[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 89 (Thursday, June 24, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1226]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 INTRODUCTION OF H.R. 4658, SERVICEMEMBERS LEGAL PROTECTION ACT OF 2004

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 23, 2004

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce H.R. 
4658, the Servicemembers Legal Protection Act of 2004, legislation to 
further strengthen the legal and financial rights of military 
servicemembers, particularly those called up to active duty in Iraq, 
Afghanistan and other duty stations around the world. This legislation 
would amend a prior law I sponsored, that President Bush signed last 
year, the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, Public Law 108-189.
  Mr. Speaker, this morning I chaired a hearing of the Veterans' 
Affairs Committee to examine how well the federal statutes protecting 
our servicemembers rights were being enforced. Testifying before the 
Committee were several servicemembers and family members with personal 
experiences in which their rights were not properly protected under 
existing laws.
  One witness, Ms. Tammy Kimmel whose husband served in the Army at 
Fort Hood in Texas, told the Committee that when her husband was 
ordered to a new duty location, her landlord refused to release her 
from their joint housing lease as required by law. The landlord claimed 
that the law required the servicemember to be released, but not the 
spouse.
  The legislation I am introducing today would help prevent such 
misinterpretations as well as strengthen and expand several existing 
legal and financial protections.
  Mr. Speaker, with more than 150,000 Guard and reserve members 
activated in the continuing war on terrorism, we must ensure that the 
laws protecting their rights are fully and faithfully executed and 
enforced. Congress approved the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act last 
year precisely because of perceived ambiguities and weaknesses in 
longstanding federal statutes covering military personnel called to 
active duty or redeployed to new duty locations.
  Regrettably, despite sixty years of federal case law, culminating 
with the passage last year of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, 
there are still some individuals, businesses, and organizations who 
cynically refuse to provide all the reliefs required by statute.
  We will neither tolerate outright violations nor attempts to distort 
the clear purposes of the laws Congress has enacted. The evidence from 
today's hearing is overwhelming and the intention of the law is clear. 
Those men and women who put their lives on hold and on the line must 
not suffer economic or legal harm that results from their military 
service. This Committee and this Congress will continue to do all that 
can be done to protect the legal and financial rights of all of our 
servicemembers, whether they are active duty, reserve or Guard.
  As introduced, H.R. 4658, the Servicemembers Legal Protection Act, 
would:
  Strengthen the lease termination protections for dependants of 
servicemembers relocating per military orders;
  Expand the definition of court and administrative judgments and 
rulings covered by the law:
  Require that waivers of their rights by servicemembers must be duly 
executed in separate, clearly written documents:
  Extend to plaintiffs the same relief granted to defendants in civil 
court proceedings:
  Extend the housing and automobile lease termination relief to 
servicemembers relocated from states or territories outside the 
contiguous United States (e.g., Hawaii, Alaska):
  Strengthen the leases termination provisions for servicemembers 
affected by individual deployments:
  Prevent double taxation of servicemembers due to differences in state 
and local excise, use, or other similar taxes.
  Mr. Speaker, the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act that passed last 
year both restated and expanded the Soldiers and Sailors Civil Relief 
Act first approved in 1940. This federal statute is designed to help 
ensure that U.S. military personnel are not disadvantaged when they 
have been called to active duty and are therefore unable to be present 
at legal proceedings.
  Among the most important protections added by the Servicemembers 
Civil Relief Act last year were automatic 90-day stays for civil and 
administrative proceedings, protections for servicemembers and their 
families from housing evictions, the right of servicemembers and their 
spouses to terminate housing and automobile leases, and protection from 
repossessions of automobiles.
  Enactment of the legislation I am introducing today, H.R. 4658, the 
Servicemembers Legal Protection Act, would provide an additional level 
of support for all of the brave men and women defending our nation and 
our freedom around the world. I urge my colleagues to look at this 
important legislation and lend their support to protecting the legal 
and financial rights of all of our servicemen and women.

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