)(1)(A).''.
       (d) Applicability to Employees Under CSRS.--Section 8351(b) 
     of title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 
     end the following:
       ``(11) In applying section 8432b to an employee 
     contributing to the Thrift Savings Fund after being restored 
     to or reemployed in a position subject to this subchapter, 
     pursuant to chapter 43 of title 38--
       ``(A) any reference in such section to contributions under 
     section 8432(a) shall be considered a reference to employee 
     contributions under this section;
       ``(B) the contribution rate under section 8432b(b)(2)(A) 
     shall be the maximum percentage allowable under subsection 
     (b)(2) of this section; and
       ``(C) subsections (c) and (d) of section 8432b shall be 
     disregarded.''.
       (e) Effective Date; Applicability.--This section and the 
     amendments made by this section--
       (1) shall take effect on the date of enactment of this Act; 
     and
       (2) shall apply to any employee whose release from military 
     service, discharge from hospitalization, or other similar 
     event making the individual eligible to seek restoration or 
     reemployment under chapter 43 of title 38, United States Code 
     (as added by section 2(a)), occurs on or after August 1, 
     1990.
       (f) Rules for Applying Amendments to Employees Restored or 
     Reemployed Before Effective Date.--In the case of any 
     employee (described in subsection (e)(2)) who is restored or 
     reemployed in a position of employment (in the circumstances 
     described in section 8432b(a) of title 5, United States Code, 
     as amended by this section) before the date of enactment of 
     this Act, the amendments made by this section shall apply to 
     such employee, in accordance with their terms, subject to the 
     following:
       (1) The employee shall be deemed not to have been 
     reemployed or restored until--
       (A) the date of enactment of this Act, or
       (B) the first day following such employee's reemployment or 
     restoration on which such employee is or was eligible to make 
     an election relating to contributions to the Thrift Savings 
     Fund,

     whichever occurs or occurred first.
       (2) If the employee changed agencies during the period 
     between date of actual reemployment or restoration and the 
     date of enactment of this Act, the employing agency as of 
     such date of enactment shall be considered the reemploying or 
     restoring agency.
       (3)(A) For purposes of any computation under section 8432b 
     of such title, pay shall be determined in accordance with 
     subsection (e) of such section, except that, with respect to 
     the period described in subparagraph (B), actual pay 
     attributable to such period shall be used.
       (B) The period described in this subparagraph is the period 
     beginning on the first day of the first applicable pay period 
     beginning on or after the date of the employee's actual 
     reemployment or restoration and ending on the day before the 
     date determined under paragraph (1).

     SEC. 7. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

       (a) Title 5.--Section 1204(a)(1) of title 5, United States 
     Code, is amended by striking out ``section 4323'' and 
     inserting in lieu thereof ``chapter 43''.
       (b) Title 10.--Section 706(c)(1) of title 10, United States 
     Code, is amended by striking out ``section 4321'' and 
     inserting in lieu thereof ``chapter 43''.

     SEC. 8. TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.

       (a) Technical Amendment.--Section 9(d) of Public Law 102-16 
     (105 Stat. 55) is amended by striking out ``Act'' the first 
     place it appears and inserting in lieu thereof ``section''.
       (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) 
     shall take effect as if included in Public Law 102-16 to 
     which such amendment relates.

     SEC. 9. TRANSITION RULES AND EFFECTIVE DATES.

       (a) Reemployment.--(1) Except as otherwise provided in this 
     Act, the amendments made by this Act shall be effective with 
     respect to reemployments initiated on or after the first day 
     after the 60-day period beginning on the date of enactment of 
     this Act.
       (2) The provisions of chapter 43 of title 38, United States 
     Code, in effect on the day before such date of enactment, 
     shall continue to apply to reemployments initiated before the 
     end of such 60-day period.
       (3) In determining the number of years of service that may 
     not be exceeded in an employee-employer relationship with 
     respect to which a person seeks reemployment under chapter 43 
     of title 38, United States Code, as in effect before or after 
     the date of enactment of this Act, there shall be included 
     all years of service without regard to whether the periods of 
     service occurred before or after such date of enactment 
     unless the period of service is exempted by the chapter 43 
     that is applicable, as provided in paragraphs (1) and (2), to 
     the reemployment concerned.
       (4) A person who initiates reemployment under chapter 43 of 
     title 38, United States Code, during or after the 60-day 
     period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act and 
     whose reemployment is made in connection with a period of 
     service in the uniform services that was initiated before the 
     end of such period shall be deemed to have satisfied the 
     notification requirement of section 4312(a)(1) of title 38, 
     United States Code, as provided in the amendments made by 
     this Act, if the person complied with any applicable notice 
     requirement under chapter 43, United States Code, as in 
     effect on the day before the date of enactment of this Act.
       (b) Discrimination.--The provisions of section 4311 of 
     title 38, United States Code, as provided in the amendments 
     made by this Act, and the provisions of subchapter III of 
     chapter 43 of such title, as provided in the amendments made 
     by this Act, that are necessary for the implementation of 
     such section 4311 shall become effective on the date of 
     enactment of this Act.
       (c) Insurance.--(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), 
     the provisions of section 4316(c) of title 38, United States 
     Code, as provided in the amendments made by this Act, 
     concerning insurance coverage shall become effective on the 
     date of enactment of this Act.
       (2) A person on active duty on the date of enactment of 
     this Act, or a family member or personal representative of 
     such person, may, after the date of enactment of this Act, 
     elect to reinstate or continue insurance coverage as provided 
     in such section 4316. If such an election is made, insurance 
     coverage shall remain in effect for the remaining portion of 
     the 18-month period that began on the date of such person's 
     separation from civilian employment or the period of the 
     person's service in the uniformed service, whichever is the 
     period of lesser duration.
       (d) Disability.--(1) Section 4313(a)(3) of chapter 43 of 
     title 38, United States Code, as provided in the amendments 
     made by this Act, shall apply to reemployments initiated on 
     or after August 1, 1990.
       (2) Effective as of August 1, 1990, section 4307 of title 
     38, United States Code (as in effect on the date of enactment 
     of this Act), is repealed, and the table of sections at the 
     beginning of chapter 43 of such title (as in effect on the 
     date of enactment of this Act) is amended by striking out the 
     item relating to section 4307.
       (e) Investigations and Subpoenas.--The provisions of 
     section 4325 of title 38, United States Code, as provided in 
     the amendments made by this Act, shall become effective on 
     the date of the enactment of this Act and apply to any matter 
     pending with the Secretary of Labor under section 4305 of 
     title 38, United States Code, as of that date.
       (f) Previous Actions.--Except as otherwise provided, the 
     amendments made by this Act do not affect reemployments that 
     were initiated, rights, benefits, and duties that matured, 
     penalties that were incurred, and proceedings that begin 
     before the end of the 60-day period referred to in subsection 
     (a).
       (g) Definition.--For the purposes of this section, the term 
     ``service in the uniformed services'' shall have the meaning 
     given such term in section 4303(13) of title 38, United 
     States Code, as provided in the amendments made by this Act.

     SEC. 10. INCREASE IN AMOUNT OF LOAN GUARANTY FOR LOANS FOR 
                   THE PURCHASE OR CONSTRUCTION OF HOMES.

       Subparagraphs (A)(i)(IV) and (B) of section 3703(a)(1) of 
     title 38, United States Code, are each amended by striking 
     out ``$46,000'' and inserting in lieu thereof ``$50,750''.
                                  ____

       In lieu of the matter proposed to be inserted by the 
     amendment of the Senate to the text of the bill, insert the 
     following:

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Uniformed Services 
     Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994''.

     SEC. 2. REVISION OF CHAPTER 43 OF TITLE 38.

       (a) Restatement and Improvement of Employment and 
     Reemployment Rights.--Chapter 43 of title 38, United States 
     Code, is amended to read as follows:

  ``CHAPTER 43--EMPLOYMENT AND REEMPLOYMENT RIGHTS OF MEMBERS OF THE 
                           UNIFORMED SERVICES

                        ``SUBCHAPTER I--GENERAL

``4301. Purposes; sense of Congress.
``4302. Relation to other law and plans or agreements.
``4303. Definitions.
``4304. Character of service.

 ``SUBCHAPTER II--EMPLOYMENT AND REEMPLOYMENT RIGHTS AND LIMITATIONS; 
                              PROHIBITIONS

``4311. Discrimination against persons who serve in the uniformed 
              services and acts of reprisal prohibited.
``4312. Reemployment rights of persons who serve in the uniformed 
              services.
``4313. Reemployment positions.
``4314. Reemployment by the Federal Government.
``4315. Reemployment by certain Federal agencies.
``4316. Rights, benefits, and obligations of persons absent from 
              employment for service in a uniformed service.
``4317. Health plans.
``4318. Employee pension benefit plans.

     ``SUBCHAPTER III--PROCEDURES FOR ASSISTANCE, ENFORCEMENT, AND 
                             INVESTIGATION

``4321. Assistance in obtaining reemployment or other employment rights 
              or benefits.
``4322. Enforcement of employment or reemployment rights.
``4323. Enforcement of rights with respect to a State or private 
              employer.
``4324. Enforcement of rights with respect to Federal executive 
              agencies.
``4325. Enforcement of rights with respect to certain Federal agencies.
``4326. Conduct of investigation; subpoenas.

               ``SUBCHAPTER IV--MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

``4331. Regulations.
``4332. Reports.
``4333. Outreach.

                        ``SUBCHAPTER I--GENERAL

     ``Sec. 4301. Purposes; sense of Congress

       ``(a) The purposes of this chapter are--
       ``(1) to encourage noncareer service in the uniformed 
     services by eliminating or minimizing the disadvantages to 
     civilian careers and employment which can result from such 
     service;
       ``(2) to minimize the disruption to the lives of persons 
     performing service in the uniformed services as well as to 
     their employers, their fellow employees, and their 
     communities, by providing for the prompt reemployment of such 
     persons upon their completion of such service under honorable 
     conditions; and
       ``(3) to prohibit discrimination against persons because of 
     their service in the uniformed services.
       ``(b) It is the sense of Congress that the Federal 
     Government should be a model employer in carrying out the 
     provisions of this chapter.

     ``Sec. 4302. Relation to other law and plans or agreements

       ``(a) Nothing in this chapter shall supersede, nullify or 
     diminish any Federal or State law (including any local law or 
     ordinance), contract, agreement, policy, plan, practice, or 
     other matter that establishes a right or benefit that is more 
     beneficial to, or is in addition to, a right or benefit 
     provided for such person in this chapter.
       ``(b) This chapter supersedes any State law (including any 
     local law or ordinance), contract, agreement, policy, plan, 
     practice, or other matter that reduces, limits, or eliminates 
     in any manner any right or benefit provided by this chapter, 
     including the establishment of additional prerequisites to 
     the exercise of any such right or the receipt of any such 
     benefit.

     ``Sec. 4303. Definitions

       ``For the purposes of this chapter--
       ``(1) The term `Attorney General' means the Attorney 
     General of the United States or any person designated by the 
     Attorney General to carry out a responsibility of the 
     Attorney General under this chapter.
       ``(2) The term `benefit', `benefit of employment', or 
     `rights and benefits' means any advantage, profit, privilege, 
     gain, status, account, or interest (other than wages or 
     salary for work performed) that accrues by reason of an 
     employment contract or agreement or an employer policy, plan, 
     or practice and includes rights and benefits under a pension 
     plan, a health plan, an employee stock ownership plan, 
     insurance coverage and awards, bonuses, severance pay, 
     supplemental unemployment benefits, vacations, and the 
     opportunity to select work hours or location of employment.
       ``(3) The term `employee' means any person employed by an 
     employer.
       ``(4)(A) Except as provided in subparagraphs (B) and (C), 
     the term `employer' means any person, institution, 
     organization, or other entity that pays salary or wages for 
     work performed or that has control over employment 
     opportunities, including--
       ``(i) a person, institution, organization, or other entity 
     to whom the employer has delegated the performance of 
     employment-related responsibilities;
       ``(ii) the Federal Government;
       ``(iii) a State;
       ``(iv) any successor in interest to a person, institution, 
     organization, or other entity referred to in this 
     subparagraph; and
       ``(v) a person, institution, organization, or other entity 
     that has denied initial employment in violation of section 
     4311.
       ``(B) In the case of a National Guard technician employed 
     under section 709 of title 32, the term `employer' means the 
     adjutant general of the State in which the technician is 
     employed.
       ``(C) Except as an actual employer of employees, an 
     employee pension benefit plan described in section 3(2) of 
     the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 
     U.S.C. 1002(2)) shall be deemed to be an employer only with 
     respect to the obligation to provide benefits described in 
     section 4318.
       ``(5) The term `Federal executive agency' includes the 
     United States Postal Service, the Postal Rate Commission, any 
     nonappropriated fund instrumentality of the United States, 
     any Executive agency (as that term is defined in section 105 
     of title 5) other than an agency referred to in section 
     2302(a)(2)(C)(ii) of title 5, and any military department (as 
     that term is defined in section 102 of title 5) with respect 
     to the civilian employees of that department.
       ``(6) The term `Federal Government' includes any Federal 
     executive agency, the legislative branch of the United 
     States, and the judicial branch of the United States.
       ``(7) The term `health plan' means an insurance policy or 
     contract, medical or hospital service agreement, membership 
     or subscription contract, or other arrangement under which 
     health services for individuals are provided or the expenses 
     of such services are paid.
       ``(8) The term `notice' means (with respect to subchapter 
     II) any written or verbal notification of an obligation or 
     intention to perform service in the uniformed services 
     provided to an employer by the employee who will perform such 
     service or by the uniformed service in which such service is 
     to be performed.
       ``(9) The term `qualified', with respect to an employment 
     position, means having the ability to perform the essential 
     tasks of the position.
       ``(10) The term `reasonable efforts', in the case of 
     actions required of an employer under this chapter, means 
     actions, including training provided by an employer, that do 
     not place an undue hardship on the employer.
       ``(11) Notwithstanding section 101, the term `Secretary' 
     means the Secretary of Labor or any person designated by such 
     Secretary to carry out an activity under this chapter.
       ``(12) The term `seniority' means longevity in employment 
     together with any benefits of employment which accrue with, 
     or are determined by, longevity in employment.
       ``(13) The term `service in the uniformed services' means 
     the performance of duty on a voluntary or involuntary basis 
     in a uniformed service under competent authority and includes 
     active duty, active duty for training, initial active duty 
     for training, inactive duty training, full-time National 
     Guard duty, and a period for which a person is absent from a 
     position of employment for the purpose of an examination to 
     determine the fitness of the person to perform any such duty.
       ``(14) The term `State' means each of the several States of 
     the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth 
     of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands, and other 
     territories of the United States (including the agencies and 
     political subdivisions thereof).
       ``(15) The term `undue hardship', in the case of actions 
     taken by an employer, means actions requiring significant 
     difficulty or expense, when considered in light of--
       ``(A) the nature and cost of the action needed under this 
     chapter;
       ``(B) the overall financial resources of the facility or 
     facilities involved in the provision of the action; the 
     number of persons employed at such facility; the effect on 
     expenses and resources, or the impact otherwise of such 
     action upon the operation of the facility;
       ``(C) the overall financial resources of the employer; the 
     overall size of the business of an employer with respect to 
     the number of its employees; the number, type, and location 
     of its facilities; and
       ``(D) the type of operation or operations of the employer, 
     including the composition, structure, and functions of the 
     work force of such employer; the geographic separateness, 
     administrative, or fiscal relationship of the facility or 
     facilities in question to the employer.
       ``(16) The term `uniformed services' means the Armed 
     Forces, the Army National Guard and the Air National Guard 
     when engaged in active duty for training, inactive duty 
     training, or full-time National Guard duty, the commissioned 
     corps of the Public Health Service, and any other category of 
     persons designated by the President in time of war or 
     emergency.

     ``Sec.  4304. Character of service

       ``A person's entitlement to the benefits of this chapter by 
     reason of the service of such person in one of the uniformed 
     services terminates upon the occurrence of any of the 
     following events:
       ``(1) A separation of such person from such uniformed 
     service with a dishonorable or bad conduct discharge.
       ``(2) A separation of such person from such uniformed 
     service under other than honorable conditions, as 
     characterized pursuant to regulations prescribed by the 
     Secretary concerned.
       ``(3) A dismissal of such person permitted under section 
     1161(a) of title 10.
       ``(4) A dropping of such person from the rolls pursuant to 
     section 1161(b) of title 10.

 ``SUBCHAPTER II--EMPLOYMENT AND REEMPLOYMENT RIGHTS AND LIMITATIONS; 
                              PROHIBITIONS

     ``Sec. 4311. Discrimination against persons who serve in the 
       uniformed services and acts of reprisal prohibited

       ``(a) A person who is a member of, applies to be a member 
     of, performs, has performed, applies to perform, or has an 
     obligation to perform service in a uniformed service shall 
     not be denied initial employment, reemployment, retention in 
     employment, promotion, or any benefit of employment by an 
     employer on the basis of that membership, application for 
     membership, performance of service, application for service, 
     or obligation.
       ``(b) An employer shall be considered to have denied a 
     person initial employment, reemployment, retention in 
     employment, promotion, or a benefit of employment in 
     violation of this section if the person's membership, 
     application for membership, service, application for service, 
     or obligation for service in the uniformed services is a 
     motivating factor in the employer's action, unless the 
     employer can prove that the action would have been taken in 
     the absence of such membership, application for membership, 
     performance of service, application for service, or 
     obligation.
       ``(c)(1) An employer may not discriminate in employment 
     against or take any adverse employment action against any 
     person because such person has taken an action to enforce a 
     protection afforded any person under this chapter, has 
     testified or otherwise made a statement in or in connection 
     with any proceeding under this chapter, has assisted or 
     otherwise participated in an investigation under this 
     chapter, or has exercised a right provided for in this 
     chapter.
       ``(2) The prohibition in paragraph (1) shall apply with 
     respect to a person regardless of whether that person has 
     performed service in the uniformed services and shall apply 
     to any position of employment, including a position that is 
     described in section 4312(d)(1)(C).

     ``Sec. 4312. Reemployment rights of persons who serve in the 
       uniformed services

       ``(a) Subject to subsections (b), (c), and (d) and to 
     section 4304, any person who is absent from a position of 
     employment by reason of service in the uniformed services 
     shall be entitled to the reemployment rights and benefits and 
     other employment benefits of this chapter if--
       ``(1) the person (or an appropriate officer of the 
     uniformed service in which such service is performed) has 
     given advance written or verbal notice of such service to 
     such person's employer;
       ``(2) the cumulative length of the absence and of all 
     previous absences from a position of employment with that 
     employer by reason of service in the uniformed services does 
     not exceed five years; and
       ``(3) except as provided in subsection (f), the person 
     reports to, or submits an application for reemployment to, 
     such employer in accordance with the provisions of subsection 
     (e).
       ``(b) No notice is required under subsection (a)(1) if the 
     giving of such notice is precluded by military necessity or, 
     under all of the relevant circumstances, the giving of such 
     notice is otherwise impossible or unreasonable. A 
     determination of military necessity for the purposes of this 
     subsection shall be made pursuant to regulations prescribed 
     by the Secretary of Defense and shall not be subject to 
     judicial review.
       ``(c) Subsection (a) shall apply to a person who is absent 
     from a position of employment by reason of service in the 
     uniformed services if such person's cumulative period of 
     service in the uniformed services, with respect to the 
     employer relationship for which a person seeks reemployment, 
     does not exceed five years, except that any such period of 
     service shall not include any service--
       ``(1) that is required, beyond five years, to complete an 
     initial period of obligated service;
       ``(2) during which such person was unable to obtain orders 
     releasing such person from a period of service in the 
     uniformed services before the expiration of such five-year 
     period and such inability was through no fault of such 
     person;
       ``(3) performed as required pursuant to section 270 of 
     title 10, under section 502(a) or 503 of title 32, or to 
     fulfill additional training requirements determined and 
     certified in writing by the Secretary concerned, to be 
     necessary for professional development, or for completion of 
     skill training or retraining; or
       ``(4) performed by a member of a uniformed service who is--
       ``(A) ordered to or retained on active duty under section 
     672(a), 672(g), 673, 673b, 673c, or 688 of title 10 or under 
     section 331, 332, 359, 360, 367, or 712 of title 14;
       ``(B) ordered to or retained on active duty (other than for 
     training) under any provision of law during a war or during a 
     national emergency declared by the President or the Congress;
       ``(C) ordered to active duty (other than for training) in 
     support, as determined by the Secretary concerned, of an 
     operational mission for which personnel have been ordered to 
     active duty under section 673b of title 10;
       ``(D) ordered to active duty in support, as determined by 
     the Secretary concerned, of a critical mission or requirement 
     of the uniformed services; or
       ``(E) called into Federal service as a member of the 
     National Guard under chapter 15 of title 10 or under section 
     3500 or 8500 of title 10.
       ``(d)(1) An employer is not required to reemploy a person 
     under this chapter if--
       ``(A) the employer's circumstances have so changed as to 
     make such reemployment impossible or unreasonable;
       ``(B) in the case of a person entitled to reemployment 
     under subsection (a)(3), (a)(4), or (b)(2)(B) of section 
     4313, such employment would impose an undue hardship on the 
     employer; or
       ``(C) the employment from which the person leaves to serve 
     in the uniformed services is for a brief, nonrecurrent period 
     and there is no reasonable expectation that such employment 
     will continue indefinitely or for a significant period.
       ``(2) In any proceeding involving an issue of whether--
       ``(A) any reemployment referred to in paragraph (1) is 
     impossible or unreasonable because of a change in an 
     employer's circumstances,
       ``(B) any accommodation, training, or effort referred to in 
     subsection (a)(3), (a)(4), or (b)(2)(B) of section 4313 would 
     impose an undue hardship on the employer, or
       ``(C) the employment referred to in paragraph (1)(C) is 
     brief or for a nonrecurrent period and without a reasonable 
     expectation that such employment will continue indefinitely 
     or for a significant period,

     the employer shall have the burden of proving the 
     impossibility or unreasonableness, undue hardship, or the 
     brief or nonrecurrent nature of the employment without a 
     reasonable expectation of continuing indefinitely or for a 
     significant period.
       ``(e)(1) Subject to paragraph (2), a person referred to in 
     subsection (a) shall, upon the completion of a period of 
     service in the uniformed services, notify the employer 
     referred to in such subsection of the person's intent to 
     return to a position of employment with such employer as 
     follows:
       ``(A) In the case of a person whose period of service in 
     the uniformed services was less than 31 days, by reporting to 
     the employer--
       ``(i) not later than the beginning of the first full 
     regularly scheduled work period on the first full calendar 
     day following the completion of the period of service and the 
     expiration of eight hours after a period allowing for the 
     safe transportation of the person from the place of that 
     service to the person's residence; or
       ``(ii) as soon as possible after the expiration of the 
     eight-hour period referred to in clause (i), if reporting 
     within the period referred to in such clause is impossible or 
     unreasonable through no fault of the person.
       ``(B) In the case of a person who is absent from a position 
     of employment for a period of any length for the purposes of 
     an examination to determine the person's fitness to perform 
     service in the uniformed services, by reporting in the manner 
     and time referred to in subparagraph (A).
       ``(C) In the case of a person whose period of service in 
     the uniformed services was for more than 30 days but less 
     than 181 days, by submitting an application for reemployment 
     with the employer not later than 14 days after the completion 
     of the period of service or if submitting such application 
     within such period is impossible or unreasonable through no 
     fault of the person, the next first full calendar day when 
     submission of such application becomes possible.
       ``(D) In the case of a person whose period of service in 
     the uniformed services was for more than 180 days, by 
     submitting an application for reemployment with the employer 
     not later than 90 days after the completion of the period of 
     service.
       ``(2)(A) A person who is hospitalized for, or convalescing 
     from, an illness or injury incurred in, or aggravated during, 
     the performance of service in the uniformed services shall, 
     at the end of the period that is necessary for the person to 
     recover from such illness or injury, report to the person's 
     employer (in the case of a person described in subparagraph 
     (A) or (B) of paragraph (1)) or submit an application for 
     reemployment with such employer (in the case of a person 
     described in subparagraph (C) or (D) of such paragraph). 
     Except as provided in subparagraph (B), such period of 
     recovery may not exceed two years.
       ``(B) Such two-year period shall be extended by the minimum 
     time required to accommodate the circumstances beyond such 
     person's control which make reporting within the period 
     specified in subparagraph (A) impossible or unreasonable.
       ``(3) A person who fails to report or apply for employment 
     or reemployment within the appropriate period specified in 
     this subsection shall not automatically forfeit such person's 
     entitlement to the rights and benefits referred to in 
     subsection (a) but shall be subject to the conduct rules, 
     established policy, and general practices of the employer 
     pertaining to explanations and discipline with respect to 
     absence from scheduled work.
       ``(f)(1) A person who submits an application for 
     reemployment in accordance with subparagraph (C) or (D) of 
     subsection (e)(1) or subsection (e)(2) shall provide to the 
     person's employer (upon the request of such employer) 
     documentation to establish that--
       ``(A) the person's application is timely;
       ``(B) the person has not exceeded the service limitations 
     set forth in subsection (a)(2) (except as permitted under 
     subsection (c)); and
       ``(C) the person's entitlement to the benefits under this 
     chapter has not been terminated pursuant to section 4304.
       ``(2) Documentation of any matter referred to in paragraph 
     (1) that satisfies regulations prescribed by the Secretary 
     shall satisfy the documentation requirements in such 
     paragraph.
       ``(3)(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), the 
     failure of a person to provide documentation that satisfies 
     regulations prescribed pursuant to paragraph (2) shall not be 
     a basis for denying reemployment in accordance with the 
     provisions of this chapter if the failure occurs because such 
     documentation does not exist or is not readily available at 
     the time of the request of the employer. If, after such 
     reemployment, documentation becomes available that 
     establishes that such person does not meet one or more of the 
     requirements referred to in subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C) 
     of paragraph (1), the employer of such person may terminate 
     the employment of the person and the provision of any rights 
     or benefits afforded the person under this chapter.
       ``(B) An employer who reemploys a person absent from a 
     position of employment for more than 90 days may require that 
     the person provide the employer with the documentation 
     referred to in subparagraph (A) before beginning to treat the 
     person as not having incurred a break in service for pension 
     purposes under section 4318(a)(2)(A).
       ``(4) An employer may not delay or attempt to defeat a 
     reemployment obligation by demanding documentation that does 
     not then exist or is not then readily available.
       ``(g) The right of a person to reemployment under this 
     section shall not entitle such person to retention, 
     preference, or displacement rights over any person with a 
     superior claim under the provisions of title 5, United States 
     Code, relating to veterans and other preference eligibles.
       ``(h) In any determination of a person's entitlement to 
     protection under this chapter, the timing, frequency, and 
     duration of the person's training or service, or the nature 
     of such training or service (including voluntary service) in 
     the uniformed services, shall not be a basis for denying 
     protection of this chapter if the service does not exceed the 
     limitations set forth in subsection (c) and the notice 
     requirements established in subsection (a)(1) and the 
     notification requirements established in subsection (e) are 
     met.

     ``Sec. 4313. Reemployment positions

       ``(a) Subject to subsection (b) (in the case of any 
     employee) and sections 4314 and 4315 (in the case of an 
     employee of the Federal Government), a person entitled to 
     reemployment under section 4312, upon completion of a period 
     of service in the uniformed services, shall be promptly 
     reemployed in a position of employment in accordance with the 
     following order of priority:
       ``(1) Except as provided in paragraphs (3) and (4), in the 
     case of a person whose period of service in the uniformed 
     services was for less than 91 days--
       ``(A) in the position of employment in which the person 
     would have been employed if the continuous employment of such 
     person with the employer had not been interrupted by such 
     service, the duties of which the person is qualified to 
     perform; or
       ``(B) in the position of employment in which the person was 
     employed on the date of the commencement of the service in 
     the uniformed services, only if the person is not qualified 
     to perform the duties of the position referred to in 
     subparagraph (A) after reasonable efforts by the employer to 
     qualify the person.
       ``(2) Except as provided in paragraphs (3) and (4), in the 
     case of a person whose period of service in the uniformed 
     services was for more than 90 days--
       ``(A) in the position of employment in which the person 
     would have been employed if the continuous employment of such 
     person with the employer had not been interrupted by such 
     service, or a position of like seniority, status and pay, the 
     duties of which the person is qualified to perform; or
       ``(B) in the position of employment in which the person was 
     employed on the date of the commencement of the service in 
     the uniformed services, or a position of like seniority, 
     status and pay, the duties of which the person is qualified 
     to perform, only if the person is not qualified to perform 
     the duties of a position referred to in subparagraph (A) 
     after reasonable efforts by the employer to qualify the 
     person.
       ``(3) In the case of a person who has a disability incurred 
     in, or aggravated during, such service, and who (after 
     reasonable efforts by the employer to accommodate the 
     disability) is not qualified due to such disability to be 
     employed in the position of employment in which the person 
     would have been employed if the continuous employment of such 
     person with the employer had not been interrupted by such 
     service--
       ``(A) in any other position which is equivalent in 
     seniority, status, and pay, the duties of which the person is 
     qualified to perform or would become qualified to perform 
     with reasonable efforts by the employer; or
       ``(B) if not employed under subparagraph (A), in a position 
     which is the nearest approximation to a position referred to 
     in subparagraph (A) in terms of seniority, status, and pay 
     consistent with circumstances of such person's case.
       ``(4) In the case of a person who (A) is not qualified to 
     be employed in (i) the position of employment in which the 
     person would have been employed if the continuous employment 
     of such person with the employer had not been interrupted by 
     such service, or (ii) in the position of employment in which 
     such person was employed on the date of the commencement of 
     the service in the uniform services for any reason (other 
     than disability incurred in, or aggravated during, service in 
     the uniformed services), and (B) cannot become qualified with 
     reasonable efforts by the employer, in any other position of 
     lesser status and pay which such person is qualified to 
     perform, with full seniority.
       ``(b)(1) If two or more persons are entitled to 
     reemployment under section 4312 in the same position of 
     employment and more than one of them has reported for such 
     reemployment, the person who left the position first shall 
     have the prior right to reemployment in that position.
       ``(2) Any person entitled to reemployment under section 
     4312 who is not reemployed in a position of employment by 
     reason of paragraph (1) shall be entitled to be reemployed as 
     follows:
       ``(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), in any other 
     position of employment referred to in subsection (a)(1) or 
     (a)(2), as the case may be (in the order of priority set out 
     in the applicable subsection), that provides a similar status 
     and pay to a position of employment referred to in paragraph 
     (1) of this subsection, consistent with the circumstances of 
     such person's case, with full seniority.
       ``(B) In the case of a person who has a disability incurred 
     in, or aggravated during, a period of service in the 
     uniformed services that requires reasonable efforts by the 
     employer for the person to be able to perform the duties of 
     the position of employment, in any other position referred to 
     in subsection (a)(3) (in the order of priority set out in 
     that subsection) that provides a similar status and pay to a 
     position referred to in paragraph (1) of this subsection, 
     consistent with circumstances of such person's case, with 
     full seniority.

     ``Sec. 4314. Reemployment by the Federal Government

       ``(a) Except as provided in subsections (b), (c), and (d), 
     if a person is entitled to reemployment by the Federal 
     Government under section 4312, such person shall be 
     reemployed in a position of employment as described in 
     section 4313.
       ``(b)(1) If the Director of the Office of Personnel 
     Management makes a determination described in paragraph (2) 
     with respect to a person who was employed by a Federal 
     executive agency at the time the person entered the service 
     from which the person seeks reemployment under this section, 
     the Director shall--
       ``(A) identify a position of like seniority, status, and 
     pay at another Federal executive agency that satisfies the 
     requirements of section 4313 and for which the person is 
     qualified; and
       ``(B) ensure that the person is offered such position.
       ``(2) The Director shall carry out the duties referred to 
     in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (1) if the Director 
     determines that--
       ``(A) the Federal executive agency that employed the person 
     referred to in such paragraph no longer exists and the 
     functions of such agency have not been transferred to another 
     Federal executive agency; or
       ``(B) it is impossible or unreasonable for the agency to 
     reemploy the person.
       ``(c) If the employer of a person described in subsection 
     (a) was, at the time such person entered the service from 
     which such person seeks reemployment under this section, a 
     part of the judicial branch or the legislative branch of the 
     Federal Government, and such employer determines that it is 
     impossible or unreasonable for such employer to reemploy such 
     person, such person shall, upon application to the Director 
     of the Office of Personnel Management, be ensured an offer of 
     employment in an alternative position in a Federal executive 
     agency on the basis described in subsection (b).
       ``(d) If the adjutant general of a State determines that it 
     is impossible or unreasonable to reemploy a person who was a 
     National Guard technician employed under section 709 of title 
     32, such person shall, upon application to the Director of 
     the Office of Personnel Management, be ensured an offer of 
     employment in an alternative position in a Federal executive 
     agency on the basis described in subsection (b).

     ``Sec.  4315. Reemployment by certain Federal agencies

       ``(a) The head of each agency referred to in section 
     2302(a)(2)(C)(ii) of title 5 shall prescribe procedures for 
     ensuring that the rights under this chapter apply to the 
     employees of such agency.
       ``(b) In prescribing procedures under subsection (a), the 
     head of an agency referred to in that subsection shall 
     ensure, to the maximum extent practicable, that the 
     procedures of the agency for reemploying persons who serve in 
     the uniformed services provide for the reemployment of such 
     persons in the agency in a manner similar to the manner of 
     reemployment described in section 4313.
       ``(c)(1) The procedures prescribed under subsection (a) 
     shall designate an official at the agency who shall determine 
     whether or not the reemployment of a person referred to in 
     subsection (b) by the agency is impossible or unreasonable.
       ``(2) Upon making a determination that the reemployment by 
     the agency of a person referred to in subsection (b) is 
     impossible or unreasonable, the official referred to in 
     paragraph (1) shall notify the person and the Director of the 
     Office of Personnel Management of such determination.
       ``(3) A determination pursuant to this subsection shall not 
     be subject to judicial review.
       ``(4) The head of each agency referred to in subsection (a) 
     shall submit to the Select Committee on Intelligence and the 
     Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and the 
     Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the Committee 
     on Veterans' Affairs of the House of Representatives on an 
     annual basis a report on the number of persons whose 
     reemployment with the agency was determined under this 
     subsection to be impossible or unreasonable during the year 
     preceding the report, including the reason for each such 
     determination.
       ``(d)(1) Except as provided in this section, nothing in 
     this section, section 4313, or section 4325 shall be 
     construed to exempt any agency referred to in subsection (a) 
     from compliance with any other substantive provision of this 
     chapter.
       ``(2) This section may not be construed--
       ``(A) as prohibiting an employee of an agency referred to 
     in subsection (a) from seeking information from the Secretary 
     regarding assistance in seeking reemployment from the agency 
     under this chapter, alternative employment in the Federal 
     Government under this chapter, or information relating to the 
     rights and obligations of employee and Federal agencies under 
     this chapter; or
       ``(B) as prohibiting such an agency from voluntarily 
     cooperating with or seeking assistance in or of clarification 
     from the Secretary or the Director of the Office of Personnel 
     Management of any matter arising under this chapter.
       ``(e) The Director of the Office of Personnel Management 
     shall ensure the offer of employment to a person in a 
     position in a Federal executive agency on the basis described 
     in subsection (b) if--
       ``(1) the person was an employee of an agency referred to 
     in section 2302(a)(2)(C)(ii) of title 5 at the time the 
     person entered the service from which the person seeks 
     reemployment under this section;
       ``(2) the appropriate officer of the agency determines 
     under subsection (c) that reemployment of the person by the 
     agency is impossible or unreasonable; and
       ``(3) the person submits an application to the Director for 
     an offer of employment under this subsection.

     ``Sec. 4316. Rights, benefits, and obligations of persons 
       absent from employment for service in a uniformed service

       ``(a) A person who is reemployed under this chapter is 
     entitled to the seniority and other rights and benefits 
     determined by seniority that the person had on the date of 
     the commencement of service in the uniformed services plus 
     the additional seniority and rights and benefits that such 
     person would have attained if the person had remained 
     continuously employed.
       ``(b)(1) Subject to paragraphs (2) through (6), a person 
     who is absent from a position of employment by reason of 
     service in the uniformed services shall be--
       ``(A) deemed to be on furlough or leave of absence while 
     performing such service; and
       ``(B) entitled to such other rights and benefits not 
     determined by seniority as are generally provided by the 
     employer of the person to employees having similar seniority, 
     status, and pay who are on furlough or leave of absence under 
     a contract, agreement, policy, practice, or plan in effect at 
     the commencement of such service or established while such 
     person performs such service.
       ``(2)(A) Subject to subparagraph (B), a person who--
       ``(i) is absent from a position of employment by reason of 
     service in the uniformed services, and
       ``(ii) knowingly provides written notice of intent not to 
     return to a position of employment after service in the 
     uniformed service,
     is not entitled to rights and benefits under paragraph 
     (1)(B).
       ``(B) For the purposes of subparagraph (A), the employer 
     shall have the burden of proving that a person knowingly 
     provided clear written notice of intent not to return to a 
     position of employment after service in the uniformed service 
     and, in doing so, was aware of the specific rights and 
     benefits to be lost under subparagraph (A).
       ``(3) A person deemed to be on furlough or leave of absence 
     under this subsection while serving in the uniformed services 
     shall not be entitled under this subsection to any benefits 
     to which the person would not otherwise be entitled if the 
     person had remained continuously employed.
       ``(4) Such person may be required to pay the employee cost, 
     if any, of any funded benefit continued pursuant to paragraph 
     (1) to the extent other employees on furlough or leave of 
     absence are so required.
       ``(5) The entitlement of a person to coverage under a 
     health plan is provided for under section 4317.
       ``(6) The entitlement of a person to a right or benefit 
     under an employee pension benefit plan is provided for under 
     section 4318.
       ``(c) A person who is reemployed by an employer under this 
     chapter shall not be discharged from such employment, except 
     for cause--
       ``(1) within one year after the date of such reemployment, 
     if the person's period of service before the reemployment was 
     more than 180 days; or
       ``(2) within 180 days after the date of such reemployment, 
     if the person's period of service before the reemployment was 
     more than 30 days but less than 181 days.
       ``(d) Any person whose employment with an employer is 
     interrupted by a period of service in the uniformed services 
     shall be permitted, upon request of that person, to use 
     during such period of service any vacation, annual, or 
     similar leave with pay accrued by the person before the 
     commencement of such service.

     ``Sec. 4317. Health plans

       ``(a)(1)(A) Subject to paragraphs (2) and (3), in any case 
     in which a person (or the person's dependents) has coverage 
     under a health plan in connection with the person's position 
     of employment, including a group health plan (as defined in 
     section 607(1) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act 
     of 1974), and such person is absent from such position of 
     employment by reason of service in the uniformed services, 
     the plan shall provide that the person may elect to continue 
     such coverage as provided in this subsection. The maximum 
     period of coverage of a person and the person's dependents 
     under such an election shall be the lesser of--
       ``(i) the 18-month period beginning on the date on which 
     the person's absence begins; or
       ``(ii) the day after the date on which the person fails to 
     apply for or return to a position of employment, as 
     determined under section 4312(e).
       ``(B) A person who elects to continue health-plan coverage 
     under this paragraph may be required to pay not more than 102 
     percent of the full premium under the plan (determined in the 
     same manner as the applicable premium under section 
     4980B(f)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) associated 
     with such coverage for the employer's other employees, except 
     that in the case of a person who performs service in the 
     uniformed services for less than 31 days, such person may not 
     be required to pay more than the employee share, if any, for 
     such coverage.
       ``(C) In the case of a health plan that is a multiemployer 
     plan, as defined in section 3(37) of the Employee Retirement 
     Income Security Act of 1974, any liability under the plan for 
     employer contributions and benefits arising under this 
     paragraph shall be allocated--
       ``(i) by the plan in such manner as the plan sponsor shall 
     provide; or
       ``(ii) if the sponsor does not provide--
       ``(I) to the last employer employing the person before the 
     period served by the person in the uniformed services, or
       ``(II) if such last employer is no longer functional, to 
     the plan.
       ``(b)(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), in the case 
     of a person whose coverage under a health plan was terminated 
     by reason of service in the uniformed services, an exclusion 
     or waiting period may not be imposed in connection with the 
     reinstatement of such coverage upon reemployment under this 
     chapter if an exclusion or waiting period would not have been 
     imposed under health plan had coverage of such person by such 
     plan not been terminated as a result of such service. This 
     paragraph applies to the person who is reemployed and to any 
     individual who is covered by such plan by reason of the 
     reinstatement of the coverage of such person.
       ``(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to the coverage of any 
     illness or injury determined by the Secretary of Veterans 
     Affairs to have been incurred in, or aggravated during, 
     performance of service in the uniformed services.

     ``Sec. 4318. Employee pension benefit plans

       ``(a)(1)(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), in the 
     case of a right provided pursuant to an employee pension 
     benefit plan (including those described in sections 3(2) and 
     3(33) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974) 
     or a right provided under any Federal or State law governing 
     pension benefits for governmental employees, the right to 
     pension benefits of a person reemployed under this chapter 
     shall be determined under this section.
       ``(B) In the case of benefits under the Thrift Savings 
     Plan, the rights of a person reemployed under this chapter 
     shall be those rights provided in section 8432b of title 5. 
     The first sentence of this subparagraph shall not be 
     construed to affect any other right or benefit under this 
     chapter.
       ``(2)(A) A person reemployed under this chapter shall be 
     treated as not having incurred a break in service with the 
     employer or employers maintaining the plan by reason of such 
     person's period or periods of service in the uniformed 
     services.
       ``(B) Each period served by a person in the uniformed 
     services shall, upon reemployment under this chapter, be 
     deemed to constitute service with the employer or employers 
     maintaining the plan for the purpose of determining the 
     nonforfeitability of the person's accrued benefits and for 
     the purpose of determining the accrual of benefits under the 
     plan.
       ``(b)(1) An employer reemploying a person under this 
     chapter shall, with respect to a period of service described 
     in subsection (a)(2)(B), be liable to an employee pension 
     benefit plan for funding any obligation of the plan to 
     provide the benefits described in subsection (a)(2) and shall 
     allocate the amount of any employer contribution for the 
     person in the same manner and to the same extent the 
     allocation occurs for other employees during the period of 
     service. For purposes of determining the amount of such 
     liability and any obligation of the plan, earnings and 
     forfeitures shall not be included. For purposes of 
     determining the amount of such liability and for purposes of 
     section 515 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 
     1974 or any similar Federal or State law governing pension 
     benefits for governmental employees, service in the uniformed 
     services that is deemed under subsection (a) to be service 
     with the employer shall be deemed to be service with the 
     employer under the terms of the plan or any applicable 
     collective bargaining agreement. In the case of a 
     multiemployer plan, as defined in section 3(37) of the 
     Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, any 
     liability of the plan described in this paragraph shall be 
     allocated--
       ``(A) by the plan in such manner as the sponsor maintaining 
     the plan shall provide; or
       ``(B) if the sponsor does not provide--
       ``(i) to the last employer employing the person before the 
     period served by the person in the uniformed services, or
       ``(ii) if such last employer is no longer functional, to 
     the plan.
       ``(2) A person reemployed under this chapter shall be 
     entitled to accrued benefits pursuant to subsection (a) that 
     are contingent on the making of, or derived from, employee 
     contributions or elective deferrals (as defined in section 
     402(g)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) only to the 
     extent the person makes payment to the plan with respect to 
     such contributions or deferrals. No such payment may exceed 
     the amount the person would have been permitted or required 
     to contribute had the person remained continuously employed 
     by the employer throughout the period of service described in 
     subsection (a)(2)(B). Any payment to the plan described in 
     this paragraph shall be made during the period beginning with 
     the date of reemployment and whose duration is three times 
     the period of the person's service in the uniformed services, 
     not to exceed five years.
       ``(3) For purposes of computing an employer's liability 
     under paragraph (1) or the employee's contributions under 
     paragraph (2), the employee's compensation during the period 
     of service described in subsection (a)(2)(B) shall be 
     computed--
       ``(A) at the rate the employee would have received but for 
     the period of service described in subsection (a)(2)(B), or
       ``(B) in the case that the determination of such rate is 
     not reasonably certain, on the basis of the employee's 
     average rate of compensation during the 12-month period 
     immediately preceding such period (or, if shorter, the period 
     of employment immediately preceding such period).
       ``(c) Any employer who reemploys a person under this 
     chapter and who is an employer contributing to a 
     multiemployer plan, as defined in section 3(37) of the 
     Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, under which 
     benefits are or may be payable to such person by reason of 
     the obligations set forth in this chapter, shall, within 30 
     days after the date of such reemployment, provide 
     information, in writing, of such reemployment to the 
     administrator of such plan.

     ``SUBCHAPTER III--PROCEDURES FOR ASSISTANCE, ENFORCEMENT, AND 
                             INVESTIGATION

     ``Sec. 4321. Assistance in obtaining reemployment or other 
       employment rights or benefits

       ``The Secretary (through the Veterans' Employment and 
     Training Service) shall provide assistance to any person with 
     respect to the employment and reemployment rights and 
     benefits to which such person is entitled under this chapter. 
     In providing such assistance, the Secretary may request the 
     assistance of existing Federal and State agencies engaged in 
     similar or related activities and utilize the assistance of 
     volunteers.

     ``Sec. 4322. Enforcement of employment or reemployment rights

       ``(a) A person who claims that--
       ``(1) such person is entitled under this chapter to 
     employment or reemployment rights or benefits with respect to 
     employment by an employer; and
       ``(2)(A) such employer has failed or refused, or is about 
     to fail or refuse, to comply with the provisions of this 
     chapter; or
       ``(B) in the case that the employer is a Federal executive 
     agency, such employer or the Office of Personnel Management 
     has failed or refused, or is about to fail or refuse, to 
     comply with the provisions of this chapter,

     may file a complaint with the Secretary in accordance with 
     subsection (b), and the Secretary shall investigate such 
     complaint.
       ``(b) Such complaint shall be in writing, be in such form 
     as the Secretary may prescribe, include the name and address 
     of the employer against whom the complaint is filed, and 
     contain a summary of the allegations that form the basis for 
     the complaint.
       ``(c) The Secretary shall, upon request, provide technical 
     assistance to a potential claimant with respect to a 
     complaint under this subsection, and when appropriate, to 
     such claimant's employer.
       ``(d) The Secretary shall investigate each complaint 
     submitted pursuant to subsection (a). If the Secretary 
     determines as a result of the investigation that the action 
     alleged in such complaint occurred, the Secretary shall 
     resolve the complaint by making reasonable efforts to ensure 
     that the person or entity named in the complaint complies 
     with the provisions of this chapter.
       ``(e) If the efforts of the Secretary with respect to a 
     complaint under subsection (d) are unsuccessful, the 
     Secretary shall notify the person who submitted the complaint 
     of--
       ``(1) the results of the Secretary's investigation; and
       ``(2) the complainant's entitlement to proceed under the 
     enforcement of rights provisions provided under section 4323 
     (in the case of a person submitting a complaint against a 
     State or private employer) or section 4324 (in the case of a 
     person submitting a complaint against a Federal executive 
     agency).
       ``(f) This subchapter does not apply to any action relating 
     to benefits to be provided under the Thrift Savings Plan 
     under title 5.

     ``Sec. 4323. Enforcement of rights with respect to a State or 
       private employer

       ``(a)(1) A person who receives from the Secretary a 
     notification pursuant to section 4322(e) of an unsuccessful 
     effort to resolve a complaint relating to a State (as an 
     employer) or a private employer may request that the 
     Secretary refer the complaint to the Attorney General. If the 
     Attorney General is reasonably satisfied that the person on 
     whose behalf the complaint is referred is entitled to the 
     rights or benefits sought, the Attorney General may appear on 
     behalf of, and act as attorney for, the person on whose 
     behalf the complaint is submitted and commence an action for 
     appropriate relief for such person in an appropriate United 
     States district court.
       ``(2) A person may commence an action for relief with 
     respect to a complaint if that person--
       ``(A) has chosen not to apply to the Secretary for 
     assistance regarding the complaint under section 4322(c);
       ``(B) has chosen not to request that the Secretary refer 
     the complaint to the Attorney General under paragraph (1); or
       ``(C) has been refused representation by the Attorney 
     General with respect to the complaint under such paragraph.
       ``(b) In the case of an action against a State as an 
     employer, the appropriate district court is the court for any 
     district in which the State exercises any authority or 
     carries out any function. In the case of a private employer 
     the appropriate district court is the district court for any 
     district in which the private employer of the person 
     maintains a place of business.
       ``(c)(1)(A) The district courts of the United States shall 
     have jurisdiction, upon the filing of a complaint, motion, 
     petition, or other appropriate pleading by or on behalf of 
     the person claiming a right or benefit under this chapter--
       ``(i) to require the employer to comply with the provisions 
     of this chapter;
       ``(ii) to require the employer to compensate the person for 
     any loss of wages or benefits suffered by reason of such 
     employer's failure to comply with the provisions of this 
     chapter; and
       ``(iii) to require the employer to pay the person an amount 
     equal to the amount referred to in clause (ii) as liquidated 
     damages, if the court determines that the employer's failure 
     to comply with the provisions of this chapter was willful.
       ``(B) Any compensation under clauses (ii) and (iii) of 
     subparagraph (A) shall be in addition to, and shall not 
     diminish, any of the other rights and benefits provided for 
     in this chapter.
       ``(2)(A) No fees or court costs shall be charged or taxed 
     against any person claiming rights under this chapter.
       ``(B) In any action or proceeding to enforce a provision of 
     this chapter by a person under subsection (a)(2) who obtained 
     private counsel for such action or proceeding, the court may 
     award any such person who prevails in such action or 
     proceeding reasonable attorney fees, expert witness fees, and 
     other litigation expenses.
       ``(3) The court may use its full equity powers, including 
     temporary or permanent injunctions, temporary restraining 
     orders, and contempt orders, to vindicate fully the rights or 
     benefits of persons under this chapter.
       ``(4) An action under this chapter may be initiated only by 
     a person claiming rights or benefits under this chapter, not 
     by an employer, prospective employer, or other entity with 
     obligations under this chapter.
       ``(5) In any such action, only an employer or a potential 
     employer, as the case may be, shall be a necessary party 
     respondent.
       ``(6) No State statute of limitations shall apply to any 
     proceeding under this chapter.
       ``(7) A State shall be subject to the same remedies, 
     including prejudgment interest, as may be imposed upon any 
     private employer under this section.

     ``Sec. 4324. Enforcement of rights with respect to Federal 
       executive agencies

       ``(a)(1) A person who receives from the Secretary a 
     notification pursuant to section 4322(e) of an unsuccessful 
     effort to resolve a complaint relating to a Federal executive 
     agency may request that the Secretary refer the complaint for 
     litigation before the Merit Systems Protection Board. The 
     Secretary shall refer the complaint to the Office of Special 
     Counsel established by section 1211 of title 5.
       ``(2)(A) If the Special Counsel is reasonably satisfied 
     that the person on whose behalf a complaint is referred under 
     paragraph (1) is entitled to the rights or benefits sought, 
     the Special Counsel (upon the request of the person 
     submitting the complaint) may appear on behalf of, and act as 
     attorney for, the person and initiate an action regarding 
     such complaint before the Merit Systems Protection Board.
       ``(B) If the Special Counsel declines to initiate an action 
     and represent a person before the Merit Systems Protection 
     Board under subparagraph (A), the Special Counsel shall 
     notify such person of that decision.
       ``(b) A person may submit a complaint against a Federal 
     executive agency under this subchapter directly to the Merit 
     Systems Protection Board if that person--
       ``(1) has chosen not to apply to the Secretary for 
     assistance regarding a complaint under section 4322(c);
       ``(2) has received a notification from the Secretary under 
     section 4322(e);
       ``(3) has chosen not to be represented before the Board by 
     the Special Counsel pursuant to subsection (a)(2)(A); or
       ``(4) has received a notification of a decision from the 
     Special Counsel under subsection (a)(2)(B).
       ``(c)(1) The Merit Systems Protection Board shall 
     adjudicate any complaint brought before the Board pursuant to 
     subsection (a)(2)(A) or (b). A person who seeks a hearing or 
     adjudication by submitting such a complaint under this 
     paragraph may be represented at such hearing or adjudication 
     in accordance with the rules of the Board.
       ``(2) If the Board determines that a Federal executive 
     agency has not complied with the provisions of this chapter 
     relating to the employment or reemployment of a person by the 
     agency, the Board shall enter an order requiring the agency 
     or employee to comply with such provisions and to compensate 
     such person for any loss of wages or benefits suffered by 
     such person by reason of such lack of compliance.
       ``(3) Any compensation received by a person pursuant to an 
     order under paragraph (2) shall be in addition to any other 
     right or benefit provided for by this chapter and shall not 
     diminish any such right or benefit.
       ``(4) If the Board determines as a result of a hearing or 
     adjudication conducted pursuant to a complaint submitted by a 
     person directly to the Board pursuant to subsection (b) that 
     such person is entitled to an order referred to in paragraph 
     (2), the Board may, in its discretion, award such person 
     reasonable attorney fees, expert witness fees, and other 
     litigation expenses.
       ``(d)(1) A person adversely affected or aggrieved by a 
     final order or decision of the Merit Systems Protection Board 
     under subsection (c) may petition the United States Court of 
     Appeals for the Federal Circuit to review the final order or 
     decision. Such petition and review shall be in accordance 
     with the procedures set forth in section 7703 of title 5.
       ``(2) Such person may be represented in the Federal Circuit 
     proceeding by the Special Counsel unless the person was not 
     represented by the Special Counsel before the Merit Systems 
     Protection Board regarding such order or decision.

     ``Sec. 4325. Enforcement of rights with respect to certain 
       Federal agencies

       ``(a) This section applies to any person who alleges that--
       ``(1) the reemployment of such person by an agency referred 
     to in subsection (a) of section 4315 was not in accordance 
     with procedures for the reemployment of such person under 
     subsection (b) of such section; or
       ``(2) the failure of such agency to reemploy the person 
     under such section was otherwise wrongful.
       ``(b) Any person referred to in subsection (a) may submit a 
     claim relating to an allegation referred to in that 
     subsection to the inspector general of the agency which is 
     the subject of the allegation. The inspector general shall 
     investigate and resolve the allegation pursuant to procedures 
     prescribed by the head of the agency.
       ``(c) In prescribing procedures for the investigation and 
     resolution of allegations under subsection (b), the head of 
     an agency shall ensure, to the maximum extent practicable, 
     that the procedures are similar to the procedures for 
     investigating and resolving complaints utilized by the 
     Secretary under section 4322(d).
       ``(d) This section may not be construed--
       ``(1) as prohibiting an employee of an agency referred to 
     in subsection (a) from seeking information from the Secretary 
     regarding assistance in seeking reemployment from the agency 
     under this chapter, alternative employment in the Federal 
     Government under this chapter, or information relating to the 
     rights and obligations of employee and Federal agencies under 
     this chapter; or
       ``(2) as prohibiting such an agency from voluntarily 
     cooperating with or seeking assistance in or of clarification 
     from the Secretary or the Director of the Office of Personnel 
     Management of any matter arising under this chapter.

     ``Sec. 4326. Conduct of investigation; subpoenas

       ``(a) In carrying out any investigation under this chapter, 
     the Secretary's duly authorized representatives shall, at all 
     reasonable times, have reasonable access to, for purposes of 
     examination, and the right to copy and receive, any documents 
     of any person or employer that the Secretary considers 
     relevant to the investigation.
       ``(b) In carrying out any investigation under this chapter, 
     the Secretary may require by subpoena the attendance and 
     testimony of witnesses and the production of documents 
     relating to any matter under investigation. In case of 
     disobedience of the subpoena or contumacy and on request of 
     the Secretary, the Attorney General may apply to any district 
     court of the United States in whose jurisdiction such 
     disobedience or contumacy occurs for an order enforcing the 
     subpoena.
       ``(c) Upon application, the district courts of the United 
     States shall have jurisdiction to issue writs commanding any 
     person or employer to comply with the subpoena of the 
     Secretary or to comply with any order of the Secretary made 
     pursuant to a lawful investigation under this chapter and the 
     district courts shall have jurisdiction to punish failure to 
     obey a subpoena or other lawful order of the Secretary as a 
     contempt of court.
       ``(d) Subsections (b) and (c) shall not apply to the 
     legislative branch or the judicial branch of the United 
     States.

               ``SUBCHAPTER IV--MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

     ``Sec. 4331. Regulations

       ``(a) The Secretary (in consultation with the Secretary of 
     Defense) may prescribe regulations implementing the 
     provisions of this chapter with regard to the application of 
     this chapter to States, local governments, and private 
     employers.
       ``(b)(1) The Director of the Office of Personnel Management 
     (in consultation with the Secretary and the Secretary of 
     Defense) may prescribe regulations implementing the 
     provisions of this chapter with regard to the application of 
     this chapter to Federal executive agencies (other than the 
     agencies referred to in paragraph (2)) as employers. Such 
     regulations shall be consistent with the regulations 
     pertaining to the States as employers and private employers, 
     except that employees of the Federal Government may be given 
     greater or additional rights.
       ``(2) The following entities may prescribe regulations to 
     carry out the activities of such entities under this chapter:
       ``(A) The Merit Systems Protection Board.
       ``(B) The Office of Special Counsel.
       ``(C) The agencies referred to in section 2303(a)(2)(C)(ii) 
     of title 5.

     ``Sec. 4332. Reports

       ``The Secretary shall, after consultation with the Attorney 
     General and the Special Counsel referred to in section 
     4324(a)(1) and no later than February 1, 1996, and annually 
     thereafter through 2000, transmit to the Congress, a report 
     containing the following matters for the fiscal year ending 
     before such February 1:
       ``(1) The number of cases reviewed by the Department of 
     Labor under this chapter during the fiscal year for which the 
     report is made.
       ``(2) The number of cases referred to the Attorney General 
     or the Special Counsel pursuant to section 4323 or 4324, 
     respectively, during such fiscal year.
       ``(3) The number of complaints filed by the Attorney 
     General pursuant to section 4323 during such fiscal year.
       ``(4) The nature and status of each case reported on 
     pursuant to paragraph (1), (2), or (3).
       ``(5) An indication of whether there are any apparent 
     patterns of violation of the provisions of this chapter, 
     together with an explanation thereof.
       ``(6) Recommendations for administrative or legislative 
     action that the Secretary, the Attorney General, or the 
     Special Counsel considers necessary for the effective 
     implementation of this chapter, including any action that 
     could be taken to encourage mediation, before claims are 
     filed under this chapter, between employers and persons 
     seeking employment or reemployment.

     ``Sec.  4333. Outreach

       ``The Secretary, the Secretary of Defense, and the 
     Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall take such actions as such 
     Secretaries determine are appropriate to inform persons 
     entitled to rights and benefits under this chapter and 
     employers of the rights, benefits, and obligations of such 
     persons and such employers under this chapter.''.
       (b) Conforming Amendments.--
       (1) Amendments to title 38.--The tables of chapters at the 
     beginning of title 38, United States Code, and the beginning 
     of part III of such title are each amended by striking out 
     the item relating to chapter 43 and inserting in lieu thereof 
     the following:

``43. Employment and reemployment rights of members of the uniformed 
  services......................................................4301''.

       (2) Amendment to title 5.--(A) Section 1204(a)(1) of title 
     5, United States Code, is amended by striking out ``section 
     4323'' and inserting in lieu thereof ``chapter 43''.
       (B) Subchapter II of chapter 35 of such title is repealed.
       (C) The table of sections for chapter 35 of such title is 
     amended by striking out the heading relating to subchapter II 
     of such chapter and the item relating to section 3551 of such 
     chapter.
       (3) Amendment to title 10.--Section 706(c)(1) of title 10, 
     United States Code, is amended by striking out ``section 
     4321'' and inserting in lieu thereof ``chapter 43''.
       (c) Amendments to Title 28.--Section 631 of title 28, 
     United States Code, is amended--
       (1) by striking out subsection (j);
       (2) by redesignating subsections (k) and (l) as subsections 
     (j) and (k), respectively; and
       (3) in subsection (j), as redesignated by paragraph (2), by 
     striking out ``under the terms of'' and all that follows 
     through ``section,'' the first place it appears and inserting 
     in lieu thereof ``under chapter 43 of title 38,''.

     SEC. 3. EXEMPTION FROM MINIMUM SERVICE REQUIREMENTS.

       Section 5303A(b)(3) of title 38, United States Code, is 
     amended--
       (1) by striking out ``or'' at the end of subparagraph (E);
       (2) by striking out the period at the end of subparagraph 
     (F) and inserting in lieu thereof ``; or''; and
       (3) by adding at the end thereof the following new 
     subparagraph:
       ``(G) to benefits under chapter 43 of this title.''.

     SEC. 4. THRIFT SAVINGS PLAN.

       (a) In General.--(1) Title 5, United States Code, is 
     amended by inserting after section 8432a the following:

     ``Sec. 8432b. Contributions of persons who perform military 
       service

       ``(a) This section applies to any employee who--
       ``(1) separates or enters leave-without-pay status in order 
     to perform military service; and
       ``(2) is subsequently restored to or reemployed in a 
     position which is subject to this chapter, pursuant to 
     chapter 43 of title 38.
       ``(b)(1) Each employee to whom this section applies may 
     contribute to the Thrift Savings Fund, in accordance with 
     this subsection, an amount not to exceed the amount described 
     in paragraph (2).
       ``(2) The maximum amount which an employee may contribute 
     under this subsection is equal to--
       ``(A) the contributions under section 8432(a) which would 
     have been made, over the period beginning on date of 
     separation or commencement of leave-without-pay status (as 
     applicable) and ending on the day before the date of 
     restoration or reemployment (as applicable); reduced by
       ``(B) any contributions under section 8432(a) actually made 
     by such employee over the period described in subparagraph 
     (A).
       ``(3) Contributions under this subsection--
       ``(A) shall be made at the same time and in the same manner 
     as would any contributions under section 8432(a);
       ``(B) shall be made over the period of time specified by 
     the employee under paragraph (4)(B); and
       ``(C) shall be in addition to any contributions then 
     actually being made under section 8432(a).
       ``(4) The Executive Director shall prescribe the time, 
     form, and manner in which an employee may specify--
       ``(A) the total amount such employee wishes to contribute 
     under this subsection with respect to any particular period 
     referred to in paragraph (2)(B); and
       ``(B) the period of time over which the employee wishes to 
     make contributions under this subsection.

     The employing agency may place a maximum limit on the period 
     of time referred to in subparagraph (B), which cannot be 
     shorter than two times the period referred to in paragraph 
     (2)(B) and not longer than four times such period.
       ``(c) If an employee makes contributions under subsection 
     (b), the employing agency shall make contributions to the 
     Thrift Savings Fund on such employee's behalf--
       ``(1) in the same manner as would be required under section 
     8432(c)(2) if the employee contributions were being made 
     under section 8432(a); and
       ``(2) disregarding any contributions then actually being 
     made under section 8432(a) and any agency contributions 
     relating thereto.
       ``(d) An employee to whom this section applies is entitled 
     to have contributed to the Thrift Savings Fund on such 
     employee's behalf an amount equal to--
       ``(1) 1 percent of such employee's basic pay (as determined 
     under subsection (e)) for the period referred to in 
     subsection (b)(2)(B); reduced by
       ``(2) any contributions actually made on such employee's 
     behalf under section 8432(c)(1) with respect to the period 
     referred to in subsection (b)(2)(B).
       ``(e) For purposes of any computation under this section, 
     an employee shall, with respect to the period referred to in 
     subsection (b)(2)(B), be considered to have been paid at the 
     rate which would have been payable over such period had such 
     employee remained continuously employed in the position which 
     such employee last held before separating or entering leave-
     without-pay status to perform military service.
       ``(f)(1) The employing agency may be required to pay lost 
     earnings on contributions made pursuant to subsections (c) 
     and (d). Such earnings, if required, shall be calculated 
     retroactively to the date the contribution would have been 
     made had the employee not separated or entered leave without 
     pay status to perform military service.
       ``(2) Procedures for calculating and crediting the earnings 
     payable pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be prescribed by the 
     Executive Director.
       ``(g) Amounts paid under subsection (c), (d), or (f) shall 
     be paid--
       ``(1) by the agency to which the employee is restored or in 
     which such employee is reemployed;
       ``(2) from the same source as would be the case under 
     section 8432(e) with respect to sums required under section 
     8432(c); and
       ``(3) within the time prescribed by the Executive Director.
       ``(h)(1) For purposes of section 8432(g), in the case of an 
     employee to whom this section applies--
       ``(A) a separation from civilian service in order to 
     perform the military service on which the employee's 
     restoration or reemployment rights are based shall be 
     disregarded; and
       ``(B) such employee shall be credited with a period of 
     civilian service equal to the period referred to in 
     subsection (b)(2)(B).
       ``(2)(A) An employee to whom this section applies may 
     elect, for purposes of section 8433(d), or paragraph (1) or 
     (2) of section 8433(h), as the case may be, to have such 
     employee's separation (described in subsection (a)(1)) 
     treated as if it had never occurred.
       ``(B) An election under this paragraph shall be made within 
     such period of time after restoration or reemployment (as the 
     case may be) and otherwise in such manner as the Executive 
     Director prescribes.
       ``(i) The Executive Director shall prescribe regulations to 
     carry out this section.''.
       (2) The table of sections for chapter 84 of title 5, United 
     States Code, is amended by inserting after the item relating 
     to section 8432a the following:

``8432b. Contributions of persons who perform military service.''.

       (b) Preservation of Certain Rights.--(1) Section 8433(d) of 
     title 5, United States Code, is amended by striking 
     ``subsection (e).'' and inserting ``subsection (e), unless an 
     election under section 8432b(h)(2) is made to treat such 
     separation for purposes of this subsection as if it had never 
     occurred.''.
       (2) Paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 8433(h) are each 
     amended by striking the period at the end and inserting ``, 
     or unless an election under section 8432b(h)(2) is made to 
     treat such separation for purposes of this paragraph as if it 
     had never occurred.''.
       (c) Election To Resume Regular Contributions Upon 
     Restoration or Reemployment.--Section 8432 of title 5, United 
     States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:
       ``(i)(1) This subsection applies to any employee--
       ``(A) to whom section 8432b applies; and
       ``(B) who, during the period of such employee's absence 
     from civilian service (as referred to in section 
     8432b(b)(2)(B))--
       ``(i) is eligible to make an election described in 
     subsection (b)(1); or
       ``(ii) would be so eligible but for having either elected 
     to terminate individual contributions to the Thrift Savings 
     Fund within 2 months before commencing military service or 
     separated in order to perform military service.
       ``(2) The Executive Director shall prescribe regulations to 
     ensure that any employee to whom this subsection applies 
     shall, within a reasonable time after being restored or 
     reemployed (in the manner described in section 8432b(a)(2)), 
     be afforded the opportunity to make, for purposes of this 
     section, any election which would be allowable during a 
     period described in subsection (b)(1)(A).''.
       (d) Applicability to Employees Under CSRS.--Section 8351(b) 
     of title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 
     end the following:
       ``(11) In applying section 8432b to an employee 
     contributing to the Thrift Savings Fund after being restored 
     to or reemployed in a position subject to this subchapter, 
     pursuant to chapter 43 of title 38--
       ``(A) any reference in such section to contributions under 
     section 8432(a) shall be considered a reference to employee 
     contributions under this section;
       ``(B) the contribution rate under section 8432b(b)(2)(A) 
     shall be the maximum percentage allowable under subsection 
     (b)(2) of this section; and
       ``(C) subsections (c) and (d) of section 8432b shall be 
     disregarded.''.
       (e) Effective Date; Applicability.--This section and the 
     amendments made by this section--
       (1) shall take effect on the date of enactment of this Act; 
     and
       (2) shall apply to any employee whose release from military 
     service, discharge from hospitalization, or other similar 
     event making the individual eligible to seek restoration or 
     reemployment under chapter 43 of title 38, United States 
     Code, occurs on or after August 2, 1990.
       (f) Rules for Applying Amendments to Employees Restored or 
     Reemployed Before Effective Date.--In the case of any 
     employee (described in subsection (e)(2)) who is reemployed 
     or restored (in the circumstances described in section 
     8432b(a) of title 5, United States Code, as amended by this 
     section) before the date of enactment of this Act, the 
     amendments made by this section shall apply to such employee, 
     in accordance with their terms, subject to the following:
       (1) The employee shall be deemed not to have been 
     reemployed or restored until--
       (A) the date of enactment of this Act, or
       (B) the first day following such employee's reemployment or 
     restoration on which such employee is or was eligible to make 
     an election relating to contributions to the Thrift Savings 
     Fund,

     whichever occurs or occurred first.
       (2) If the employee changed agencies during the period 
     between date of actual reemployment or restoration and the 
     date of enactment of this Act, the employing agency as of 
     such date of enactment shall be considered the reemploying or 
     restoring agency.
       (3)(A) For purposes of any computation under section 8432b 
     of such title, pay shall be determined in accordance with 
     subsection (e) of such section, except that, with respect to 
     the period described in subparagraph (B), actual pay 
     attributable to such period shall be used.
       (B) The period described in this subparagraph is the period 
     beginning on the first day of the first applicable pay period 
     beginning on or after the date of the employee's actual 
     reemployment or restoration and ending on the day before the 
     date determined under paragraph (1).
       (4) Deem section 8432b(b)(2)(A) of such title to be amended 
     by striking ``ending on the day before the date of 
     restoration or reemployment (as applicable)'' and inserting 
     ``ending on the date determined under section 4(f)(1) of the 
     Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 
     1994''.

     SEC. 5. REVISION OF FEDERAL CIVIL SERVICE RETIREMENT BENEFIT 
                   PROGRAM FOR RESERVISTS.

       (a) Creditable Military Service Under CSRS.--Section 
     8331(13) of title 5, United States Code, is amended in the 
     flush matter by inserting ``or full-time National Guard duty 
     (as such term is defined in section 101(d) of title 10) if 
     such service interrupts creditable civilian service under 
     this subchapter and is followed by reemployment in accordance 
     with chapter 43 of title 38 that occurs on or after August 1, 
     1990'' before the semicolon.
       (b) Pay Deductions for Military Service Under CSRS.--
     Section 8334(j) of such title is amended--
       (1) in paragraph (1)--
       (A) by striking ``Each employee'' and inserting ``(A) 
     Except as provided in subparagraph (B), each employee''; and
       (B) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(B) In any case where military service interrupts 
     creditable civilian service under this subchapter and 
     reemployment pursuant to chapter 43 of title 38 occurs on or 
     after August 1, 1990, the deposit payable under this 
     paragraph may not exceed the amount that would have been 
     deducted and withheld under subsection (a)(1) from basic pay 
     during civilian service if the employee had not performed the 
     period of military service.''; and
       (2) in paragraph (2), immediately before the comma at the 
     end of subparagraph (B), by inserting ``following the period 
     of military service for which such deposit is due''.
       (c) Creditable Military Service Under FERS.--Section 
     8401(31) of such title is amended in the flush matter by 
     inserting ``or full-time National Guard duty (as such term is 
     defined in section 101(d) of title 10) if such service 
     interrupts creditable civilian service under this subchapter 
     and is followed by reemployment in accordance with chapter 43 
     of title 38 that occurs on or after August 1, 1990'' before 
     the semicolon.
       (d) Pay Deductions for Military Service Under FERS.--
     Section 8422(e) of such title is amended--
       (1) in paragraph (1)--
       (A) by striking ``Each employee'' and inserting ``(A) 
     Except as provided in subparagraph (B), each employee''; and
       (B) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(B) In any case where military service interrupts 
     creditable civilian service under this subchapter and 
     reemployment pursuant to chapter 43 of title 38 occurs on or 
     after August 1, 1990, the deposit payable under this 
     paragraph may not exceed the amount that would have been 
     deducted and withheld under subsection (a)(1) from basic pay 
     during civilian service if the employee had not performed the 
     period of military service.''; and
       (2) in paragraph (2), immediately before the comma at the 
     end of subparagraph (B), by inserting ``following the period 
     of military service for which such deposit is due''.
       (e) Technical Amendments.--Title 5, United States Code, is 
     amended as follows:
       (1) In section 8401(11), by striking out ``1954'' in the 
     flush matter above clause (i) and inserting in lieu thereof 
     ``1986''.
       (2) In section 8422(a)(2)(A)(ii), by striking out ``1954'' 
     and inserting in lieu thereof ``1986''.
       (3) In section 8432(d), by striking out ``1954'' in the 
     first sentence and inserting in lieu thereof ``1986''.
       (4) In section 8433(i)(4), by striking out ``1954'' and 
     inserting in lieu thereof ``1986''.
       (5) In section 8440--
       (A) by striking out ``1954'' in subsection (a) and 
     inserting in lieu thereof ``1986''; and
       (B) by striking out ``1954'' in subsection (c) and 
     inserting in lieu thereof ``1986''.

     SEC. 6. TECHNICAL AMENDMENT.

       (a) Technical Amendment.--Section 9(d) of Public Law 102-16 
     (105 Stat. 55) is amended by striking out ``Act'' the first 
     place it appears and inserting in lieu thereof ``section''.
       (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) 
     shall take effect as if included in Public Law 102-16 to 
     which such amendment relates.

     SEC. 7. INCREASE IN AMOUNT OF LOAN GUARANTY FOR LOANS FOR THE 
                   PURCHASE OR CONSTRUCTION OF HOMES.

       Subparagraphs (A)(i)(IV) and (B) of section 3703(a)(1) of 
     title 38, United States Code, are each amended by striking 
     out ``$46,000'' and inserting in lieu thereof ``$50,750''.

     SEC. 8. TRANSITION RULES AND EFFECTIVE DATES.

       (a) Reemployment.--(1) Except as otherwise provided in this 
     Act, the amendments made by this Act shall be effective with 
     respect to reemployments initiated on or after the first day 
     after the 60-day period beginning on the date of enactment of 
     this Act.
       (2) The provisions of chapter 43 of title 38, United States 
     Code, in effect on the day before such date of enactment, 
     shall continue to apply to reemployments initiated before the 
     end of such 60-day period.
       (3) In determining the number of years of service that may 
     not be exceeded in an employee-employer relationship with 
     respect to which a person seeks reemployment under chapter 43 
     of title 38, United States Code, as in effect before or after 
     the date of enactment of this Act, there shall be included 
     all years of service without regard to whether the periods of 
     service occurred before or after such date of enactment 
     unless the period of service is exempted by the chapter 43 
     that is applicable, as provided in paragraphs (1) and (2), to 
     the reemployment concerned.
       (4) A person who initiates reemployment under chapter 43 of 
     title 38, United States Code, during or after the 60-day 
     period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act and 
     whose reemployment is made in connection with a period of 
     service in the uniform services that was initiated before the 
     end of such period shall be deemed to have satisfied the 
     notification requirement of section 4312(a)(1) of title 38, 
     United States Code, as provided in the amendments made by 
     this Act, if the person complied with any applicable notice 
     requirement under chapter 43, United States Code, as in 
     effect on the day before the date of enactment of this Act.
       (b) Discrimination.--The provisions of section 4311 of 
     title 38, United States Code, as provided in the amendments 
     made by this Act, and the provisions of subchapter III of 
     chapter 43 of such title, as provided in the amendments made 
     by this Act, that are necessary for the implementation of 
     such section 4311 shall become effective on the date of 
     enactment of this Act.
       (c) Insurance.--(1) The provisions of section 4316 of title 
     38, United States Code, as provided in the amendments made by 
     this Act, concerning insurance coverage (other than health) 
     shall become effective with respect to furloughs or leaves of 
     absence initiated on or after the date of enactment of this 
     Act.
       (2) With respect to the provisions of section 4317 of title 
     38, United States Code, as provided in the amendments made by 
     this Act, a person on active duty on the date of enactment of 
     this Act, or a family member or personal representative of 
     such person, may, after the date of enactment of this Act, 
     elect to reinstate or continue a health plan as provided in 
     such section 4317. If such an election is made, the health 
     plan shall remain in effect for the remaining portion of the 
     18-month period that began on the date of such person's 
     separation from civilian employment or the period of the 
     person's service in the uniformed service, whichever is the 
     period of lesser duration.
       (d) Disability.--(1) Section 4313(a)(3) of chapter 43 of 
     title 38, United States Code, as provided in the amendments 
     made by this Act, shall apply to reemployments initiated on 
     or after August 1, 1990.
       (2) Effective as of August 1, 1990, section 4307 of title 
     38, United States Code (as in effect on the date of enactment 
     of this Act), is repealed, and the table of sections at the 
     beginning of chapter 43 of such title (as in effect on the 
     date of enactment of this Act) is amended by striking out the 
     item relating to section 4307.
       (e) Investigations and Subpoenas.--The provisions of 
     section 4326 of title 38, United States Code, as provided in 
     the amendments made by this Act, shall become effective on 
     the date of the enactment of this Act and apply to any matter 
     pending with the Secretary of Labor under section 4305 of 
     title 38, United States Code, as of that date.
       (f) Previous Actions.--Except as otherwise provided, the 
     amendments made by this Act do not affect reemployments that 
     were initiated, rights, benefits, and duties that matured, 
     penalties that were incurred, and proceedings that begin 
     before the end of the 60-day period referred to in subsection 
     (a).
       (g) Rights and Benefits Relative to Notice of Intent Not to 
     Return.--Section 4316(b)(2) of title 38, United States Code, 
     as added by the amendments made by this Act, applies only to 
     the rights and benefits provided in section 4316(b)(1)(B) and 
     does not apply to any other right or benefit of a person 
     under chapter 43 of title 38, United States Code. Such 
     section shall apply only to persons who leave a position of 
     employment for service in the uniformed services more than 60 
     days after the date of enactment of this Act.
       (h) Employer Pension Benefit Plans.--(1) Nothing in this 
     Act shall be construed to relieve an employer of an 
     obligation to provide contributions to a penison plan (or 
     provide pension benefits), or to relieve the obligation of a 
     pension plan to provide pension benefits, which is required 
     by the provisions of chapter 43 of title 38, United States 
     Code, in effect on the day before this Act takes effect.
       (2) If any employee pension benefit plan is not in 
     compliance with section 4318 of such title or paragraph (1) 
     of this subsection on the date of enactment of this Act, such 
     plan shall have two years to come into compliance with such 
     section and paragraph.
       (i) Definition.--For the purposes of this section, the term 
     ``service in the uniformed services'' shall have the meaning 
     given such term in section 4303(13) of title 38, United 
     States Code, as provided in the amendments made by this Act.

  Mr. MONTGOMERY (during the reading). Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous 
consent that the Senate amendment and the House amendment to the Senate 
amendment be considered as read and printed in the Record.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Mississippi?
  There was no objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the original request 
of the gentleman from Mississippi?
  Mr. STUMP. Mr. Speaker, reserving the right to object, I shall not 
object, but I take this time to yield to the gentleman from Mississippi 
for an explanation of the House amendment to the Senate amendment to 
H.R. 995.
  Mr. MONTGOMERY. Mr. Speaker, the amendments under consideration today 
reflect a compromise between the House bill (H.R. 995), which we passed 
in May 1993, and the Senate amendments, which cleared the Senate last 
November. Since that time, we have been working out our differences and 
responding to concerns raised about certain aspects of this 
legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, this measure, which would replace current chapter 43, 
title 38, United States Code, is an update of a measure first enacted 
by the Congress in 1940, on the eve of World War II. It was one of the 
most important measures enacted to ensure the readjustment of veterans 
to civilian life following military service. H.R. 995, as amended, 
continues what has been our national policy for over 50 years--that is, 
it assures the citizen-soldier that he or she can return to the 
civilian job held prior to entering military service and can return 
without any loss of seniority. Additionally, this compromise clarifies 
and updates chapter 43 to reflect current employment conditions as well 
as current conditions of military service.
  Mr. Speaker, although the joint explanatory statement accompanying 
this measure explains the compromise in detail, I'd like to summarize 
some of the important rights provided to veterans under H.R. 995, as 
amended:
  (1) A servicemember would be free to perform military service of 
limited duration, either in active military service or in the Reserve, 
without fear of reprisal or other adverse action by his employer. 
Except for certain types of military service, the total service may not 
exceed 5 years.
  (2) To address employers' concerns about unexplained absences, the 
servicemember would now be required to provide notice of impending 
military service whenever possible, and, when requested by the 
employer, to document honorable service upon return to civilian 
employment.
  (3) A servicemember who leaves a civilian job would continue to be 
deemed on furlough or leave of absence and would be entitled to other 
rights and benefits that are available to other employees on leave of 
absence.
  (4) The bill clarifies the servicemember's right to continue 
employer-sponsored health insurance.
  (5) While guaranteeing a veteran's right to pension benefits which 
would have accrued during military service, regardless of the nature of 
the pension plan, the bill would make it plain that pension plans will 
not have to pay earnings or forfeitures on make-up contributions.
  (6) A servicemember returning to Federal employment would be assured 
that employer-provided and contributory pension benefits could be 
restored with little if any loss of benefits.
  Mr. Speaker, there are several matters related to this important 
legislation that I want to comment on in more detail. First, I want to 
express the committee's strong disagreement with the recent decision in 
Rumsey v. N.Y. State Dept. of Corr. Services, 19 F.3d 83 (2nd Cir. 
1994), which limited the protection given reservists on active duty for 
training only to ``substantial rights'' such as discharge, demotion, or 
failure to promote. While the amended act speaks in terms of ``benefit, 
benefits of employment or rights and benefits,'' and no longer uses the 
term ``incident or advantage of employment,'' the intent has always 
been to have an expansive interpretation, such as that expressed by the 
sixth circuit in Monroe v. Standard Oil Co., 613 F.2d 641, 645 (6th 
Cir. 1980), aff'd. 452 U.S. 549 (1981). ``[I]ncidents or advantages of 
employment * * * is intentionally framed in general terms to encompass 
the potential limitless variation in benefits of employment that are 
conferred by an untold number and variety of business concerns.''
  Additionally, I want to stress that new section 4311, which prohibits 
discrimination and related acts of reprisal against persons who serve 
in the uniformed services, reaffirms that the standard of proof in a 
discrimination or retaliation case is the so-called but for test and 
that the burden of proof is on the employer, once a prima facie case is 
established. This standard and burden of proof apply to all cases, 
regardless of when the cause of action occurred, except for those new 
causes of action created in new section 4311(c).
  It should be noted that, because of the blurring of the distinctions 
between the types of military service, for example, active duty versus 
active duty for training, it is no longer rational or equitable to make 
rights and obligations under chapter 43 dependent on the distinctions 
between types of service. Rather, under section 4312 of H.R. 995, as 
amended, most types of service would be cumulatively considered toward 
the service limits. Because employment and reemployment are intended to 
protect noncareer servicepersons, the committee considers this to be an 
appropriate approach. Accordingly, the measure we are considering today 
would generally establish a 5-year limitation on total military service 
during the period of employment with the employer against whom 
reemployment rights are asserted.
  Section 4312(e) of H.R. 995, as amended, would base time limits for 
applying for reemployment strictly on the length or duration of the 
military service from which the serviceperson is being discharged or 
released. Under current law, the deadline for returning servicemembers 
to report to their preservice employer for reemployment depends on the 
type of category of service. It is the committee's view that this is a 
far more rational approach to this issue because both the employer and 
the serviceperson are affected by the length of time the servicemember 
is away from his or her civilian employment. The nature of the 
individual's service is unimportant and has no effect.

  I want to also focus on principles related to new section 4313, 
concerning reemployment positions. This section would address the issue 
of the position to be granted a serviceperson disabled while in 
military service, regardless of length of service, and who is not 
qualified for the ``escalator'' position after reasonable efforts to 
accommodate the disability. That obligation would be to reemploy the 
returning servicemember in an equivalent position in terms of 
seniority, status, and pay for which the person is qualified or can 
become qualified with reasonable efforts by the employer. If no such 
position exists, the nearest approximate position in terms of 
seniority, status, and pay would be required to be found. If a position 
other than the ``escalator'' position is offered to a returning 
disabled servicemember, full company seniority for all purposes is 
always to be accorded the disabled serviceperson, regardless of whether 
seniority follows an employee under other circumstances.
  New section 4313 would also require the reemployment of returning 
servicepersons who are not found qualified for their ``escalator'' 
positions for any reason other than disability, regardless of length of 
service, but who can qualify for a lesser position in terms of status 
and pay. This provision is primarily intended to deal with employees 
who return to technologically advanced situations for which they cannot 
qualify but who can perform in another position not necessarily in 
their ``escalator'' line. They, too, would receive full company 
seniority for all purposes in the new position.
  Section 4317 of H.R. 995, as amended, would provide that an employee 
on military leave shall, at his or her request, be covered by insurance 
provided by the employer for up to 18 months. This protection is 
similar to the continuation of health insurance under the so-called 
COBRA provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, 29 
U.S.C. 1161, et seq., but applies to all individuals entering the 
uniformed services, without limiting qualifications such as the size of 
the work force of the person's employer. The individual employee may be 
required to pay not more than 102 percent of the full cost of 
continuing insurance coverage, except in the case of persons serving 
periods of training or service for 30 or fewer days. In the case of 
these short tours, the employer is required to continue the insurance 
coverage, and the individual employee may only be required to pay the 
employee share, if any. Dependents of Reserve component members are 
entitled to participate in the military health care system, including 
CHAMPUS, only when the member has been called to serve for at least 31 
days. The committee intends new section 4317 to ensure that there is no 
gap in health insurance coverage of the reservist's family while the 
reservist is performing military training.

  It should be noted that new section 4312(a)(1) would generally 
require an individual who leaves a civilian job for service in the 
uniformed services to give written or verbal notice of the forthcoming 
military absence from employment to his or her employer. Under current 
law, only a member of the Selected Reserve must notify his or her 
employer before leaving work for active duty for training or inactive 
duty for training. There is no current requirement to notify the 
employer before leaving work for active duty or initial active duty for 
training. Under the measure we are considering today, an individual who 
does not indicate in any way that he or she is leaving because of 
military duty would no longer be protected--unless the exception 
provided in new section 4312(b) is applicable, but an individual who 
leaves for two or more reasons, one of which is for military duty, 
would continue to be protected.
  Sections 4316(a) and 4316(b)(1) of the compromise measure would 
reaffirm that a departing serviceperson is to be placed on a 
statutorily mandated military leave of absence while away from work, 
regardless of the employer's policy. Thus, terminating a departing 
serviceperson, or forcing him or her to resign, even with a promise of 
reemployment, is of no effect. Accordingly, while away on military 
leave, the servicemember would be entitled to participate in whatever 
nonseniority related benefits are accorded other employees on 
nonmilitary leaves of absence. In contrast, benefits which are 
seniority based would not be limited to the treatment accorded 
employees on nonmilitary leaves of absence, but are to be accorded, 
after reemployment, as if the servicemember had remained continuously 
employed under the escalator principle. Section 4316(b)(2), however, 
provides that a person who is absent from a position of employment 
because of service in the uniformed services and knowingly provides 
written notice of intent not to return to a position of employment 
after service in the uniformed service, is not entitled to rights and 
benefits not determined by seniority. I want to emphasize that the 
employer would have the burden of proving that a person providing 
written notice of intent not to return to a position of employment was 
fully aware of the consequences of this action.
  Mr. Speaker, the issue of pension rights and benefits of persons 
serving in the Armed Forces is an important and sometimes controversial 
aspect of this legislation. In trying to clarify the status of existing 
law, the committee has learned that a very powerful industry has 
developed since the first reemployment rights bill was signed by 
President Roosevelt in 1940. Although the strength of this industry is 
not surprising, given the growth of American pension plans, the 
organized resistance to clarification of existing law with respect to 
veterans' pension rights stands in marked contrast to the widespread 
cooperation between employers and the Government in resolving 
fundamental issues related to veterans' reemployment rights.

  This cleft between a supportive and generous employer community, 
which admittedly bears a burden when employees enter military service, 
and the at times stingy and antagonistic pension community is a mystery 
to me, Mr. Speaker. Parts of the pension community apparently fail to 
understand the necessity for a strong national defense, and that the 
existing veterans reemployment law imposes justifiable burdens on 
employers. I say justifiable because we are talking about providing for 
and contributing to the common defense of this country. The preamble to 
the Constitution of the United States declared the purpose of this far-
reaching undertaking was ``to form a more perfect union, establish 
justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, 
promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to 
ourselves and our posterity.'' Domestic tranquility, our individual 
freedoms and liberty, and the general welfare would be unattainable 
objectives if we did not have a strong common defense. As we learned 
when our Nation was attacked in 1941, just as our ancestors learned 
when the United States was invaded in the early part of the 19th 
century, a strong national defense is the essential underpinning to all 
of the other purposes of the Constitution.
  The linkage between the purposes of the veterans reemployment law and 
the promotion of the common defense was ignored by some pension 
industry representatives in their discussion of this legislation, so I 
wish to remind my colleagues of the importance of this law to our 
Nation's defense. Most Americans today take for granted that we have a 
strong and protective military force, but this was not always the case. 
In the late 1930's, as the storm clouds of war and the leveling effect 
of tyranny were observed in Europe, our ability to defend this Nation 
against a determined aggressor was suspect. In spite of the changes in 
attitude and national policy which resulted from the harbingers of 
world war, such as the adoption of compulsory military service and a 
great strengthening of the defense industries, the Nation was stunned 
by the sudden Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor which destroyed much of 
the Pacific fleet. It is unlikely the most knowledgeable observers 
would have predicted this event even 1 year before this act of 
aggression took place, so it is worth noting how rapidly events on the 
world stage can unfurl.
  Although few would compare the political situation in the world today 
with that which existed when the first veterans' reemployment rights 
legislation was enacted in 1940, it is important, Mr. Speaker, to 
examine the present and future roles of the defense forces of this 
country. Even as the notion of defending this country against foreign 
aggressors fades into distant memory, the United States has undertaken 
a much larger peacekeeping mission worldwide. Our Nation is debating 
what role the American military should play in response to situations 
in distant parts of the world involving anarchy, starvation, and 
allegations of genocide. It's a slightly different question than the 
one confronted by the Congress on the eve of World War II, but there 
are similarities. Defending the United States against foreign 
aggressors is the simple role given such prominence by the authors of 
the Constitution; however, in view of the prominence of American 
interests and American personnel throughout the globe, a simplistic 
reading of this role may make it impossible to fulfill in a meaningful 
way.

  Today, much of our national policy is focused on efforts to 
strengthen our national economic base--on plans to enable the engine of 
the national economy to run smoother and stronger, ever more powerful. 
In a fast-changing world, it too often goes unremarked that the U.S. 
military strength serves as a deterrent to aggressive leaders 
throughout the world, thus making it possible for the Nation to do 
business abroad. Clearly, the perception of a nation willing to respond 
to aggressive actions harmful to its national interests protects and 
provides an advantage to American companies operating in a global 
market.
  Mr. Speaker, restoring the citizen-soldier to the position he or she 
would have obtained had he or she remained continuously employed is the 
principle which undergirds the veterans reemployment law. In the words 
of the law, the veteran is to be restored ``without loss of 
seniority.'' Although there are certain benefits ``that might have 
flowed from experience, effort, or chance to which he cannot lay claim 
under the statute,'' McKinney v. Missouri-K.-T. R. Co., 357 U.S. 265, 
271 (1958), the Supreme Court has determined that if ``the benefit 
would have accrued, with reasonable certainty, had the veteran been 
continuously employed by the private employer, and if it is in the 
nature of a reward for length of service, it is a `perquisite of 
seniority''' protected by the law. Alabama Power Co. v. Davis, 431 U.S. 
581, 589 (1977). While the Alabama Power decision noted that pension 
benefits are a current cost of employing potential pension recipients 
and that current compensation may be reduced in favor of more favorable 
pension benefits, the Court affirmed that pension plans are a reward 
for length of service and consequently are a protected perquisite of 
seniority.
  Thus, in 1977, some 37 years after the law was first enacted, the 
claims of Mr. Davis for pension rights which he earned during World War 
II were finally settled. Because the amount of an employee's pension 
benefit is usually not determinable until the end of the employee's 
tenure with the employer, and is generally calculated at the end of the 
employee's working life, an employer failure to observe the 
requirements of the existing law that the veteran be made whole may go 
unnoticed for several decades. Although Congress has several times 
amended the veterans reemployment law, it was the administration's 1991 
proposal to rewrite the law which brought the question of veterans' 
rights to employer contributions in certain pension plans to the 
Congress' attention. In Alabama Power, the Supreme Court raised, but 
refused to decide, the rights of persons who are participants in 
defined contribution plans. Since there is a clear trend toward 
increasing employer reliance on such plans, which do not guarantee a 
particular benefit level to retirees, but which base the ultimate 
benefit on the employer's and in some cases, the employee's, 
contribution, the Court's refusal to rule on this issue has caused 
concern among participants in defined contribution plans who leave jobs 
for military service and except to be fully restored when they return. 
Although there are clear differences in the manner in which defined 
benefit and defined contribution plans are funded and administered, the 
distinction between these two types of plans is merely one of 
convenience and cost so far as the employer is concerned. In both types 
of plans, the employer makes a payment of a certain amount in order to 
provide an incentive to the employee to continue working for the 
employer. The only difference is that in one type of plan, the 
employer. The only difference is that in one type of plan, the employer 
pays an amount calculated by actuaries as necessary to meet a certain 
benefit level, while in the defined contribution plan, the employer is 
free to contribute an amount that will not produce any guaranteed 
benefit level. There is no reason to view this distinction as one that 
would change the nature of the benefit to the employee.

  In 1991, when the Department of Labor transmitted its proposal to 
recodify the veterans reemployment law, it specifically treated those 
veterans whose employers happened to maintain a defined contribution 
plan as second-class citizens. Then-Secretary of Labor Lynn Martin 
wrote:

       If the employee is a participant in a defined contribution 
     plan, the employee's period of service in the uniformed 
     services will be treated as service with the employer or 
     employers for purposes of vesting but not for purposes of 
     benefit accrual. The exception of defined contribution plans 
     (such as profit sharing plans) from the obligation to provide 
     benefit accruals was made because such accruals represent the 
     contributions actually made to the plan participants' 
     individual accounts, and are more properly characterized as 
     current compensation than as perquisites of seniority.

  Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1991 
(H.R. 1578), House Report 56, 102d Congress, 1st Sess. 63 (1191). Mr. 
Speaker, I think this was a callous and short-sighted position taken by 
the administration in 1991, and our committee rejected it when we 
reported the legislation now under discussion as well as the bill which 
was considered and passed by the House in the 102d Congress. Most 
employees are not in a position to negotiate the manner in which their 
employer provides pension benefits, and to attempt to change the 
character of such a benefit based on the manner in which the employer 
chooses to pay for it seems disingenuous and conflicts with the 
underlying principle of the existing law, which is that the returning 
servicemember is to be made whole. It is clear that, given the court's 
persistent finding that the law is to be liberally construed in favor 
of the returning servicemember, and notwithstanding the Supreme Court's 
declination in Alabama Power to find that such plans have always been 
covered by the law, the administration had concluded that such plans 
were covered unless express language to the contrary were enacted.

  The House bill and the Senate amendments have both rejected the 
previous administration's position that pension benefits should be 
characterized as current compensation. Although it is apparent that 
defined contribution plans differ from employer to employer and, by 
definition, offer no guaranteed benefit to qualifying employees, there 
is not such uncertainty about the amount which an absent employee 
accrues under defined contribution plans that such benefits should be 
excluded from the perquisites of seniority. Cf. Tilton v. Missouri 
Pacific Railroad Co., 357 U.S. 265, 270 (1963) (``To exact such 
certainty as a condition for insuring a veteran's seniority rights 
would render these statutorily protected rights without real 
meaning.''). To deny such rights to employees who serve in the military 
undermines the fundamental principle that the employee should not be 
disadvantaged by military service.
  An additional consequence of the Court's failure to conclusively 
determine that all pension benefits, including benefits derived from 
defined contribution plans, are protected perquisites of seniority is 
the creation of confusion and dissent among the many factions involved 
in the funding and administration of pension benefits. This confusion 
is made worse by the fact that when the Congress enacted the Employee 
Retirement Income Security Act [ERISA] of 1974, it made no provision to 
deal with the pension rights of returning servicemembers who had 
faithfully served their country. So far as this committee has been able 
to learn, there is no reflection of the veterans pension rights at 
issue here in any of the regulations implementing that law or the laws 
granting employers favorable tax treatment for contributions made to 
such plans. The committee has learned that since ERISA does not include 
specific rules which require make-up contributions, many employers or 
pension plan administrators may have erroneously concluded that such 
contributions are not required under existing law. This is not the view 
of this committee or the House, and since the issue was raised by the 
administration's 1991 proposal, we have determined to resolve it once 
and for all. In arriving at our decision, we have not been unmindful of 
the compliance burden which may result from a clarification of this 
issue. Further, although we note the interest of the tax-
writing committees in clarifying that such employer contributions would 
be tax-deductible, this issue is not addressed in this legislation 
because it is not an issue within our committee's jurisdiction.

  The Supreme Court determined in Alabama Power that service in the 
military is to be credited for both vesting and benefit accrual 
purposes because the benefit is a reward for length of service and it 
is reasonable certain that the benefit would have accrued had the 
employee not been away in military service. The protections of the law 
apply equally to both defined benefit plans and defined contribution 
plans, so long as the specific plan at issue meets the requirement of 
Alabama Power. See Reilly v. New England Teamsters, 737 F.2d 1274, 
1281-82 (2d Cir. 1984). The same would be true of those profit-sharing 
plans which are rewards for length of service. To the extent that 
Raypole v. Chemi-trol Inc., 754 F.2d 169 (6th Cir. 1985) suggests 
differently, it is wrongly decided.
  The decision in Raypole clearly does not reflect the intent of 
Congress when it drafted the original act. Congress intended to assure 
civilians called to the colors that they would not be disadvantaged 
while in service compared to workers whose lives were not similarly 
interrupted. The Raypole opinion, relying on the Alabama Power 
decision, found that when the Supreme Court ``expressly withheld its 
views on whether defined contribution plans are to be treated 
differently from defined benefit plans * * *'' it meant that profit 
sharing plans were not to receive the full enforcement of this law, see 
Alabama Power Co., 431 U.S. 593 n. 18, 97 S.Ct. 2002, 2009 n. 18 
(1977). The result in this case is that a veteran would clearly be 
denied a benefit which almost certainly would have accrued had he not 
gone into the service, a benefit which can not be reasonably 
distinguished from the pension benefits at issue in Alabama Power. The 
decision in Raypole ignores the Congress' intent that the law be 
interpreted broadly so the veteran will ``* * * not be disadvantaged by 
serving his country.'' See McKinney v. Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad 
Co., 357 U.S. 265, 270 (1957).
  The Raypole court also stated that ``[w]e do not believe that 
Congress intended the Act to operate such that veterans share in the 
earnings from profits which they did not create at the expense of those 
who did'' in reaching its final conclusion. See Raypole at 174. But 
this reasoning is also at odds with the intent of Congress because this 
rule as applied would place the veteran in the same position as an 
employee who had been fired and then eventually rehired. Congress did 
not intend for this to occur because it weighed the costs to the 
employer in drafting the original act, and determined that any 
perceived injustice to employers were more than offset by the benefits 
gained in achieving domestic tranquility through an adequately manned 
military. Defined contribution plans, including profit sharing plans, 
are covered by the act because ``no practice of employers or agreements 
between employers and unions can cut down the service adjustment 
benefits which Congress has secured the veteran under the Act.'' See 
Fishgold v. Sullivan Drydock & Repair Corp., 328 U.S. 275, 285 (1946). 
This coverage applies to all persons who have rights under this act and 
its predecessors since 1940.

  Section 8(h) of the compromise agreement contains two substantive 
provisions which speak to this issue. First, the bill provides that 
``[n]othing in this Act shall be construed to relieve an employer of an 
obligation to provide contributions to a pension plan * * * in effect 
on the day before this Act takes effect.'' It is the House's view that 
returning servicemembers have always been entitled to employer 
contributions that would have been made during military service, and 
that the provisions of proposed section 4318 are merely a restatement 
of the existing law. However, it should be noted that--

       The strong deference accorded legislation in the field of 
     national economic policy is no less applicable when that 
     legislation is applied retroactively. Provided that the 
     retroactive application of a statute is supported by a 
     legitimate legislative purpose furthered by rational means, 
     judgments about the wisdom of such legislation remain within 
     the exclusive province of the legislative and executive 
     branches.

  Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. v. R.A. Gray & Co., 467 U.S. 717, 729 
(1984). Thus, even if this legislation were found to be retroactive, 
instead of merely clarifying current law which I believe is the case, 
given the purpose of the law and the means of achieving it, the 
Congress' power to enact such legislation cannot be doubted. There can 
be no question about the substantial role which the provision of 
reemployment rights to former servicemembers has played in our national 
defense, especially during the time of the All-Volunteer Force. It is 
one of a number, but certainly one of the most important, inducements 
to persons to leave civilian life for a time and serve their country. I 
wish to emphasize that this inducement is not provided to the career 
soldier, and that it is tailored to be as unobtrusive as possible given 
the need to recruit young men and women to defend the national 
interest. The value of this law was most recently demonstrated during 
the Persian Gulf war, when hundreds of thousands of reservists and 
National Guard members were forced to leave their civilian jobs to form 
part of a force which ejected the Iraqi army from Kuwait and preserved 
a key economic and political alliance with Kuwait.
  Second, the bill would provide noncomplying plans with 2 years to 
bring the terms of those plans into compliance with the act. This 
compliance may entail recalculating pensions already being paid to 
employees whose pensions were calculated without the benefit of makeup 
contributions during the employee's military service. Although pension 
industry representatives have expressed apprehension about potential 
noncompliance with this measure or ERISA, the committee has learned 
from extensive discussion with pension industry experts that 
noncompliance with pension law requirements is an everyday occurrence, 
and that there is nothing remarkable about a company discovering a 
liability that it was previously unaware of and making a multimillion-
dollar retroactive contribution to the plan maintained for its 
employees. In contrast, compliance with the existing veterans 
reemployment law should not be a multimillion-dollar adjustment, since 
the number of persons who leave a civilian employer and return to that 
employer within the time limits established by the law is relatively 
small. One estimate is that fewer than 30,000 persons would be entitled 
to such makeup contributions from a defined contribution pension plan 
in a recent year--fiscal year 1992--with an average per-enrollee makeup 
contribution of $1,900 covering the entire period of military service. 
The number of enrollees and amount per enrollee would be much smaller 
for years prior to 1992.

  According to the Congressional Research Service, the percent of 
workers covered by defined contribution plans more than tripled--from 
11 million to 35 million workers--from 1975 to 1990. Spread across the 
millions of employers and billions of dollars which such plans accept 
in contributions each year--private pension plan assets exceeded $3 
trillion in 1993, while contributions to such plans in 1990 amounted to 
$75.8 billion--compliance with the existing law, even if it is done 
with a lump-sum contribution, poses an almost insignificant burden on 
the employer community.
  It should also be noted that the compromise does not include the 
House-passed provision requiring employers to make up earnings on 
employer contributions or to reallocate or otherwise add to the 
veteran's account forfeitures which were distributed to other 
employees' accounts during the period of military service. To address 
employer and pension plan administrator concerns about possible 
noncompliance, the compromise includes a 2-year window for noncomplying 
plans to make up employer contributions which were required, but not 
made, under existing law. The committee understands that other 
technical and conforming changes may also be recommended by the 
committees with jurisdiction over ERISA and the tax code.
  Mr. Speaker, since 1940, this law has protected veterans' employment 
rights. Pension rights have been and will continue to be an important 
aspect of employment seniority. Preserving the veteran's right to such 
benefits regardless of the way in which such benefits are calculated is 
consistent with the original intention of the 1940 act, which ``was to 
preserve for the returning veterans the rights and benefits which would 
have automatically accrued to them had they remained in private 
employment rather than responding to the call of their country.'' 
Accardi v. Pennsylvania R.R. Co., 383 U.S. 225, 229-30 (1966). Their 
response to that call is the basis for all of the bounties which 
residents of this great Nation enjoy today, and the House honors that 
response by its action here today.
  Mr. Speaker, this compromise is important to our national defense 
efforts, and I urge all my colleagues to support it. There follows an 
explanatory statement comparing the House bill, the Senate amendment, 
and the compromise agreement.

                   Explanatory Statement on H.R. 995

       H.R. 995 reflects a compromise agreement that the Senate 
     and House of Representatives Committees on Veterans' Affairs 
     have reached on certain bills considered in the Senate and 
     the House of Representatives during the 103d Congress. These 
     measures are H.R. 995, which the House passed on May 4, 1993, 
     (hereinafter referred to as ``House bill''), and the text of 
     S. 843, which the Senate passed on November 8, 1993, as an 
     amendment to H.R. 995 (hereinafter referred to as ``Senate 
     amendment'').
       The Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and the 
     House of Representatives have prepared the following 
     explanation of H.R. 995 as amended (hereinafter referred to 
     as the ``compromise agreement''). Differences between the 
     provisions contained in the compromise agreement and the 
     related provisions in the above-mentioned House bill and 
     Senate amendment are noted in this document, except for 
     clerical corrections, conforming changes made necessary by 
     the compromise agreement, and minor drafting, technical, and 
     clarifying changes.


                           scope of coverage

       Current law: Section 4301(a) provides that an individual 
     must have left a position (other than temporary) in the 
     employ of an employer in order to perform training or service 
     in the Armed Forces to be eligible for reemployment rights 
     and benefits.
       House bill: Proposed new section 4312(a) would provide that 
     an individual must have left a position (other than 
     temporary) in the employ of an employer for voluntary or 
     involuntary service in the uniformed service to be entitled 
     to a leave of absence or, upon completion of service, to 
     reemployment.
       Proposed new section 4303(8) would define ``other than a 
     temporary position'' to mean a position of employment as to 
     which there is a reasonable expectation that it will continue 
     indefinitely.
       Senate amendment: Proposed new section 4312(a) is similar 
     to the provision in the House bill, but would not exclude 
     individuals who held temporary positions when they entered 
     the uniformed services from eligibility for reemployment 
     rights and benefits. Also, proposed new section 4303 would 
     not define the term ``other than a temporary position.''
       Compromise agreement: Section 4312(d)(1)(C) would provide 
     that an employer is not required to reemploy an individual if 
     his or her employment prior to military service was for a 
     brief, nonrecurrent period and there was no reasonable 
     expectation that it would continue indefinitely or for a 
     significant period.
       The compromise agreement would not, therefore, include a 
     definition of the term ``other than temporary position.''


        prohibition against discrimination and acts of reprisal

       Current law: Section 4301(b)(3) provides that an individual 
     may not be denied hiring, retention in employment, or any 
     promotion or other incident or advantage of employment 
     because of any obligation as a member of a Reserve component 
     of the Armed Forces.
       House bill: Proposed new section 4311 would provide that 
     (1) an individual may not be denied initial employment, 
     reemployment, retention in employment, promotion, or any 
     benefit of employment because of present or past application 
     for or membership in a uniformed service, or obligation for 
     future service; (2) an employer is considered to have 
     committed a prohibited act of discrimination or reprisal 
     against an individual if the individual's service, 
     application, or obligation for service was a motivating 
     factor in the employer's action, unless the employer can 
     prove that the action would have been taken in the absence of 
     the service, application, or obligation for service; (3) an 
     employer may not discriminate against or take any adverse 
     employment action against any individual because that 
     individual has filed a claim under the Act, sought assistance 
     concerning an alleged violation, testified in a proceeding, 
     assisted or otherwise participated in an investigation, or 
     exercised any right under the reemployment law; and (4) the 
     prohibitions regarding discrimination will apply with respect 
     to an individual regardless of whether that individual has 
     performed service in the uniformed services.
       Senate amendment: Proposed new section 4311 is 
     substantively identical to the House provision but would 
     extend protection under the reemployment law to employees in 
     a foreign country.
       Compromise agreement: Section 4311 does not contain 
     protection for employees in a foreign country.


                 maximum period of service for coverage

       Current law: Under section 4304, an individual is permitted 
     to remain on active duty for a total of four years and still 
     retain reemployment rights. An additional year of eligibility 
     for reemployment rights is granted if an individual remains 
     on active duty beyond the four-year period at the request of, 
     and for the convenience of, the Federal Government. Active 
     duty for training and inactive duty does not count toward the 
     five years.
       House bill: Subsections (a) and (c) of proposed new section 
     4312 would provide for a five-year limit on an individual's 
     cumulative length of absence from a position of employment 
     with the employer by reason of service in the uniformed 
     services for the purposes of reemployment rights and 
     benefits. This would include all types of service except 
     (1) service required beyond five years to complete an 
     initial period of obligated service; (2) service from 
     which the individual, through no fault of his or her own, 
     is unable to obtain a release from service within the 
     five-year limit; (3) service for statutorily mandated 
     training or to fulfill additional training requirements 
     determined by the Secretary of Defense to be necessary for 
     individual professional skill development; (4) service 
     resulting from an order to, or retention on, active duty 
     during a war or national emergency under a law or joint 
     resolution related to a specific crisis situation; (5) 
     service resulting from an order to active duty in support 
     of an operational mission for which personnel have been 
     ordered to active duty in section 673b of title 10, United 
     States Code; (6) service resulting from an order to active 
     duty in support, as determined by the Secretary concerned, 
     of a critical mission or requirement of the uniformed 
     services; or (7) service resulting from an order to active 
     duty by the President of members of the National Guard to 
     suppress an insurrection, repel an invasion by a foreign 
     nation, suppress a rebellion, or execute laws of the 
     United States that the President is unable to execute with 
     the regular army.
       Senate amendment: Subsections (a) and (c) of proposed new 
     section 4312 are substantively identical to the House 
     provision, but with additional coverage of Coast Guard 
     personnel ordered to or retained on active duty under 
     circumstances excepted for other uniformed service personnel.
       Compromise agreement: Subsections (a) and (c) of section 
     4312 contain the Senate provision.


                     applications for reemployment

       Current law: Section 4301(a) requires that an individual 
     who is inducted into the Armed Forces generally must make 
     application for reemployment within 90 days after separation. 
     Section 4304(a) requires the same application obligation of 
     an individual who enlists in the Armed Forces. Subsections 
     (c) and (g) of section 4304 require that a member of a 
     Reserve component who is ordered to an initial period of 
     active duty for training of not less than 12 consecutive 
     weeks or who is ordered to active duty other than for 
     training under section 673b of title 10, generally must make 
     application for reemployment within 31 days after separation; 
     section 4304(d) provides that all other individuals required 
     to perform active duty for training or inactive duty training 
     must report to work at the beginning of the next regularly 
     scheduled working period after expiration of the last 
     calendar day necessary to travel from the place of training 
     to the place of employment following the employee's release, 
     or within a reasonable time thereafter if delayed return is 
     due to factors beyond the employee's control.
       Under current law, if an individual is hospitalized 
     incident to active duty, the application for reemployment 
     generally must be made within the foregoing timeframes 
     determined by the individual's type or category of military 
     training or service. However, the application period begins 
     upon discharge from hospitalization of not more than one year 
     instead of beginning on the date of discharge from service.
       House bill: Proposed new section 4312(e)(1) would require 
     that (1) if the service was for less than 31 days or for the 
     purpose of an examination to determine fitness to enter 
     service, an individual entitled to reemployment must report 
     to the employer for reemployment at the beginning of the 
     first full regularly scheduled working period on the first 
     calendar day following the completion of service and the 
     expiration of eight hours after a time for safe 
     transportation back to his or her residence or as soon as 
     possible after the expiration of the eight-hour period if 
     reporting within that period is impossible or unreasonable 
     through no fault of the individual; (2) if the period of 
     service was 31 days or more but less than 181 days, an 
     individual entitled to reemployment must submit an 
     application to the employer no later than 14 days following 
     completion of service or as soon as possible thereafter if 
     submitting an application within the period is impossible or 
     unreasonable through no fault of the individual; (3) if the 
     period of service was 181 days or more, an individual 
     entitled to reemployment must submit an application no later 
     than 90 days following completion of service or as soon as 
     possible thereafter if submitting an application within the 
     period is impossible or unreasonable through no fault of the 
     individual.
       Proposed new section 4312(e)(2) would provide for an 
     extension of the time limits specified in subsection (e)(1) 
     by up to two years if an individual is hospitalized for, or 
     convalescing from, an injury or illness incurred or 
     aggravated by military service. The two-year period would be 
     extended by the minimum time required to accommodate the 
     circumstance beyond the individual's control which makes 
     reporting within the time limit impossible or unreasonable.
       Senate amendment: Proposed new section 4312(e)(1) is 
     substantively identical to the House provision, but without 
     possible extension for events beyond the individual's control 
     if the period of service was 31 days or more.
       Proposed new section 4312(e)(2) is substantively identical 
     to the House provision.
       Compromise agreement: Section 4312(e)(1) contains the House 
     provision regarding service of less than 31 days or for the 
     purpose of an examination to determine fitness to enter 
     service; the House provision regarding service of 31 days or 
     more but less than 181 days, modified to make specific the 
     time beyond 14 days within which the returning employee must 
     make application for reemployment; and the Senate provision 
     regarding service of more than 180 days.
       Section 4312(e)(2) includes the provision relating to an 
     extension of time in the case of an illness or injury.
       Section 4312(e)(3) provides that a failure to report or 
     apply within the time limits does not automatically forfeit 
     the person's reemployment rights, but subjects the person to 
     the employer's rules, policies, or practices pertaining to 
     absence from work.


                       documentation upon return

       Current law: No provision.
       House bill: Proposed new section 4312(g) would provide 
     that: (1) when reporting for reemployment, an individual, 
     upon request, must provide to the employer documentation to 
     establish the timeliness of the application for reemployment, 
     that the individual did not exceed the applicable time-in-
     service limitation, and that the character of service was 
     satisfactory; (2) notwithstanding a failure to provide 
     documentation, an employer must reemploy an individual if the 
     failure occurs because such documentation does not exist or 
     is not readily available at the time of the request, with the 
     condition that if, after reemployment, documentation becomes 
     available that establishes that one or more of the 
     eligibility requirements was not met, the employer may 
     terminate the individual's employment and the provision of 
     any rights or benefits afforded the individual prospectively; 
     and (3) it is unlawful for an employer to delay or attempt to 
     defeat a reemployment obligation by demanding documentation 
     that does not then exist or is not then readily available.
       Senate amendment: Proposed new section 4312(f) contains 
     documentation requirements substantively identical to those 
     in the House bill except that, if an individual is absent 
     from employment for more than 90 days, the employer may 
     require documentation before making retroactive pension 
     contributions.
       Compromise agreement: Section 4312(f) contains the Senate 
     provision.


                        entitlement limitations

       Current law: No provision.
       House bill: Proposed new section 4312(i) would provide that 
     entitlement to protection under the reemployment law does not 
     depend on the timing, frequency, duration of an individual's 
     training or service or the nature of that service if the 
     service does not exceed the service limitations and the 
     applicable notice requirements are met.
       Senate amendment: Proposed new section 4312(h) is 
     substantively identical to the House provision.
       Compromise agreement: Section 4312(h) contains this 
     provision.


              position to which entitled upon reemployment

       Current law: Section 4301(a) provides that a returning 
     servicemember who was absent from an employment position 
     (other than a temporary position) for service in the Armed 
     Forces is generally entitled (1) if still qualified to 
     perform the duties of that position, to be restored to that 
     position or a position of like seniority, status, and pay; or 
     (2) if not qualified to perform the duties of that position 
     by reason of a disability sustained during service, to be 
     offered and employed in a position the duties of which he or 
     she is qualified to perform that will provide like seniority, 
     status, and pay, or the nearest approximation consistent with 
     the circumstances of the individual's case.
       Section 4301(b)(2) provides that it is the sense of 
     Congress that an individual must be so restored as to give 
     the individual the status that he or she would have enjoyed 
     but for the absence for service in the Armed Forces.
       House bill: Proposed new section 4313(a)(1) would provide 
     that an individual whose period of service was for fewer than 
     91 days must be reemployed promptly (1) in a position that he 
     or she would have attained by remaining continuously 
     employed, unless the employer can prove that the individual 
     is not qualified or capable of becoming qualified with 
     reasonable efforts by the employer, or (2) if not qualified 
     or capable of becoming qualified for the new position, in the 
     same position that he or she left. Proposed new section 
     4313(a)(2) would provide for a similar pattern of position 
     offerings for an individual whose period of service was for 
     91 days or more, with the additional option that the employer 
     may offer a position of like seniority, status, and pay to 
     the new position or, as determined by whether the individual 
     is qualified or capable of becoming qualified, the position 
     that the individual left. Proposed new section 4313(a)(4) 
     would provide that a returning servicemember who is not 
     qualified to be employed in the position that he or she would 
     have attained by remaining continuously employed or in the 
     position that he or she left, for any reason other than 
     disability incurred during the period of service, and who 
     cannot become qualified with reasonable efforts by the 
     employer, must be employed promptly in any other position of 
     lesser status and pay the duties of which he or she is 
     qualified to perform, with full seniority.
       Senate amendment: Proposed new sections 4313(a) (1), (2), 
     and (4) are similar to the House provisions but would 
     provide that the employer may offer a position of like 
     status and pay if the period of service was for more than 
     30 days.
       Compromise agreement: Section 4313 generally follows the 
     House bill.


                 position to which entitled if disabled

       Current law: Section 4307 requires an employer to make 
     reasonable accommodations to the known physical or mental 
     limitations incurred in the military service of an individual 
     to enable him or her to perform the essential functions of a 
     position, unless the employer can demonstrate that the 
     accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the operation 
     of the business. The terms ``reasonable accommodation'' and 
     ``undue hardship'' have the same meanings as are provided in 
     the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) (Public Law 
     101-336; 42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.).
       House bill: Proposed new section 4313(a)(3) would provide 
     that if an individual is disabled because of a disability 
     incurred during, or as a result of, a period of service in 
     the uniformed services and is not qualified to be employed in 
     the position that he or she would have attained if 
     continuously employed or in the position that he or she left 
     for service (even after reasonable efforts by the employer to 
     accommodate the disability), the individual must be 
     reemployed promptly (1) in any other position of similar 
     seniority, status, and pay for which he or she is qualified 
     or would become qualified with reasonable efforts by the 
     employer; or (2) in a position which is the nearest 
     approximation consistent with the circumstances of the 
     individual's case.
       Senate amendment: Proposed new section 4313(a)(3) is 
     substantively identical to the House provision.
       Compromise agreement: Section 4313(a)(3) contains this 
     provision.


   two or more persons entitled to reemployment in the same position

       Current law: Section 4306 provides that in any case in 
     which two or more individuals are entitled to reemployment in 
     the same position, the individual who left first has the 
     prior right to be reemployed in that position, without 
     prejudice to the reemployment rights of the other individual 
     or individuals.
       House bill: Proposed new section 4313(b) would provide that 
     in any case in which two or more individuals are entitled to 
     reemployment in the same position and more than one of them 
     has reported for reemployment, (1) the individual who left 
     the position first has the prior right to be reemployed in 
     that position and (2) any individual not reemployed is 
     entitled to be employed promptly in any other position 
     which is equivalent in seniority, status, and pay for 
     which the individual is qualified or would become 
     qualified with reasonable efforts by the employer or in a 
     position which is the nearest approximation consistent 
     with the circumstances of the individual's case.
       Senate amendment: Proposed new section 4313(b) is 
     substantively identical to the House provision.
       Compromise agreement: Section 4313(b) contains this 
     provision.


                 reemployment by the federal government

       Current law: Section 4303 provides that any individual who 
     is entitled to reemployment and who was employed, immediately 
     before entering the Armed Forces, by any agency in the 
     executive branch of the Federal government or by the District 
     of Columbia, must be reemployed by that agency or the 
     successor to its functions, or by the District of Columbia. 
     In cases in which the Director of the Office of Personnel 
     Management (OPM) finds that (1) the agency is no longer in 
     existence and its functions have not been transferred to any 
     other agency, or (2) for any reason it is not feasible for 
     the individual to be reemployed by the agency or the District 
     of Columbia, the Director must determine whether or not there 
     is another position in any other agency in the executive 
     branch or in the government of the District of Columbia for 
     which the individual is qualified and which is either vacant 
     or held by an individual having a temporary appointment, and, 
     if such a position exists, the individual must be offered the 
     position and, if the individual so requests, be employed in 
     the position.
       In cases in which it is not possible for an individual who 
     is entitled to reemployment rights to be restored to a 
     position that he or she left in the legislative branch and 
     who is otherwise eligible to acquire a status for a transfer 
     to a position in the competitive service, the Director of the 
     OPM is required to search for a comparable position in the 
     executive branch for which the individual having a temporary 
     appointment, and, if such a position exists, it must be 
     offered to the individual. An individual who was employed in 
     the judicial branch must be restored to the position that the 
     individual held immediately before entering the Armed Forces.
       House bill: Proposed new section 4314 is similar to current 
     law but would provide that (1) an individual is entitled to 
     be reemployed according to the priorities set out in new 
     section 4313; (2) the District of Columbia government is not 
     considered part of the executive branch; and (3) in a case in 
     which an employer in the legislative or judicial branch, or 
     the adjutant general of a State in the case of a National 
     Guard technician, determines that it is impossible or 
     unreasonable to reemploy an individual who left to serve 
     in the uniformed services and the individual is otherwise 
     eligible to acquire a status for a transfer to a position 
     in the competitive service, the Director of OPM must 
     identify and offer an alternative position in the 
     executive branch.
       Senate amendment: Proposed new section 4314 is similar to 
     the House provision but would require the Director of OPM to 
     ensure that an individual whose reemployment in a Federal 
     Government position--to include the legislative or judicial 
     branch--or as a National Guard technician is impossible or 
     unreasonable is offered an alternative position of employment 
     in the executive branch.
       Compromise agreement: Section 4314 contains the Senate 
     provision.


                reemployment by certain federal agencies

       Current law: Although current Chapter 43 does not exempt 
     federal intelligence community agencies--those listed in 
     section 2302(a)(2)(C)(ii) of title 5, United States Code (the 
     Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Central Intelligence 
     Agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency, the National 
     Security Agency, and any Executive agency or unit the 
     function of which is determined by the President to be the 
     conduct of foreign intelligence or counterintelligence 
     activities), section 403(c) of title 50, United States Code, 
     provides that the Director of Central Intelligence may, in 
     his or her discretion, terminate the employment of any 
     officer or employee of the Agency whenever he or she deems 
     such a termination necessary or advisable in the interests of 
     the United States. Other intelligence community agencies have 
     similar authority to make employment determinations with 
     outside review.
       House bill: No provision.
       Senate amendment: Proposed new section 4315 would provide 
     that the head of each agency referred to in section 
     2302(a)(2)(C)(ii) of title 5 must (1) prescribe procedures 
     for ensuring that veterans' reemployment rights apply to the 
     employees of that agency, and ensure, to the maximum extent 
     practicable, that the procedures for reemployment in that 
     agency are similar to those that apply to other executive 
     branch employees; (2) upon making a determination that the 
     reemployment of an individual is impossible or unreasonable, 
     notify the individual and the Director of OPM of the 
     determination; and (3) on an annual basis, submit to the 
     Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and the Permanent 
     Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of 
     Representatives a report of the number of individuals 
     whose reemployment with the agency was determined to be 
     impossible or unreasonable during the year preceding the 
     report and the reason for each determination.
       Compromise agreement: Section 4315 contains the Senate 
     provision, modified to require the heads of each agency to 
     submit annual reports to the House and Senate Committees on 
     Veterans' Affairs.


                      general rights and benefits

       Current law: Section 4301(b)(1) provides that an individual 
     reemployed under the veterans' reemployment rights law (1) 
     shall be considered as having been on furlough or leave of 
     absence during the period of service, (2) must be reemployed 
     without loss of seniority, and (3) is entitled to participate 
     in insurance or other benefits offered by the employer 
     according to rules and practices relating to employees on 
     furlough or leave of absence in effect with the employer at 
     the beginning of the period of service. Section 4301(b)(2) 
     provides that it is the sense of Congress that the reemployed 
     individual should be so reemployed as to give the individual 
     the status that he or she would have enjoyed if employed 
     continuously during the period of active service.
       House bill: Proposed new section 4315(a) would, as in 
     current law, provide that upon reemployment under the 
     veterans' reemployment rights law, a person would be entitled 
     to the seniority and other rights and benefits determined by 
     seniority that the individual had on the date of the 
     beginning of uniformed service plus the additional seniority 
     and rights and benefits the individual would have attained if 
     the individual had remained continuously employed.
       Proposed new section 4315(b) would provide that (1) an 
     individual who performs service in the uniformed services 
     would be considered to be on a furlough or leave of absence 
     while in the uniformed services and would be entitled, while 
     away, to rights and benefits, not determined by seniority, 
     relating to other employees on furlough or leave of absence 
     which were established, by contract, practice, policy, 
     agreement, or plan effective at the beginning of the period 
     of service or implemented while the individual is performing 
     service; and (2) the individual may be required to pay the 
     employee cost, if any, of any funded benefit continued to the 
     extent other employees on furlough or leave of absence are 
     required to pay.
       Senate amendment: Subsections (a) and (b) of proposed new 
     section 4316 are substantively identical to the House 
     provision, except that subsection (b) would (1) provide that 
     in the case of a multiemployer pension plan, liability will 
     be allocated by the plan or if the plan does not provide, 
     liability would be allocated to the last employer before the 
     period of uniformed service; (2) clarify that the 
     servicemember deemed to be on furlough or leave of absence 
     because of uniformed service would not be entitled to any 
     benefits which he or she would not otherwise be entitled 
     if the individual were not on a furlough or leave of 
     absence; (3) exempt entitlement for health insurance to 
     care and treatment to the extent the individual would be 
     entitled to the same care and treatment from the Federal 
     Government during uniformed service; (4) preserve policy 
     exclusion of disability insurance for persons in service 
     in excess of 31 days; (5) preserve policy war-clause 
     exclusions; and (6) limit the right of continued insurance 
     coverages to the lesser of (a) 18 months from date of 
     absence, or (b) the period of service plus period of 
     notice of intent to return.
       Compromise agreement: The compromise agreement addresses 
     the seniority and non-seniority benefits in three sections--
     proposed new sections 4316 (Rights, benefits, and obligations 
     of persons absent from employment for service in a uniformed 
     service), 4317 (Health plans), and 4318 (Employee pension 
     benefit plans).
       Subsection (a) of section 4316 contains the general 
     provisions relating to seniority benefits as set forth in 
     both the House bill and the Senate amendment.
       Subsection (b) of section 4316 contains the general 
     provisions relating to non-seniority benefits with a 
     provision, in new subsection 4316(b)(2)(A), that provides 
     that a person otherwise entitled to rights and benefits 
     accorded to other employees on furlough or leave of absence 
     may waive those rights and benefits if the person knowingly 
     provides written notice of intent not to return to employment 
     after military service. Basic waiver law would be applicable 
     to such a knowing waiver.
       Subsection 4316(b) contains the Senate provision relating 
     to multiemployee plans, modified to provide that, in the 
     event the last employer is not functioning, liability would 
     be allocated to the plan. Subsection (b) also contains the 
     Senate provision clarifying that a servicemember deemed to be 
     on a leave of absence because of uniformed service is not 
     entitled to any benefits which a person would not be entitled 
     if he or she was not on a leave of absence.
       Although the compromise agreement for subsection 4316(b) 
     does not contain the Senate exemptions relating to duplicate 
     federal coverage, disability insurance, or war-clauses, 
     nothing in this law is intended to overrule contract rights 
     of coverage in the area of health, disability, and life 
     insurance.


                            retention rights

       Current law: Section 4301(b)(1)(A) provides that an 
     individual who was inducted into the Armed Forces and who is 
     then reemployed cannot be discharged from his or her position 
     without cause for one year following reemployment. 
     Subsections (c) and (g) of section 4304 provide that 
     reservists who were ordered to an initial period of active 
     duty for training of not less than twelve consecutive 
     weeks or who were ordered voluntarily or involuntarily to 
     active duty under section 673B of title 10 cannot be 
     discharged from their positions without cause for six 
     months after reemployment.
       House bill: Proposed new section 4315(d) would provide that 
     an individual reemployed under this chapter may not be 
     discharged from employment, except for cause (1) if the 
     period of service was more than 180 days, within one year; 
     (2) if the period of service was more than 30 days but less 
     than 181 days, within six months; or (3) if the period of 
     service was less than 31 days, within a period of time equal 
     to the period of service concerned.
       Senate amendment: Proposed new section 4316(e) is similar 
     to the House provision except that retention rights would not 
     be provided to individuals serving for less than 31 days.
       Compromise agreement: Section 4316(c) contains the Senate 
     provision.


                             accrued leave

       Current law: No provision.
       House bill: Proposed new section 4315(e) would provide that 
     any individual who is absent from a position (other than a 
     temporary position) for voluntary or involuntary service in 
     the uniformed services may use, during the period of service, 
     accrued or other leave which the individual could have used 
     if employment had not been interrupted for service.
       Senate amendment: Proposed new section 4316(f) is similar 
     to the House provision, except (1) temporary positions are 
     not excluded, and (2) application would be limited to 
     accumulated vacation or annual leave with pay.
       Compromise agreement: Section 4316(d) contains the Senate 
     provision, modified to add ``similar leave'' with pay to the 
     types of leave that could be used.


                              health plans

       Current Law: Section 4301(b)(1)(A) provides, among other 
     things, that any reemployed person ``shall be entitled to 
     participate in insurance or other benefits offered by the 
     employer pursuant to established rules and practices relating 
     to employees on furlough or leave of absence in effect with 
     the employer at the time such person was inducted into'' the 
     Armed Forces.
       Section 4301(b)(1)(B) provides that, in the case 
     of employer-offered health insurance, an exclusion or 
     waiting period may not be imposed in connection with 
     coverage of a health or physical condition of a 
     servicemember entitled to participate in that insurance, 
     or a health or physical condition of any other individual 
     who is covered by the insurance by reason of the coverage 
     of the servicemember, if (1) the condition arose before or 
     during the individual's period of training or service in 
     the Armed Forces; (2) an exclusion or waiting period would 
     not have been imposed for the condition during a period of 
     coverage resulting from participation by the individual in 
     the insurance; and (3) the condition of the individual has 
     not been determined by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
     to be service-connected.
       House bill: Proposed new section 4313(c)(1) would provide 
     that, notwithstanding the general provision that persons in 
     military service are considered to be on furlough or leave of 
     absence and are entitled to non-seniority rights and benefits 
     which other employees on furlough or leave are entitled to, a 
     person would be entitled to continuation of any insurance 
     provided by the employer, including health insurance, for up 
     to 18 months. The person could be required to pay the entire 
     cost of any insurance benefit, except the person would only 
     be responsible for the employee share of any insurance 
     premium when the person was ordered to service of less than 
     31 days.
       Proposed new section 4315(c)(2) is substantively identical 
     to existing section 4301(b)(1)(B) (dealing with reinstatement 
     of health coverage without exclusions or waiting periods).
       Senate amendment: Proposed new section 4316(d)(1), dealing 
     with an employee's right to continue health-plan coverage, 
     would apply if the person's health-plan coverage ``would 
     otherwise terminate due to an extended absence from 
     employment for purposes of performing service in the 
     uniformed services.'' A person who elects continuation 
     coverage could be required to pay 102 percent of the full 
     premium associated with such coverage except, in the case of 
     service of less than 31 days, the person could not be 
     required to pay more than the employee share. A person who 
     elected continuation coverage would not be entitled to such 
     coverage (1) to the extent that the person is entitled to 
     care or treatment from the Federal Government, or (2) if the 
     person failed to notify the employer of the person's intent 
     to return to employment within the periods prescribed in 
     section 4312(e) of the Senate bill.
       Proposed new section 4316(d) would provide that, if an 
     individual's coverage under an employer-sponsored health plan 
     is terminated by reason of uniformed service, an exclusion or 
     waiting period may not be imposed in connection with coverage 
     of the servicemember or any other individual covered by the 
     health plan upon reemployment by the employer, if an 
     exclusion or waiting period would not have been imposed had 
     coverage not been terminated. An exception would apply to 
     disabilities that the Secretary of Veterans Affairs has 
     determined to be service-connected.
       Compromise agreement: Section 4317 requires the health plan 
     to offer continuation coverage for up to 18 months to persons 
     who have coverage in connection with employment and who are 
     absent from such employment due to military service. The 
     health plan may not require the person to pay more than the 
     employee share for that coverage if the period of military 
     service does not exceed 31 days. If the period of service 
     exceeds 31 days, the employee may be required to pay not more 
     than 102 percent of the full premium under the plan.
       The compromise also includes provisions pertaining to 
     allocation of liability in the case of a multiemployer plan 
     and limiting the obligation to continue coverage to the day 
     after the date on which the person fails to apply for or 
     return to a position of employment.
       With respect to reinstatement of health plan coverage 
     following a period of service, the compromise generally 
     follows the Senate provision, with a clarification that all 
     persons who are covered by the plan by reason of the 
     reinstatement of the coverage of the person who is reemployed 
     would also have coverage reinstated without the imposition of 
     an exclusion or waiting period.


                     employee pension benefit plans

       Current law: Section 4321(b)(1)(A) provides that upon 
     reemployment after military service, a person shall be 
     restored without loss of seniority. In Alabama Power Co. v. 
     Davis, 431 U.S. 581 (1977), the Supreme Court held that 
     pension benefits were protected under the Act as 
     ``perquisites of seniority'' because the real nature of the 
     benefit is a reward for length of service.
       House bill: Proposed new section 4316 would clarify the 
     protection provided pension benefits under the Act. Section 
     4316 (a)(1)(A) would define the pension plans entitled to 
     protection under the Act as any plan which falls within the 
     definition of an employee pension benefit plan described in 
     section 3(2) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act 
     of 1974, 29 U.S.C. s 1002(2), as well as any federal, state 
     or local government plan.
       This definition would include profit-sharing plans to the 
     extent that such plans provide retirement benefits to 
     participants.
       Sections 4316(a)(2)(A) and (B) would make explicit the 
     rights of reemployed servicemembers in their pension plans, 
     such as no break in employment service would be considered to 
     have occurred, no forfeiture of benefits already accrued 
     would be allowed, and there would be no necessity to 
     requalify for participation in the pension plan by reason of 
     absence for military service.
       Section 4316(b)(1)(A) would provide a pension plan with a 
     claim against the employer for amounts that may be required 
     to fund obligations arising under this section. In the case 
     of a multiemployer plan, this provision would enable the plan 
     to pursue its existing remedies under section 515 of the 
     Employee Retirement Income Security Act, 29 U.S.C. 1145, for 
     failure to make the required contributions, in the event that 
     neither the plan nor the collective bargaining agreement 
     pursuant to which the plan is maintained provides for any 
     such funding obligations.
       Section 4316(b)(1)(B) would provide that a returning 
     veteran is entitled to have earnings and any employer 
     contribution which is determined without reference to the 
     number of, or compensation of, plan participants credited to 
     such person's pension account to the same extent as they 
     would have been credited had such person remained 
     continuously employed instead of serving in the uniformed 
     service. With regard to forfeitures, this section would 
     permit, but not require, the allocation of forfeitures to 
     such person's pension account.
       Section 4316(b)(2) would provide that, if the plan is 
     contributory (i.e., provides for employee contributions as 
     well as employer contributions), the portion of such accrued 
     benefit that is derivable from employee contributions would 
     be required to be calculated only to the extent that the 
     reemployed serviceperson makes the required employee 
     contribution to the plan. No interest or penalty would be 
     charged on the employee contribution, nor would the employee 
     be credited with interest that would have been earned on such 
     contribution. However, if a reemployed serviceperson has 
     withdrawn his or her pension plan monies, in whole or in 
     part, prior to entering military service, such person must be 
     allowed to voluntarily repay the withdrawn amount (together 
     with the interest that would have been earned had the monies 
     not been withdrawn) and receive the appropriate credit in the 
     pension plan. The period of repayment would be subject to 
     negotiation between the employer and employee.
       Section 4316(b)(3) would provide that if there is a need to 
     use imputed earnings of an employee to calculate pension 
     benefits during a period when in fact there were no earnings 
     because of the absence in military service, the employee's 
     preservice rate of pay will be used or if no fixed rate was 
     in effect, the average earnings of the 12 months immediately 
     preceding military service shall be used.
       Section 4316(c) would require that, where military service 
     might result in additional pension liability, the 
     administrator of a multiemployer pension plan be notified 
     that a contributing employer has reemployed a veteran under 
     chapter 43. Such a notification would provide the plan the 
     opportunity to take whatever steps may be required to protect 
     its interests. Unlike administrators of single-employer 
     pension plans, administrators of multiemployer plans are 
     generally not in a position to be aware of the fact that a 
     contributing employer has reemployed a person who may have a 
     pension claim arising from a period of military service.
       Senate amendment: Proposed new section 4317 is similar to 
     the House provisions with some changes (described below).
       Section 4317(b)(1) would provide, in the case of a 
     multiemployer pension plan, if the plan does not have a 
     method of allocating liability for a returning servicemember, 
     the last employer employing the person prior to military 
     service shall be liable.
       Section 4317(b)(2) would provide, with reference to the 
     repayment of employee contributions, for the repayment period 
     to be no shorter than the length of absence.
       Section 4317(b)(4) would not allow earnings on 
     contributions to a plan until the contributions are made and 
     would not allow the reallocation of already allocated 
     forfeitures to a returning servicemember's account.
       Section 4317(d) would provide that no action need be taken 
     which would cause the plan, participants, or the employer to 
     suffer adverse tax or other consequences under the Internal 
     Revenue Code.
       Compromise Agreement: Section 4318 generally follows the 
     House bill with several modifications.
       The first modification is that, in a multiemployer context, 
     section 4318(b)(1)(A) requires allocation of liability first 
     to the plan in whatever manner the plan provides. If there is 
     no provision made, the last employer of such person before 
     military service would be responsible and, if there is no 
     longer a functional last employer, the liability would revert 
     to the plan.
       The next modification is that section 4318(b)(2) now 
     provides that repayment of employee contributions can be made 
     over a period of three times the period of military service, 
     not to exceed five years.
       Under section 4318(b)(3), for purposes of computing an 
     employer's liability or an employee's contributions, to the 
     extent that they are based on an employee's earnings, the 
     same ``reasonable certainty'' analysis as is applicable to 
     pay rate cases would be applicable here.
       It is the Committees' intent that earnings or losses on 
     contributions made after return from military service not be 
     credited until after the contributions are made and only 
     prospectively and there is no requirement to reallocate 
     already allocated forfeitures to a returning servicemember's 
     account.
       The Committees also intend that no pension rights accrue 
     for a period of military service if the servicemember elects 
     not to be reemployed, but the person's vested interest prior 
     to entering military service would remain intact.


                     assistance in asserting claims

       Current law: Under section 4305, the Secretary of Labor, 
     through the Office of Veterans' Reemployment Rights, is 
     required (1) to render aid in the replacement in their former 
     positions or reemployment of individuals who have 
     satisfactorily completed a period of active duty in the Armed 
     Forces or the Public Health Service and (2) to use 
     existing Federal and State agencies engaged in similar or 
     related activities and the assistance of volunteers.
       House bill: Proposed new section 4321 is similar to current 
     law, except that the Secretary would be authorized, rather 
     than required, to use existing Federal and State agencies 
     engaged in similar or related activities and the assistance 
     of volunteers.
       Proposed new section 4322 would specify (1) procedures for 
     individuals to file reemployment complaints with the 
     Secretary and (2) that the Secretary is authorized to conduct 
     investigations and make efforts to obtain voluntary 
     compliance from employers.
       Senate amendment: Proposed new section 4321 is similar to 
     the House provisions and in addition, would require that in 
     cases in which the efforts of the Secretary to obtain 
     voluntary compliance are unsuccessful, the Secretary must 
     notify the individual who submitted the complaint of (1) the 
     results of the investigation, and (2) the complainant's 
     entitlement to request referral of the claim to the Office of 
     the Special Counsel or the United States Attorney, depending 
     on whether the employer is the Federal government or a State 
     or private employer.
       Compromise agreement: Sections 4321 and 4322 contain the 
     Senate provisions.


                              enforcement

                       State or Private Employer

       Current law: Under section 4302, in the case of a private 
     or State employer who fails or refuses to comply with the 
     reemployment laws, (1) the district court of the United 
     States for the district in which the employer maintains a 
     place of business, exercises authority, or carries out its 
     function, has the power, upon the filing of a motion, 
     petition, or other appropriate pleading by the individual 
     entitled to the benefits of the reemployment laws, to require 
     the employer to comply with the reemployment law and to 
     compensate the individual for any loss of wages or benefits 
     suffered by reason of the employer's unlawful action; (2) the 
     United States attorney or comparable official, if reasonably 
     satisfied that an individual who applies for representation 
     is entitled to the reemployment benefits, must appear and act 
     as an attorney for the individual in the amicable adjustment 
     of the claim or in the filing and prosecution of a complaint; 
     (3) no fees or court costs may be taxed against an individual 
     who applies for such benefits; (4) only the employer may be 
     deemed a necessary party respondent; and (5) no State statute 
     of limitations may apply to any proceedings.
       House bill: Proposed new section 4322 is similar to 
     current law except that it would provide that (1) if the 
     Secretary of Labor, after investigation, is reasonably 
     satisfied that a violation has occurred and efforts to 
     obtain voluntary compliance are not successful, and if the 
     claimant requests referral for litigation, the Secretary 
     must refer the case to the Attorney General; (2) the 
     Attorney General, if reasonably satisfied that the 
     individual requesting representation is entitled to the 
     rights or benefits sought, may appear and act as attorney 
     for the claimant in the filing and prosecution of a 
     complaint; (3) an individual may be represented before the 
     District Court by a counsel of choice; (4) the court may 
     award an individual who prevails a reasonable attorney's 
     fee, expert witness fee, and other litigation expenses; 
     (5) the court may use its full equity powers to vindicate 
     rights under the Act; (6) a reemployment rights claim may 
     only be initiated by an individual claiming such rights or 
     benefits, not by an employer, prospective employer, or 
     other entity with obligations under the reemployment law; 
     (7) a State will be subject to the same remedies, 
     including prejudgment interest, as may be imposed upon any 
     private employer; and (8) if the District Court determines 
     that the employer's failure to comply with the provisions 
     of chapter 43 were willful, the court may require the 
     State or private employer to pay, in addition to the 
     compensation determined to be paid the person, an amount 
     equal to that compensation as liquidated damages.
       Senate amendment: Proposed new section 4322 is 
     substantively identical to the House provision.
       Compromise agreement: Section 4323 contains these 
     provisions.

                     Federal Government as Employer

       Current law: Section 4303(a) provides that the Director of 
     the Office of Personnel Management is authorized and directed 
     when the Director finds, upon appeal of the individual 
     concerned, that any agency in the executive branch or the 
     government of the District of Columbia has failed or refuses 
     to comply with the provisions of the law relating to 
     reemployment by the executive branch or the government of the 
     District of Columbia, to issue an order requiring compliance 
     and to compensate the individual for any loss of salary or 
     wages suffered by reason of failure to comply, less any 
     amounts received by the individual through other employment, 
     unemployment compensation, or readjustment allowances.
       House bill: Proposed new section 4322(e), which applies 
     with respect to the Federal Government as employer, would 
     provide that (1) if the Secretary, after investigation, is 
     reasonably satisfied that a violation has occurred with 
     respect to the Federal Government as employer and efforts to 
     obtain voluntary compliance are not successful, and if the 
     claimant requests that the claim be referred for litigation 
     before the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), the 
     Secretary would be required to refer the case to the 
     Office of the Special Counsel; (2) if the Special Counsel 
     is reasonably satisfied that the individual requesting 
     representation is entitled to the rights or benefits 
     sought, the Special Counsel would be required to appear 
     and act as an attorney for the claimant in filing and 
     pursuing an appeal to the MSPB; (3) if the Special Counsel 
     were to decline to represent an individual after receiving 
     a referral from the Secretary or if an individual were to 
     decide not to apply to the Secretary for assistance or to 
     use the Special Counsel for representation, the individual 
     may be represented before the MSPB by counsel of the 
     individual's choice; (4) if the MSPB concludes that a 
     Federal Government employer has failed or refused to 
     comply with the reemployment laws or that the Director of 
     OPM has not met his or her obligation under the 
     reemployment law, it would require the employing agency or 
     the Director to comply with the law and to compensate the 
     individual for any loss of wages or benefits suffered by 
     reason of the unlawful action; and (5) a claimant would be 
     able to petition the United States Court of Appeals for 
     the Federal Circuit to review a decision of the MSPB in 
     which the claimant is denied the relief sought, but would 
     not be represented by the Secretary or the Special Counsel 
     before the Court of Appeals or the Supreme Court.
       Senate bill: Proposed new section 4323 is substantively 
     identical to the House provision but would provide that (1) 
     the individual would be able to be represented before the 
     MSPB by a representative of choice; (2) the MSPB would be 
     able to award the individual reasonable attorney fees, expert 
     witness fees, and other litigation expenses; and (3) an 
     individual would be able to be represented by the Special 
     Counsel in an action for a review of a decision issued by the 
     MSPB, unless the individual was not represented by the 
     Special Counsel before the MSPB regarding this decision.
       Compromise agreement: Section 4324 contains the Senate 
     provision.

                Federal Intelligence Agency as Employer

       Current law: No provision.
       House bill: No provision.
       Senate amendment: Proposed new section 4324 would provide 
     that any individual employed prior to service in the 
     uniformed services by a federal intelligence agency--those 
     listed in section 2302(a)(2)(C)(ii) of Title 5 (the Federal 
     Bureau of Investigation, the Central Intelligence Agency, the 
     Defense Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency, or 
     any Executive agency or unit the function of which is 
     determined by the President to be the conduct of foreign 
     intelligence or counterintelligence activities)--would be 
     able to submit a complaint regarding reemployment to the 
     Inspector General of the agency in question, who would be 
     required to investigate and resolve the claim pursuant to 
     procedures prescribed by the head of the agency, which 
     must be, to the maximum extent practicable, similar to the 
     provisions relating to the investigation and resolution of 
     a claim by the Secretary of Labor.
       Compromise agreement: Section 4325 contains the Senate 
     provision.


                               subpoenas

       Current law: No provision.
       House bill: Subsections (b) and (c) of proposed new section 
     4323 would provide that the Secretary may (1) require by 
     subpoena the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the 
     production of documents relating to any matter under 
     investigation and (2) in the case disobedience of a subpoena, 
     may request that the Attorney General apply to a district 
     court of jurisdiction for an order enforcing the subpoena. 
     Subpoena authority would not apply in the case where the 
     employer is the Federal Government.
       Senate amendment: Subsections (b) and (c) of proposed new 
     section 4325 are substantively identical to the House 
     provisions, but would not apply the subpoena authority to the 
     legislative and judicial branches of the United States.
       Compromise agreement: Section 4326 contains the Senate 
     provision.


                              regulations

       Current law: Under Section 4303(a), the Director of the 
     Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is authorized and 
     directed to issue regulations relating to the reemployment in 
     the executive branch or in the government of the District of 
     Columbia.
       House bill: Proposed new section 4331 would provide that 
     (1) the Secretary of Labor, in consultation with the 
     Secretary of Defense, would be authorized to prescribe 
     regulations with regard to States, local governments, and 
     private employers; (2) the Director of OPM, in consultation 
     with the Secretaries of Labor and Defense, would be 
     authorized to prescribe regulations with regard to the 
     Federal Government as employer, and any such regulations 
     would have to be consistent with regulations pertaining to 
     States and private employers, except that employees of the 
     Federal government may be given greater or additional rights; 
     and (3) may be prescribed by the Merit Systems Protection 
     Board and by the Office of Special Counsel to carry out 
     their responsibilities.
       Senate amendment: Proposed new section 4331 is 
     substantively identical to the House provision but (1) would 
     not authorize the Director of OPM to prescribe regulations 
     giving Federal employees greater rights than employees of 
     States and private employers, and (2) would authorize 
     intelligence community agencies to prescribe regulations.
       Compromise agreement: Section 4331 contains the House 
     provision, modified to authorize intelligence community 
     agencies to prescribe regulations.


                                reports

       Current law: No provision.
       House bill: Proposed new section 4332 would require the 
     Secretary of Labor, after consultation with the Attorney 
     General and Special Counsel, to provide Congress no later 
     than February 1, 1995, and each February 1 annually 
     thereafter, a report concerning actions taken under chapter 
     43 during the prior fiscal year, including (1) the number of 
     cases reviewed by the Department Labor; (2) the number of 
     cases referred to the Attorney General or the Special 
     Counsel; (3) the number of complaints filed by the Attorney 
     General; (4) the nature and status of each case; (5) an 
     indication of whether there are any apparent patterns of 
     violation of the provisions of this chapter; and (6) 
     recommendations for administrative or legislative action that 
     the Secretary, Attorney General, or the Special Counsel 
     considers necessary for the effective implementation of this 
     chapter.
       Senate amendment: Section 2(c) would require the Secretary 
     of Labor, the Attorney General, and the Special Counsel to 
     submit a report to Congress, not later than one year after 
     the date of enactment, relating to the implementation of 
     chapter 43.
       Compromise agreement: Section 4332 contains the House 
     provision, modified to provide that Congress be provided with 
     an annual report on February 1 of each year for five years, 
     beginning with 1996.


                                outreach

       Current law: No provision.
       House bill: No provision.
       Senate amendment: Proposed new section 4332 would 
     require that the Secretaries of Labor, Defense, and 
     Veterans Affairs to take appropriate actions to inform 
     individuals entitled to reemployment rights and benefits 
     and employers of the reemployment rights, benefits, and 
     obligations.
       Compromise agreement: Section 4333 contains the Senate 
     provision.


              EXEMPTION FROM MINIMUM SERVICE REQUIREMENTS

       Current law: Section 5303A(b)(1) of title 38 generally 
     provides that an individual who is discharged or released 
     from active duty before completing the shorter of 24 months 
     of continuous active duty or the full period for which called 
     or ordered to active duty is not eligible by reason of that 
     period of active duty for any benefit under title 38 or any 
     other law administered by the VA.
       House bill: Section 3 would exclude reemployment benefits 
     under chapter 43 of title 38 from the minimum service 
     requirements.
       Senate amendment: Section 3 is identical to the House 
     provision.
       Compromise agreement: Section 3 contains this provision.


                          THRIFT SAVINGS PLAN

       Current law: Under current law, Federal and Postal 
     employees who return from active military service have 
     certain reemployment and restoration rights, including the 
     rights to obtain retirement credit under the Civil Service 
     Retirement System (CSRS) or under the basic annuity 
     provisions of the Federal Employees' Retirement System (FERS) 
     for the period of military service. However, Federal and 
     Postal employees who separate from service or who enter 
     leave-without-pay status to perform military service cease to 
     be eligible to make contributions to the Thrift Savings Plan 
     (TSP) or to have their employing agencies contribute to their 
     accounts during their period of military service. The TSP is 
     a deferred compensation arrangement similar to private sector 
     401(k) plans. The structure of the TSP is based on the 
     premise that contributions by employees must be deferred from 
     current civilian pay in order for an employee to enjoy the 
     tax benefits of deferred income, which are an integral part 
     of the TSP.
       House bill: Section 4 would amend title 5, United States 
     Code, principally by adding a proposed new section 8432b, so 
     as to allow Federal and Postal employees who separate or 
     enter leave-without-pay status to perform military service to 
     make up contributions to the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) missed 
     because of military service. The maximum amount an employee 
     would be allowed to contribute would be equal to the 
     amount an employee would have been eligible to contribute, 
     subject to the applicable statutory maximums, reduced by 
     any contributions actually made during period of military 
     service (since these employees may use military or annual 
     leave to cover periods of military service and since 
     employees on military and annual leave continue to receive 
     civilian basic pay, contributions continue to be made to 
     the Thrift Savings Fund for such periods).
       For purposes of any computation under this section, an 
     employee would be, with respect to the period of military 
     service, considered to have been paid at the rate which the 
     employing agency determines would have been payable over such 
     period had such employee remained continuously employed in 
     the position which such employee last held before separating 
     or entering leave-without-pay status to perform military 
     service.
       An employing agency would be required to give an employee 
     up to two times, and may give an employee up to four times, 
     the length of his or her military service to make up TSP 
     contributions, although an employee may choose to make up 
     contributions sooner. Make-up contributions would have to be 
     made at the same time, in the same manner, and in addition 
     to, contributions the employee is otherwise eligible to make.
       If an employee is entitled to agency matching contributions 
     based on make-up contributions, the agency would be required 
     to make such contributions in the same manner as regular 
     matching contributions. Agency matching contributions 
     attributable to employee make-up contributions would be in 
     addition to any matching contributions to which the employee 
     is already entitled.
       Upon reemployment or restoration, the employing agency 
     would be required to pay lost earnings on contributions made 
     by the employee as well as any agency automatic contributions 
     to which the employee would have been entitled during the 
     make-up period.
       The period of military service would be counted towards 
     service required for vesting in TSP agency automatic 
     contributions, and any separation to perform military service 
     would not cause forfeiture of such contributions if the 
     employee is subsequently reemployed or restored pursuant to 
     chapter 43 of title 38. Persons who received involuntary TSP 
     payments as a result of their separation to perform military 
     service would have the right to restore those payments to the 
     plan.
       Employees who have been restored or reemployed before the 
     date of enactment of this Act would be entitled to make up 
     contributions for the period beginning with their absence 
     from civilian service and continuing through either the date 
     of enactment or the first TSP open season from which the 
     employee is eligible, whichever occurs first.
       An employee would be allowed to elect, for purposes of 
     transferring TSP account balances to eligible retirement 
     plans or establishing nonforfeitability of account balances 
     of less than $3,500, to have the employee's separation 
     treated as if it had never occurred. An election for these 
     purposes would have to be made within such period of time 
     after restoration or reemployment, as the case may be, and 
     otherwise in such manner as the Executive Director of the 
     Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board prescribes.
       Senate amendment: Section 6 is substantively identical to 
     the House provisions but does not include require the 
     employing agency to pay lost earnings on retroactive 
     contributions.
       Compromise agreement: Section 4 follows the House bill with 
     a modification giving the employing agency the discretion to 
     pay lost earnings on retroactive contributions.


   revision of federal civil service retirement benefit program for 
                               reservists

       Current law: Some Federal workers--those enrolled in 
     Federal Employees' Retirement System (FERS)--who interrupt 
     their civilian employment to serve on active duty in the 
     military may be required to pay more to receive Federal 
     civilian retirement credit for that service than they would 
     have had to pay had they not gone on active duty.
       In order to receive Federal civilian retirement credit for 
     military service, Federal employees who are enrolled in FERS 
     are required to pay 3 percent of their military pay. However, 
     these employees pay only 0.8 percent of the civilian wages to 
     receive retirement credit for their civilian Federal 
     employment. As a result, when 3 percent of such an 
     individual's military pay exceeds 0.8 percent of that 
     individual's civilian pay, the individual would pay a larger 
     dollar amount to receive retirement credit for military time 
     than the individual would have paid had he or she remained in 
     the civilian jobs.
       House bill: No provision.
       Senate amendment: Section 5 would amend sections 8334(j)(1) 
     and 8422(e)(1) of title 5, United States Code, to provide 
     that in the case of individuals enrolled in FERS (or in the 
     Civil Service Retirement System, which does not have this 
     anomaly) who have their Federal civilian service interrupted 
     by military service and who are reemployed under chapter 43 
     of title 38 on or after August 1, 1990, the deposit into 
     their retirement benefit program may not exceed the amount 
     that would have been deducted and withheld from basic pay 
     during civilian service if the employee had remained in 
     continuous civilian service.
       Section 5 also would amend sections 8331(13) and 8401(31) 
     of title 5, to expand the definition of ``military service'' 
     for both CSRS and FERS, respectively, by adding to the 
     meaning full-time National Guard duty (as that term is 
     defined in section 101(d) of title 10) if that service 
     interrupts creditable civilian service and is followed by 
     reemployment in accordance with chapter 43 of title 38 that 
     occurs on or after August 1, 1990.
       Compromise agreement: Section 5 includes this provision.


increase in amount of loan guaranty for the purchase or construction of 
                                 homes

       Current law: Section 3703(a)(1) of title 38 sets the 
     maximum amount of a VA loan guaranty for loans for the 
     purchase or construction of homes at $46.000, an amount that 
     would support a no-downpayment, VA-guaranteed home loan of 
     $184,000.
       House bill: No provision in H.R. 995. Section 1 of H.R. 
     949, as passed by the House on September 21, 1993, would 
     amend section 3703(a)(1) to increase the maximum loan 
     guaranty to $50,750 and thus increase the no-downpayment VA-
     guaranteed home loans to $203,000.
       Senate amendment: Section 10 is substantially identical to 
     section 1 of H.R. 949.
       Compromise agreement: Section 7 includes this provision.


                  transition rules and effective dates

       Current law: No provision.
       House bill: Section 6 of H.R. 995 would provide that (1) 
     except as provided elsewhere, the amendments made by this Act 
     would be effective with respect to reemployment initiated on 
     or after the first day after the 60-day period beginning on 
     the date of enactment; (2) the reemployment provisions 
     contained in chapter 43 in effect on the day before the date 
     of enactment would continue to apply to reemployment 
     initiated before the end of the 60-day period; (3) for the 
     purposes of the five-year service limitation, military 
     service performed prior to the date of enactment would be 
     considered only to the extent that period of military service 
     would have counted toward the service limitations under 
     current law; (4) the anti-discrimination provisions that are 
     added by amendments to this Act would be effective on the 
     date of enactment; (5) the insurance provision would be 
     effective on the date of enactment, except that an individual 
     on active duty on the date of enactment would be able to 
     elect to reinstate or continue insurance coverage for the 
     remaining portion of the 18 months that began on the date of 
     separation from civilian employment; and (6) the disability 
     provisions would be effective with respect to reemployments 
     initiated on or after August 1, 1990.
       The provisions of section 4311(a) defining the actions 
     protected from discrimination or reprisal and the standard 
     and burden of proof set forth in section 4311(b) are not 
     additions to the Act but are a codification of existing law.
       Senate amendment: Section 9 is substantively identical to 
     the House provision with the additional provision that the 
     provisions of proposed section 4325 regarding investigations 
     and subpoenas would become effective on the date of enactment 
     and apply to any matter pending with the Secretary of Labor.
       Compromise agreement: Section 8 contains the Senate 
     provision. It also contains a provision that the notice of 
     intent not to return found in section 4316(b)(2) applies only 
     to furlough or leave of absence rights and benefits under 
     that section and does not apply to or waive any other right 
     or benefit under the Act.
       The compromise also provides that nothing in this Act would 
     relieve an employer of an obligation to provide contributions 
     to a pension plan (or provide pension benefits) which is 
     required by the provisions of the existing chapter 43 of 
     title 38, United States Code, in effect on the day before 
     this Act takes effect. Any plan which is not in compliance 
     with the requirements of the law would have two years from 
     the date of enactment to come into compliance with the law.

                              {time}  1610

  (Mr. STUMP asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. STUMP. Mr. Speaker, continuing my reservation of objection, the 
Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 has 
been several years in the making. It is bipartisan legislation we can 
be proud of. I particularly want to commend my good friend, the 
gentleman from Mississippi, Chairman Sonny Montgomery, for his 
consistent and tireless leadership on veterans' reemployment rights. He 
has maintained the focus on this legislative effort until we were able 
to reach a satisfactory compromise with the Senate.
  Also, I want to commend the ranking minority member of the 
Subcommittee on Education, Training, and Employment, Mr. Hutchinson, 
for his efforts and support on this vital legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the House amendment to 
the Senate amendment to H.R. 995.
  Mr. Speaker, of course, the compromise with the chairman of the 
Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, Senator Rockefeller, and the 
ranking minority member, Senator Murkowski, enables us to bring this 
amendment to the floor today. I commend them as well for their 
willingness to resolve with us the differences between the House and 
Senate legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, Chairman Montgomery has explained the basic legal rights 
provided by this measure, and I associate myself with his remarks. The 
careful and clear definition of the rights and obligations between 
veterans and their employers has never been more important. The current 
law defining veterans' employment and reemployment rights would be 
simplified, clarified, and improved. Among other things, enforcement 
mechanisms would also be strengthened.
  It is important for the individual men and women who willingly serve 
their country in uniform to know their rights to employment are fully 
protected and will be enforced. It is important for employers to know 
what is expected of them so that they can conduct their businesses 
accordingly and without undue burdens. And it is important for the 
nation to attract high quality people into our armed services, in part 
through assurances that they will be able to return to their civilian 
jobs after they have served.
  This is a measure which I believe is fair to employees and employers 
alike because it takes a balanced approach in recognizing their 
respective needs.
  Finally, Mr. Speaker, as Chairman Montgomery observed, H.R. 995 would 
raise the maximum amount of the VA home loan guarantee from $46,000 to 
$50,750. This would recognize the current realities of the marketplace 
and enable more veterans to meet their housing needs.
  Mr. Speaker, continuing my reservation of objection, I am glad to 
yield to the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Sangmeister].
  Mr. SANGMEISTER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding to 
me.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 995, a bill to improve 
veterans reemployment rights.
  In particular, I wish to express my support for the provision in the 
conference bill which increases the VA loan guaranty from $46,000 to 
$50,750. This would increase VA no-downpayment loan limits from 
$184,000 to $203,000 and would keep VA up to date with market changes 
since Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac now purchase loans up to $203,150 on 
the secondary market.
  Housing prices in certain parts of the country prevent many veterans 
from buying a home without a downpayment. For example, according to 
data compiled by the National Association of Realtors, the median sales 
price of an existing single-family home during calendar year 1993 was 
$213,000 in Los Angeles, $254,800 in San Francisco, and $349,000 in 
Honolulu. Thus home loan guaranty purchasers in areas such as these 
must make significant downpayments in order to acquire a median-priced 
home.
  The increased guaranty would enable many veterans to purchase a home 
of their choice without a downpayment, which would otherwise be 
unavailable to them. The higher loan amounts will also produce greater 
revenues to VA through the loan fee.
  H.R. 949, which passed the House last fall contained a similar 
provision, and I am glad to see that it was incorporated in this bill. 
Mr. Speaker, I urge favorable consideration of this compromise measure.
  Mr. STUMP. Mr. Speaker, I urge the House to support the House 
amendment to the Senate amendment to H.R. 995, and I withdraw my 
reservation of objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Andrews of Texas). Is there objection to 
the initial request of the gentleman from Mississippi?
  There was no objection.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

                          ____________________