[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 192 (Friday, December 14, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S15705-S15706]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    WOUNDED WARRIOR BONUS EQUITY ACT

  Mr. REID. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee 
on Armed Services be discharged from further consideration of S. 2400.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The clerk 
will report the bill by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 2400) to amend title 37, United States Code, to 
     require the Secretary of Defense to continue to pay a member 
     of the Armed Forces who is retired or separated from the 
     Armed Forces due to combat-related injury certain bonuses 
     that the member was entitled to before the retirement or 
     separation and would continue to be entitled to if the member 
     was not retired or separated, and for other purposes.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Mr. REID. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be 
read a third time, passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the 
table, and that any statements relating to the bill be printed in the 
Record.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The bill (S. 2400) was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading, 
was read the third time, and passed, as follows:

                                S. 2400

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

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Wounded Warrior Bonus Equity 
     Act''.

     SEC. 2. CONTINUATION OF CERTAIN BONUS PAYMENTS TO MEMBERS OF 
                   THE ARMED FORCES RETIRED OR SEPARATED DUE TO A 
                   COMBAT-RELATED INJURY.

       (a) Payment Required.--
       (1) In general.--Chapter 17 of title 37, United States 
     Code, is amended by inserting after section 903 the following 
     new section:

     ``Sec. 904. Continued payment of bonuses to members retired 
       or separated due to combat-related injuries

       ``(a) Payment Required.--In the case of a member of the 
     armed forces who is retired or separated for disability under 
     chapter 61 of title 10, due to a combat-related injury, the 
     Secretary of Defense shall require the continued payment to 
     the member of any bonus described in subsection (b) that the 
     member--
       ``(1) was entitled to immediately before the retirement or 
     separation of the member; and
       ``(2) would continue to be entitled to if the member was 
     not retired or separated.
       ``(b) Covered Bonuses.--The bonuses referred to in 
     subsection (a) are the following (numbers refer to the 
     corresponding section in chapter 5 of this title):
       ``(1) 301b. Special pay for aviation career officers 
     extending period of active duty.
       ``(2) 301d. Multiyear retention bonus for medical officers 
     of the armed forces.
       ``(3) 301e. Multiyear retention bonus for dental officers 
     of the armed forces.
       ``(4) 302d. Accession bonus for registered nurses.
       ``(5) 302h. Accession bonus for dental officers.
       ``(6) 302j. Accession bonus for pharmacy officers.
       ``(7) 302k. Accession bonus for medical officers in 
     critically short wartime specialties.
       ``(8) 302l. Accession bonus for dental specialist officers 
     in critically short wartime specialties.
       ``(9) 308. Reenlistment bonus.
       ``(10) 308b. Reenlistment bonus for members of the Selected 
     Reserve.
       ``(11) 308c. Bonus for affiliation or enlistment in the 
     Selected Reserve.
       ``(12) 308g. Bonus for enlistment in elements of the Ready 
     Reserve other than the Selected Reserve.
       ``(13) 308h. Bonus for reenlistment, or voluntary extension 
     of enlistment in elements of the Ready Reserve other than the 
     Selected Reserve.
       ``(14) 308i. Prior service enlistment bonus.
       ``(15) 308j. Affiliation bonus for officers in the Selected 
     Reserve.
       ``(16) 309. Enlistment bonus.
       ``(17) 312. Special pay for nuclear-qualified officers 
     extending period of active duty.
       ``(18) 312b. Nuclear career accession bonus.
       ``(19) 312c. Nuclear career annual incentive bonus.
       ``(20) 315. Engineering and scientific career continuation 
     pay.
       ``(21) 316. Bonus for members with foreign language 
     proficiency.
       ``(22) 317. Special pay for officers in critical 
     acquisition positions extending period of active duty.
       ``(23) 318. Special pay for special warfare officers 
     extending period of active duty.
       ``(24) 319. Surface warfare officer continuation pay.
       ``(25) 321. Judge advocate continuation pay.
       ``(26) 322. 15-year career status bonus for members 
     entering service on or after August 1, 1986.
       ``(27) 323. Retention incentives for members qualified in 
     critical military skills or assigned to high priority units.
       ``(28) 324. Accession bonus for new officers in critical 
     skills.
       ``(29) 326. Incentive bonus for conversion to military 
     occupational specialty to ease personnel shortage.
       ``(30) 327. Incentive bonus for transfer between armed 
     forces.
       ``(31) 329. Incentive bonus for retired members and reserve 
     component members volunteering for high-demand, low-density 
     assignments.
       ``(32) 330. Accession bonus for officer candidates.
       ``(c) Time for Payment.--A bonus required to be paid to a 
     member under this section shall be paid to the member in a 
     lump sum not later than 90 days after the date of the 
     retirement or separation of the member, notwithstanding any 
     terms to the contrary in the agreement under which the bonus 
     was originally authorized.
       ``(d) Combat-Related Injury Defined.--In this section, the 
     term `combat-related injury' means an injury--
       ``(1) for which the member was awarded the Purple Heart; or
       ``(2) that was incurred (as determined under criteria 
     prescribed by the Secretary of Defense)--
       ``(A) as a direct result of armed conflict;
       ``(B) while engaged in hazardous service;
       ``(C) in the performance of duty under conditions 
     simulating war; or
       ``(D) through an instrumentality of war.''.
       (2) Clerical amendment.--The table of sections at the 
     beginning of chapter 17 of such title is amended by inserting 
     after the item relating to section 903 the following new 
     item:

``904. Continued payment of bonuses to members retired or separated due 
              to combat-related injuries.''.

       (b) Cessation of Collection of Previously Paid Bonuses.--
     Effective as of the date of the enactment, any collection of 
     bonuses described in subsection (b) of section 904 of title 
     37, United States Code (as added by subsection (a) of this 
     section), that were paid before the date of the enactment of 
     this Act to members of the Armed Forces retired or separated 
     under chapter 61 of title 10,

[[Page S15706]]

     United States Code, for a combat-related injury (as defined 
     in subsection (d) of such section 904) shall cease.
       (c) Retroactive Payment of Bonuses.--
       (1) In general.--The Secretary of Defense shall pay to each 
     member of the Armed Forces retired or separated under chapter 
     61 of title 10, United States Code, for a combat-related 
     injury (as defined in subsection (d) of section 904 of title 
     37, United States Code (as so added)) during the period 
     beginning on September 11, 2001, and ending on the date of 
     the enactment of this Act, an amount equal to the amount of 
     any continued payment of bonus or bonuses to which such 
     member would have been entitled at the time of retirement or 
     separation under applicable provisions of such section 904 if 
     such section 904 had been in effect as of September 11, 2001.
       (2) Audit.--The Secretary shall identify the former members 
     of the Armed Forces to be paid amounts under this subsection, 
     and shall determined the amounts to be paid such members 
     under this subsection, through a financial audit or such 
     other mechanisms as the Secretary considers appropriate for 
     purposes of this subsection.

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