[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 90 (Monday, June 8, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3869-S3870]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 1808. Ms. AYOTTE submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to
amendment SA 1463 proposed by Mr. McCain to the bill H.R. 1735, to
authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2016 for military activities
of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for
defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military
personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which
was ordered to lie on the table, as follows:
At the end of part II of subtitle D of title VI, add the
following:
SEC. 643. BENEFITS FOR DEPENDENTS OF MEMBERS OF THE ARMED
FORCES WHO LOSE THEIR RIGHT TO RETIRED PAY FOR
REASONS OTHER THAN DEPENDENT ABUSE.
(a) Short Title.--This section may be cited as the
``Families Serve, Too, Military Justice Reform Act of 2015''.
(b) In General.--Section 1408 of title 10, United States
Code, is amended--
(1) by redesignating subsections (i), (j), and (k) as
subsections (j), (k), and (l), respectively; and
(2) by inserting after subsection (h) the following new
subsection (i):
``(i) Benefits for Dependents of Members Losing Right to
Retired Pay for Misconduct Other Than Dependent Abuse.--
(1)(A) If, in the case of a member or former member of the
armed forces referred to in paragraph (2)(A), a court order
provides (in the manner applicable to a division of property)
for the payment of an amount from the disposable retired pay
of that member or former member (as certified under paragraph
(4)) to an eligible spouse or former spouse of that member or
former member, the Secretary concerned, beginning upon
effective service of such court order, shall pay that amount
in accordance with this subsection to such spouse or former
spouse.
``(B) If, in the case of a member or former member of the
armed forces referred to in paragraph (2)(A), a court order
provides for the payment as child support of an amount from
the disposable retired pay of that member or former member
(as certified under paragraph (4)) to an eligible dependent
child of the member or former member, the Secretary
concerned, beginning upon effective service of such court
order, shall pay that amount in accordance with this
subsection to such dependent child.
``(2) A spouse or former spouse, or a dependent child, of a
member or former member of the armed forces is eligible to
receive payment under this subsection if--
``(A) the member or former member, while a member of the
armed forces and after becoming eligible to be retired from
the armed forces on the basis of years of service, has
eligibility to receive retired pay terminated as a result of
misconduct while a member (other than misconduct described in
subsection (h)(2)(A));
``(B) in the case of eligibility of a spouse or former
spouse under paragraph (1)(A), the spouse or former spouse--
``(i) either--
``(I) was married to the member or former member at the
time of the misconduct that resulted in the termination of
retired pay; or
``(II) was is receipt of marital support, alimony, or child
support from the member or former member as of the time of
the misconduct pursuant to a court order; and
``(ii) was not, based on the evidence adduced at trial, an
aider, abettor, accomplice, or co-conspirator in the
misconduct that resulted in the termination of retired pay,
as certified in writing to the convening authority by--
``(I) the military judge of the court-martial that resulted
in the termination of retired pay; or
``(II) the staff judge advocate of the convening authority;
and
``(C) in the case of eligibility of a dependent child under
paragraph (1)(B), the dependent child--
``(i) had not reached the age of 16 years at the time of
the misconduct that resulted in the termination of retired
pay; or
``(ii) had reached the age of 16 years at the time of the
misconduct and was not, based on the evidence adduced at
trial, an aider, abettor, accomplice, or co-conspirator in
the misconduct that resulted in the termination of retired
pay, as certified in writing to the convening authority by--
``(I) the military judge of the court-martial that resulted
in the termination of retired pay; or
``(II) the staff judge advocate of the convening authority.
``(3) The amount certified by the Secretary concerned under
paragraph (4) with respect to a member or former member of
the armed forces referred to in paragraph (2)(A) shall be
deemed to be the disposable retired pay of that member or
former member for the purposes of this subsection.
``(4) Upon the request of a court or an eligible spouse or
former spouse, or an eligible dependent child, of a member or
former member of the armed forces referred to in paragraph
(2)(A) in connection with a civil action for the issuance of
a court order in the case of that member or former member,
the Secretary concerned shall determine and certify the
amount of the monthly retired pay that the member or former
member would have been entitled to receive as of the date of
the certification--
``(A) if the member or former member's eligibility for
retired pay had not been terminated as described in paragraph
(2)(A); and
``(B) if, in the case of a member or former member not in
receipt of retired pay immediately before that termination of
eligibility for retired pay, the member or former member had
retired on the effective date of that termination of
eligibility.
``(5)(A) Paragraphs (5) through (8) and (10) of subsection
(h) shall apply to eligibility of former spouses to payments
under this subsection, court orders for the payment of
disposable retired pay under this subsection, amounts payable
under this subsection, and payments under this subsection in
the same manner as such paragraphs apply to such matters
under subsection (h).
``(B) If a spouse or former spouse or a dependent child
eligible or entitled to receive payments under this
subsection is eligible or entitled to receive benefits under
subsection (h), the eligibility or entitlement of that spouse
or former spouse or dependent child to such benefits shall be
determined under subsection (h) instead of this subsection.
``(6)(A) A spouse or former spouse of a member or former
member of the armed forces referred to in paragraph (2)(A),
while receiving payments in accordance with this subsection,
shall be entitled to receive medical and dental care, to use
commissary and exchange stores, and to receive any other
benefit that a spouse or a former spouse of a retired member
of the armed forces is entitled to receive on the basis of
being a spouse or former spouse, as the case may be, of a
retired member of the armed forces in the same manner as if
the member or former member referred to in paragraph (2)(A)
was entitled to retired pay.
``(B) A dependent child of a member or former member
referred to in paragraph (2)(A) who was a member of the
household of the member or former member at the time of the
misconduct described in paragraph (2)(A) shall be entitled to
receive medical and dental care, to use commissary and
exchange stores, and to have other benefits provided to
dependents of retired members of the armed forces in the same
manner as if the member or former member referred to in
paragraph (2)(A) was entitled to retired pay.
``(C) If a spouse or former spouse or a dependent child
eligible or entitled to receive a particular benefit under
this paragraph is eligible or entitled to receive that
benefit under another provision of law, the eligibility or
entitlement of that spouse or former spouse or dependent
child to such benefit shall be determined under such other
provision of law instead of this paragraph.
``(7) In this subsection, the term `dependent child', with
respect to a member or former member of the armed forces
referred to in paragraph (2)(A), has the meaning given that
term in subsection (h)(11).''.
(c) Conforming Amendments.--Subsection (f) of such section
is amended by striking ``subsection (i)'' each place it
appears and inserting ``subsection (j)''.
(d) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section
shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act,
and shall apply to a spouse or former spouse, or a dependent
child of a member or former member
[[Page S3870]]
of the Armed Forces whose eligibility to receive retired pay
is terminated on or after that date as a result of misconduct
while a member.
(e) Offset.--$57,000,000 of the National Defense Function
(050) of unobligated balances from fees collected to defray
expenses for the automation of fingerprint identification and
criminal justice information services and associated costs of
the Federal Bureau of Investigation is hereby permanently
cancelled and shall be transferred to the General Fund of the
Treasury.
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