S.Amdt. 1218

SA 1218. Mr. TESTER submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill S. 1867, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2012 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 subtitle G of title X, add the following:

SEC. 1080. REPORT ON EXTENSION OF AUTHORITY FOR USE OF COMMISSARY AND EXCHANGE STORES TO VETERANS WITH CERTAIN SERVICE-CONNECTED DISABILITIES.

(a) Report Required.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report setting forth an assessment of the feasability and advisability of permitting each category of veterans specified in subsection (b) to use the commissary and exchange stores of the Department of Defense on the same basis as veterans with service-connected disabilities rated as 100 percent disabling. For each category of veterans the report shall set forth the following:

(1) An estimate of the cost of permitting such category of veterans access to commissary and exchange stores.

(2) An estimate of the number of veterans in such category likely to use the commissary and exchange stores if permitted access.

(3) An assessment of the effects on the services and operations of the commissary and exchange stores of the use of such stores by such category of veterans.

(b) Categories of Veterans.--The categories of veterans specified in this subsection are the following:

(1) Veterans with service-connected disabilities rated as 70 percent or more disabling.

(2) Veterans with service-connected disabilities rated as 50 percent or more disabling.

(3) Veterans with service-connected disabilities rated as 30 percent or more disabling.

(c) Appropriate Committees of Congress Defined.--In this section, the term “appropriate committees of Congress” means--

(1) the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate; and

(2) the Committee on Armed Services and the Committee on Veterans' Affairs of the House of Representatives.