S.Amdt. 3227

SA 3227. Mr. BENNET submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by
him to the bill S. 4638, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year
2025 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 F of title V, add the
following:

SEC. 579B. COMPETITIVE PAY FOR DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE CHILD
CARE PERSONNEL.

(a) In General.--Section 1792(c) of title 10, United States
Code, is amended to read as follows:
``(c) Competitive Rates of Pay.--(1) For the purpose of
providing military child development centers with a qualified
and stable civilian workforce, employees at a military
installation who are directly involved in providing child
care and who are paid from nonappropriated funds--
``(A) in the case of an entry-level employee, shall be paid
a rate of pay competitive with the rate of pay paid for other
equivalent non-Federal positions within the metropolitan
statistical area or nonmetropolitan statistical area (as the
case may be) in which the Department employee's position is
located; and
``(B) in the case of any employee not covered by
subparagraph (A), shall be paid a rate of pay competitive
with the rates of pay paid to other employees with similar
training, seniority, and experience within the metropolitan
statistical area or nonmetropolitan statistical area (as the
case may be) in which the Department employee's position is
located.
``(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), no employee shall
receive a rate of pay under this subsection that is lower
than the minimum hourly rate of pay applicable to civilian
employees of the Department of Defense.
``(3) For purposes of determining the rates of pay under
paragraph (1), the Secretary shall use the metropolitan and
nonmetropolitan area occupational employment and wage
estimates published monthly by the Bureau of Labor
Statistics.''.
(b) Application.--
(1) In general.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall
take effect on the first day of the first pay period
beginning after the date of the enactment of this Act.
(2) Rates of pay.--
(A) Current employee pay rate not reduced.--The rate of pay
for any individual who is an employee covered by subsection
(c) of section 1792 of title 10, United States Code, as
amended by subsection (a), on the date of the enactment of
this Act shall not be reduced by operation of such amendment.
(B) Pay band minimum.--Any employee whose rate of pay is
fixed under subsection (c) of section 1792 of title 10,
United States Code, as amended by subsection (a), and who is
within any pay band shall receive a rate of pay not less than
the minimum rate of pay applicable to such pay band.
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