S.Amdt. 2394

SA 2394. Mr. HELLER (for himself and Mr. Tester) submitted an
amendment intended to be proposed to amendment SA 2282 submitted by Mr.
Inhofe (for himself and Mr. McCain) and intended to be proposed to the
bill H.R. 5515, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2019 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 C of title VI, add the following:

SEC. 622. ELIGIBILITY FOR PAYMENT OF BOTH RETIRED PAY AND
VETERANS' DISABILITY COMPENSATION FOR CERTAIN
MILITARY RETIREES WITH COMPENSABLE SERVICE-
CONNECTED DISABILITIES.

(a) Extension of Concurrent Receipt Authority to Retirees
With Service-Connected Disabilities Rated Less Than 50
Percent.--Section 1414 of title 10, United States Code, is
amended by striking paragraph (2) of subsection (a).
(b) Clerical Amendments.--
(1) The heading of section 1414 of such title is amended to
read as follows:

``Sec. 1414. Members eligible for retired pay who are also
eligible for veterans' disability compensation: concurrent
payment of retired pay and disability compensation''.

(2) The item relating to such section in the table of
sections at the beginning of chapter 71 of such title is
amended to read as follows:

``1414. Members eligible for retired pay who are also eligible for
veterans' disability compensation: concurrent payment of
retired pay and disability compensation.''.

(c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section
shall take effect on January 1, 2019, and shall apply to
payments for months beginning on or after that date.

SEC. 623. COORDINATION OF SERVICE ELIGIBILITY FOR COMBAT-
RELATED SPECIAL COMPENSATION AND CONCURRENT
RECEIPT.

(a) Amendments To Standardize Similar Provisions.--
(1) Qualified retirees.--Subsection (a) of section 1414 of
title 10, United States Code, as amended by section 622(a),
is further amended--
(A) by striking ``a member or'' and all that follows
through ``retiree')'' and inserting ``a qualified retiree'';
and
(B) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(2) Qualified retirees.--For purposes of this section, a
qualified retiree, with respect to any month, is a member or
former member of the uniformed services who--
``(A) is entitled to retired pay (other than by reason of
section 12731b of this title); and
``(B) is also entitled for that month to veterans'
disability compensation.''.
(2) Disability retirees.--Paragraph (2) of subsection (b)
of section 1414 of such title is amended to read as follows:
``(2) Special rule for retirees with fewer than 20 years of
service.--The retired pay of a qualified retiree who is
retired under chapter 61 of this title with fewer than 20
years of creditable service is subject to reduction by the
lesser of--
``(A) the amount of the reduction under sections 5304 and
5305 of title 38; or
``(B) the amount (if any) by which the amount of the
member's retired pay under such chapter exceeds the amount
equal to 2\1/2\ percent of the member's years of creditable
service multiplied by the member's retired pay base under
section 1406(b)(1) or 1407 of this title, whichever is
applicable to the member.''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section
shall take effect on January 1, 2019, and shall apply to
payments for months beginning on or after that date.
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