Improving SCRA and USERRA Protections Act of 2008

IMPROVING SCRA AND USERRA PROTECTIONS ACT OF 2008 -- (House of Representatives - July 29, 2008)

Mr. BOOZMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 6225, as amended, the Injunctive Relief for Veterans Act of 2008. This bill as amended would amend title 38, United States Code, relating to equitable relief with respect to a State of private employer.

Mr. Speaker, once again, working in a bipartisan manner Chairwoman Herseth Sandlin of the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity worked with me to pull together several fine bills into one cohesive package to provide new USERRA and SCRA protections to our military servicemembers and their spouses.

H.R. 6225 as amended incorporates provisions of H.R. 2910 introduced by Representative Susan Davis of California, H.R. 3298 introduced by Representative Patrick Murphy of Pennsylvania, and H.R. 6070 introduced by Representative John Carter of Texas. And I appreciate their hard work in bringing to the committee such excellent bills.

This legislation would encourage the courts to utilize their equity powers when deemed appropriate in USERRA cases. During the full committee markup of this section of the legislation, Subcommittee Chairwoman Herseth Sandlin and Ranking Member Buyer had a very good colloquy on the intent of this section of the bill, to clarify that injunctive relief is available under the discretion of the judge hearing the facts, and that this section is not intended to create a new avenue of appeal in USERRA cases.

The bill, as amended, would also require colleges and universities to refund a student's tuition and fees for unearned credit for the semester or quarter when they are called up for active duty, and allow these same students to re-enter the institution with identical and academic status that they had when they were activated to duty.

Finally, this bill would also extend Servicemembers Civil Relief Act protections to enable servicemembers with deployment orders to more easily terminate or suspend service contracts without fee or penalty for such services to include cellular phones, utilities, cable television or Internet access. It would also add penalties to those creditors under the SCRA who refuse to reduce interest rates, as currently required.

Additionally, H.R. 6225, as amended, would extend the same residency protections to military spouses as those granted to the military members for purposes of voting and paying taxes.

Mr. Speaker, I am re-emphasizing the Court's injunctive relief in USERRA cases requiring schools to refund tuition to those ordered to active duty, giving servicemembers the option of terminating certain service contracts, making sure that military spouses are treated equitably for residency.

H.R. 6225, as amended, provides our men and women in our Armed Forces the protections they need to transition back to civilian life when their tour of duty is completed.

I congratulate Chairwoman Herseth Sandlin for once again doing yeoman work in crafting some very good bipartisan legislation. I support H.R. 6225, as amended, and I urge my colleagues to support the bill.

I reserve the balance of my time.

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