Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 116 Part 4.djvu/129

 PUBLIC LAW 107-314—DEC. 2, 2002 116 STAT. 2557 (A) by striking "Materiel, equipment, and training for" and inserting "For"; and (B) by inserting before the period at the end "and for members of the armed forces in a retired status, materiel, equipment, and training"; (4) by redesignating paragraph (3) as subparagraph (C) and in that subparagraph— (A) by striking "Articles of clothing for" and inserting "For"; and (B) by inserting ", articles of clothing" after "subsection (b)(2)"; and (5) by adding at the end the following new paragraphs: "(2) The Secretary of Defense shall prescribe annually a flat rate daily stipend for purposes of paragraph (1)(A). Such stipend shall be set at a rate so as to encompass typical costs for transportation and other miscellaneous expenses for persons participating in funeral honors details who are members of the armed forces in a retired status and other persons who are not members of the armed forces or employees of the United States. "(3) A stipend paid under this subsection to a member of the armed forces in a retired status is in addition to any compensation to which the member is entitled under section 435(a)(2) of title 37 and any other compensation to which the member may be entitled. ". SEC. 572. EMERGENCY LEAVE OF ABSENCE PROGRAM. (a) IN GENERAL. —Chapter 40 of title 10, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new section: "§ 709. Emergency leave of absence "(a) EMERGENCY LEAVE OF ABSENCE. — The Secretary concerned may grant a member of the armed forces emergency leave of absence for a qualifying emergency. "(b) LIMITATIONS. —An emergency leave of absence under this section— "(1) may be granted only once for any member; "(2) may be granted only to prevent the member from entering unearned leave status or excess leave status; and "(3) may not extend for a period of more than 14 days. "(c) QUALIFYING EMERGENCY. —In this section, the term 'qualifying emergency', with respect to a member of the armed forces, means a circumstance that— "(l)isdueto— "(A) a medical condition of a member of the immediate family of the member; or "(B) any other hardship that the Secretary concerned determines appropriate for purposes of this section; and "(2) is verified to the Secretary's satisfaction based upon information or opinion from a source in addition to the member that the Secretary considers to be objective and reliable. "(d) MILITARY DEPARTMENT REGULATIONS.— Regulations prescribed under this section by the Secretaries of the military department shall be as uniform as practicable and shall be subject to approval by the Secretary of Defense. "(e) DEFINITIONS. —In this section: "(1) The term 'unearned leave status' means leave approved to be used by a member of the armed forces that exceeds 99-194 0-03 -5:QL3 Part4

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