[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 56 (Thursday, April 22, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4115-S4117]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. BIDEN:
  S. 865. A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide 
the same tax treatment for danger pay allowance as for combat pay; to 
the Committee on Finance.

[[Page S4116]]

                         DIPLOMATIC DANGER PAY

  Mr. BIDEN. Mr. President, today I want to right a wrong--a small 
wrong, but a wrong nevertheless. It affects a handful of our diplomats 
who serve in the world's most dangerous places: Beirut, Bosnia, Kosovo, 
the unsettled nations of Africa and the former Soviet Union and 
elsewhere. And unfortunately, as the events of recent weeks prove, the 
need for Americans--soldiers and diplomats alike--to go in harm's way, 
is unlikely to abate.
  Our diplomats, colleagues of those killed last summer in the tragic 
embassy bombings in Africa, receive an allowance for their service in 
the most frightening places in the world--a danger allowance.
  This allowance is not unlike that paid to our military when they are 
in combat. In fact, in some places, such as Bosnia, where our military 
and diplomatic personnel serve side by side, both receive a special 
allowance for their sacrifices.
  The military justifiably receives this benefit tax-free. But our 
diplomatic personnel do not. Through an oversight in the Internal 
Revenue Code, diplomats are taxed on their danger pay, even though they 
often face similar hardships and dangers. I think that's wrong.
  I have a bill which would amend the Internal Revenue Code to right 
this wrong. It affects just a handful of people. But to them it will 
serve as recognition of the sacrifice they make when they represent the 
American people in dangerous settings overseas. I urge its quick 
passage.
  I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill appear in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                 S. 865

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. TREATMENT OF DANGER PAY ALLOWANCE.

       (a) In General.--Subchapter C of chapter 80 of the Internal 
     Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to provisions affecting more 
     than one subtitle) is amended by adding at the end the 
     following:

     ``SEC. 7874. TREATMENT OF DANGER PAY ALLOWANCE.

       ``(a) General Rule.--For purposes of the following 
     provisions, a danger pay allowance area shall be treated in 
     the same manner as if it were a combat zone (as determined 
     under section 112):
       ``(1) Section 2(a)(3) (relating to special rule where 
     deceased spouse was in missing status).
       ``(2) Section 112 (relating to the exclusion of certain 
     combat pay of members of the Armed Forces).
       ``(3) Section 692 (relating to income taxes of members of 
     Armed Forces on death).
       ``(4) Section 2201 (relating to members of the Armed Forces 
     dying in combat zone or by reason of combat-zone-incurred 
     wounds, etc.).
       ``(5) Section 3401(a)(1) (defining wages relating to combat 
     pay for members of the Armed Forces).
       ``(6) Section 4253(d) (relating to the taxation of phone 
     service originating from a combat zone from members of the 
     Armed Forces).
       ``(7) Section 6013(f)(1) (relating to joint return where 
     individual is in missing status).
       ``(8) Section 7508 (relating to time for performing certain 
     acts postponed by reason of service in combat zone).
       ``(b) Danger Pay Allowance Area.--For purposes of this 
     section, the term `danger pay allowance area' means any area 
     in which an individual receives a danger pay allowance under 
     section 5928 of title 5, United States Code, for services 
     performed in such area.''
       (b) Conforming Amendment.--The table of sections for 
     subchapter C of chapter 80 of the Internal Revenue Code of 
     1986 is amended by adding at the end the following:

``Sec. 7874. Treatment of danger pay allowance.''

       (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section 
     shall apply to remuneration paid in taxable years ending 
     after the date of the enactment of this Act.
  Mr. THURMOND. Mr. President, among the worst situations facing 
spouses, children, and families of members of the United States Armed 
Forces, is to be greeted by an official party, wearing their dress blue 
uniforms, announcing the grim news that their loved one has been killed 
or declared missing.
  On Sunday, September 14, 1997 nine families endured such an 
experience as the United States Air Force declared one of its C-141 
Starlifter cargo planes, en route from Namibia to Ascension Island, was 
overdue and presumed to have gone down in the Atlantic Ocean. At the 
same time, a German military plane was also declared missing in the 
same area, amid indications that the two planes had collided and 
crashed into the Atlantic.
  An extensive search was begun, during which only a few airplane 
seats, a few papers, some debris from the U.S. cargo plane, remnants of 
the German aircraft, and the body of one victim were recovered. No 
other remains were recovered, and no survivors were located. On 
Saturday, September 27, 1997 the search for the crewmen of the Air 
Force jet ended and all were declared dead.
  Mr. President, an investigation confirmed everyone's worst fears. In 
fact, on that fateful day--September 13, 1997--a German Luftwaffe 
Tupelov TU-154M collided with a U.S. Air Force C-141 Starlifter off the 
coast of Namibia, Africa. As a result of that mid-air collision nine 
United States Air Force Service members were killed. These are the 
rank, name, age, assignment, and hometowns of those killed: Staff 
Sergeant Stacy D. Bryant, 32, loadmaster, Providence, Rhode Island; 
Staff Sergeant Gary A. Bucknam, 25, flight engineer, Oakland, Maine; 
Captain Gregory M. Cindrich, 28, pilot, Byrans Road, Maryland; Airman 
1st Class Justin R. Drager, 19, loadmaster, Colorado Springs, Colorado; 
Staff Sergeant Robert K. Evans, 31, flight engineer, Garrison, 
Kentucky; Captain Jason S. Ramsey, 27, pilot, South Boston, Virginia; 
Staff Sergeant Scott N. Roberts, 27, flight engineer, Library, 
Pennsylvania; Captain Peter C. Vallejo, 34, aircraft commander, 
Crestwood, New York; and Senior Airman Frankie L. Walker, 23, crew 
chief, Windber, Pennsylvania;
  At McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey, families and members of the 
crewmen's squadron from the 305th Operation Group were trying to make 
sense of what happened. Monica Cindrich, wife of the pilot, had to 
explain to her 3 year-old son why his father would not be returning. On 
the day following the crash, Sharla Bucknam went alone to her son 
Andrew's third birthday party. Any Smart held out hope that her fiance, 
Captain Ramsey, would return for their wedding, planned for the 
following May. And Justin Drager's father, Larry, a retired Air Force 
Master Sergeant prayed for a miracle. It was his son's very first 
mission since the Air Force certified him as a loadmaster on the giant 
cargo plane that would take the 19-year-old from Colorado Springs to 
the faraway places he joined the military to see.
  At a memorial service at McGuire Air Force Base, the nine crew 
members were honored as heroes who gave their lives for a humanitarian 
mission. The plane was returning home to McGuire after delivering 
troops and 32,000 pounds of mine-clearing equipment to Namibia. As the 
chaplain called the names of each crew member in a final roll call, a 
squadron member answered ``Absent, sir.'' The crowd of more than 3,000 
stood solemnly as a lone bugler played taps and three C-141s flew over 
in formation.
  Formal investigations by both the government of Germany and the 
United States Air Force found that the German military plane was flying 
at the wrong altitude. The two planes, occupying the same air space, at 
the same altitude, closed on each other at a combined speed of over 
1,000 miles per hour. The two planes hit almost nose to nose.
  The German crew saw the U.S. plane about a second before impact and 
struggled for two-and-a-half minutes to regain control of the TU-154 as 
it crashed into the Atlantic.
  The German military transport was carrying 12 German marines, two of 
their spouses and 10 crew members. Unfortunately, there were no 
survivors. The German Air Force plane was en route from Germany to Cape 
Town, South Africa, where the marines were to have participated in a 
boat race marking the 75th anniversary of the South African Navy.
  The details concerning the crash are unsettling and I doubt anyone 
would want to die in the manner that the crew of ``MISSION REACH 4201'' 
did. While the German crew had about a one-and-one-half second warning 
that they were going to collide with another aircraft, the crew aboard 
the C-141 literally did not know what hit them.
  The cockpit voice recorder aboard the American aircraft chillingly 
captures the conversations of the ``MISSION REACH 4201'' crew as fate 
cruelly

[[Page S4117]]

steers the two military transports toward a deadly collision. Reviewing 
the transcript shows that Captains Greg Cindrich and Peter Vallejo--the 
two pilots of the Starlifter--had no inclination that a collision was 
imminent until it was too late. The two officers were discussing topics 
such as Social Security and the exploration of Mars.
  The tape indicates that the crew survived for at least 13 seconds 
following the impact with the German transport. In those 13 seconds, 
the C-141 and crew of ``MISSION REACH 4201'' began hurtling toward the 
Atlantic Ocean. They spent the last 13 seconds of the flight, of their 
lives, strapping on oxygen masks and looking for flashlights to cope 
with a failed electrical system. Aviation experts have determined that 
it is possible that the nine doomed men may have actually survived for 
as long as 30-seconds before the C-141 exploded. For thirteen to 30 
seconds, these men fought to survive, fought to right their plane, 
fought for their very lives. If thirteen to 30 seconds sounds like a 
short amount of time, I challenge anyone to try holding their hand over 
a burning match for that amount of time, let alone spend that amount of 
time aboard a multi-ton aircraft as it plummets toward the ocean. These 
men were able to contemplate for thirteen to 30 seconds that their 
aircraft was damaged and diving toward the ocean from an altitude of 
35,000 feet. That was thirteen to 30 seconds that these men could have 
been thinking that no C-141 had successfully survived a crash landing 
in water. It was thirteen to 30 seconds for these men to realize that 
they were about to die.
  Somewhere between thirteen and thirty seconds after the collision, 
the C-141 of ``Mission Reach 4201'' exploded and what did not vaporize 
became debris that was spread on the surface of the ocean, or sunk to 
its cold and murky depths. Needless to say, rescuers and salvage 
operators never recovered much of the American aircraft or crew. The 
Air Force ultimately found a few parts of the airplanes and 15 pounds 
of human remains of such minute quantities that DNA testing had to be 
conducted to determine who was who. As a point of comparison, a bag of 
cement is approximately 20 pounds. You could have put the entire 
remains of nine adult men in a bag that is used to hold cement and have 
room left over. There were not enough remains left of any one of the 
crew members to afford their families the comfort of laying their sons, 
fathers, brothers, and husbands to rest. Instead, only mementos were 
placed in caskets and buried.
  Accident investigations conducted by the United States Air Force and 
the German Ministry of Defense both concluded that fault for the 
collision and deaths lay with the German crew, who not only filed an 
inaccurate flight plan, but were flying at the wrong altitude. The crew 
of the C-141 were operating appropriately, and were exactly where they 
were supposed to be when they met their untimely deaths. These nine men 
died through no fault or negligence of their own, the United States Air 
Force, or the government of the United States.
  The families of each of the nine victims have endured not only 
tremendous mental anguish and suffering, but significant financial 
losses, and understandably, they are seeking compensation from the 
German government. Sadly, despite the fact that this crash took place 
almost two-years-ago, the German government has still to make the first 
pfenning of compensation to any of the victims' families.
  I rise today to offer a Sense of the Senate resolution that calls 
upon the German government to make quick and generous compensation to 
these families. Just as this Body agreed by unanimous consent on March 
23, to authorize the Secretary of Defense to make humanitarian relief 
payments of up to $2 million to each of the families killed in 
Cavalese, Italy when a Marine Corps jet struck a ski gondola, we should 
go on the record as expecting equitably fair and expeditious relief for 
the families of our servicemen killed through the negligence of the 
German government.
  It gives me no pleasure to offer this resolution. The German 
government and people are unquestionably among the closest of allies 
and the best of friends. We stood side-by-side during the Cold War, 
facing down the Eastern threat; we are working side-by-side in the 
Balkans now; our economies are linked; and we value the strong 
relationship between our two nations. Nevertheless, the Federal 
Republic of Germany has an undeniable responsibility to make quick and 
generous compensation to the nine families who lost loved ones aboard 
``MISSION REACH 4201'' and I have pledged to Monica Cindrich, the widow 
of Captain Gregory Cindrich and the mother of their four-year-old son, 
that I will do all within my power to bring not only compensation to 
her, but closure to this tragedy. Passing this sense of the Senate 
resolution will help do just that.

  Each of us gets into public service because we desire to help people, 
to do what is right, and to fight for fairness. This Sense of the 
Senate resolution allows us to achieve each of those goals. By securing 
compensation for the deaths of the nine men killed, we will 
unquestionably be helping their families; we will be making a stand for 
what is right by making a stand for our military families; and finally, 
we will be fighting for fairness. Just as our government has recognized 
our responsibility in the case of the Italian ski gondola incident, it 
is only fair that the German government recognize their responsibility 
and obligation in this matter.
  It is my hope that this resolution will pass with the support of an 
overwhelming majority of Senators. By voting for this provision, each 
of you will not only be sending an unmistakable message to the German 
government, but perhaps even more importantly, you will be signaling to 
our men and women in uniform that their elected officials will always 
stand by them.
                                 ______