Sec. 535. Financial assistance for victims of offenses under the Uniform Code of Military Justice
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Chapter 53 of title 10, United States Code, is amended by inserting before section 1045 the following new section: There is established in the Treasury of the United States a fund to be known as the Military Crime Victims Financial Assistance Fund (referred to in this section as the Fund ). The Secretary of the Treasury shall administer the Fund consistent with the provisions of this section. There shall be deposited in the Fund the following: Any amounts appropriated to the Fund.
Any amounts donated to the Fund. Amounts in the Fund shall, to the extent provided in appropriations Acts, be available solely for the payment of financial assistance to victims of covered violent offenses in accordance with the regulations prescribed under subsection (e). Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary of Defense shall prescribe regulations pursuant to which a victim of a covered violent offense may apply for and receive financial assistance payments from the Fund.
Such regulations shall provide as follows: A victim of a covered violent offense may apply to the Fund for— a standard payment; a reimbursement payment; or a standard payment and a reimbursement payment. A standard payment to a victim shall be a fixed amount determined by the Secretary of Defense for each covered violent offense. A reimbursement payment to a victim shall be an amount determined by the Secretary of Defense that is sufficient to reimburse the victim for health care expenses, travel expenses, and expenses for property damage resulting from the covered violent offense, subject to such limits as the Secretary may prescribe.
A reimbursement payment may not be made for any expenses for which a victim receives reimbursement from other sources, including insurance claims. An individual victim may receive not more than $50,000 from the Fund per incident. The eligibility of a victim to receive payments from the Fund shall be subject to such terms, conditions, and other requirements as the Secretary may prescribe. The Secretary may not make a payment from the Fund if the amount of such payment would exceed the amounts available in the fund.
Not later than February 1 of each year, the Secretaries concerned, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report that includes— a summary of the amounts deposited to and paid from the Fund during the preceding year; the number of victims who received payments from the Fund during the preceding year, set forth separately for each covered violent offense; and an estimate of the amount of appropriations required, if any, to maintain the solvency of the fund for the period of two fiscal years following the date of the report.
In this section: The term appropriate congressional committees means the following: The congressional defense committees. The Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives. The Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate. The term covered violent offense means— an offense under section 918 (article 118), section 919 (article 119), section 919a (article 119a), section 920 (article 120), section 920b (article 120b), section 920c (article 120c), section 922 (article 122), section 925 (article 125), section 928 (article 128), section 928a (article 128a), section 928b (article 128b), section 930 (article 130), or the standalone offense of sexual harassment as punishable under section 934 (article 134) of this title; or an attempt to commit an offense specified in subparagraph
(A)as punishable under section 880 of this title (article 880). The term victim means individual who has suffered direct physical, emotional, or pecuniary harm as a result of the commission of a covered violent offense. . The table of sections at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting before the item relating to section 1045 the following new item: 1044g. Military Crime Victims Financial Assistance Fund. . Eligibility to receive a payment from the Military Crime Victims Financial Assistance Fund under section 1044g of title 10, United States Code (as added by subsection (a)), shall be limited to individuals who— are victims of covered violent offenses that occur on or after the date of the enactment of this Act; and apply for payment from the Fund after the effective date of the regulations prescribed under subsection
(e)of such section 1044g. Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report on plans of the Secretary for implementing the Military Crime Victims Financial Assistance Fund under section 1044g of title 10, United States Code (as added by subsection (a)). In this subsection, the term appropriate congressional committees means the following: The congressional defense committees. The Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives. The Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate.