To improve the benefits and protections provided for regular and reserve members of the Armed Forces deployed or mobilized in the interests of the national security of the United States.

April 7, 2003

Mr. NELSON of Nebraska (for himself, Ms. Mikulski, Mr. Daschle, Mr. Levin, Mr. Leahy, Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Bingaman, and Mr. Johnson) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs

To improve the benefits and protections provided for regular and reserve members of the Armed Forces deployed or mobilized in the interests of the national security of the United States.

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 `Deployed Service Members Financial Security and Education Act of 2003'.

SEC. 2. ADDITIONAL ALLOWANCE FOR LENGTHY OR NUMEROUS DEPLOYMENTS AND FREQUENT MOBILIZATIONS.

(a) ALLOWANCE PAYABLE- (1) Chapter 7 of title 37, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new section:

`Sec. 437. Additional allowance for lengthy or numerous deployments and frequent mobilizations

`(a) MONTHLY ALLOWANCE- The Secretary of the military department concerned shall pay a monthly allowance to a member of the armed forces under the Secretary's jurisdiction for each month of deployment of the member described in paragraph (1) of subsection (b) and each month of active duty service of the member described in paragraph (2) of such subsection.

`(b) SERVICE COVERED- Subsection (a) applies to a member for the following months:

`(1) A month that includes a day on which the member is deployed and has, as of that day, been deployed for--

`(A) 191 consecutive days; or

`(B) 401 days or more out of the preceding 730 days.

`(2) A month that includes a day on which the member serves on active duty to which the member, as a member of a reserve component of an armed force, has been called or ordered pursuant to a provision of law referred to in section 101(a)(13)(B) of title 10 for a period that begins within one year after the date on which the member was released from active duty served for a previous period under a call or order pursuant to such a provision of law.

`(c) AMOUNT- The amount of the monthly allowance payable to a member under this section is $1,000.

`(d) PAYMENT OF CLAIMS- A claim of a member for payment of the monthly allowance under this section that is not fully substantiated by the recordkeeping system applicable to the member under section 991(c) of title 10 shall be paid if the member furnishes the Secretary concerned with other evidence determined by the Secretary as being sufficient to substantiate the claim.

`(e) RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER ALLOWANCES- A monthly allowance payable to a member under this section is in addition to the per diem allowance payable under section 436 of this title and to any other pay or allowance payable to the member under any other provision of law.

`(f) DEFINITION OF DEPLOYED- In this section, the terms `deployed' and `deployment', with respect to a member, means that the member is deployed or in a deployment within the meaning of section 991(b) of title 10 (including any definition of `deployment' prescribed under paragraph (4) of that section).'.

(2) The table of sections at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 436 the following new item:

`437. Additional allowance for lengthy or numerous deployments and frequent mobilizations.'.

(b) EFFECTIVE DATE- Section 437 of title 37, United States Code (as added by subsection (a)), shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act, and shall apply with respect to periods of deployment or active duty that begin before, on, or after such date, except that no allowance may be paid under such section for months that begin before the month in which this Act is enacted.

SEC. 3. RELIEF ON EDUCATIONAL MATTERS FOR PERSONS IN THE MILITARY SERVICE UNDER THE SOLDIERS' AND SAILORS' CIVIL RELIEF ACT OF 1940.

(a) APPLICABILITY OF INTEREST RATE LIMITATION TO STUDENT LOANS- Section 206 of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Civil Relief Act of 1940 (50 U.S.C. App. 526) is amended--

(1) by inserting `(a)' before `No obligation';

(2) by designating the second sentence as subsection (c) and indenting the left margin of such subsection, as so designated, two ems; and

(3) by inserting after subsection (a), as designated by paragraph (1) of this subsection, the following new subsection (b):

`(b) Subsection (a) shall apply with respect to student loans, including student loans under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.), student loans under any other Federal student loan program, or any other student loans.'.

(b) PRESERVATION OF EDUCATIONAL STATUS AND TUITION- Article VII. of such Act (50 U.S.C. App. 590 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new section:

`SEC. 704. (a) A person in the military service who is enrolled as a student at an institution of higher education at the time of entry into the military service shall be granted a leave of absence from the institution during the period of military service and for one year after the conclusion of the military service.

`(b)(1) A person on a leave of absence from an institution of higher education under subsection (a) shall be entitled, upon completion of the leave of absence, to be restored to the educational status such person had attained before entering into the military service as described in that subsection without loss of academic credits earned, scholarships or grants awarded, or, subject to paragraph (2), tuition and other fees paid before the entry of the person into the military service.

`(2)(A) An institution of higher education shall refund tuition or fees paid or credit the tuition and fees to the next period of enrollment after the person returns from the leave of absence, at the option of the person. Notwithstanding the 180-day limitation referred to in subsection (a)(2)(B) of section 484B of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1091b), a person on a leave of absence under this section shall not be treated as having withdrawn for purposes of such section 484B unless the person fails to return upon the completion of the leave of absence.

`(B) If a person requests a refund for a period of enrollment, the percentage of the tuition and fees that shall be refunded shall be equal to 100 percent minus--

`(i) the percentage of the period of enrollment (for which the tuition and fees were paid) that was completed (as determined in accordance with subsection (d) of such section 484B) as of the day the person withdrew, provided that such date occurs on or before the completion of 60 percent of the period of enrollment; or

`(ii) 100 percent, if the day the person withdrew occurs after the person has completed 60 percent of the period of enrollment.'.

END