Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 122.djvu/335

 12 2 STA T .3 12 PUBLIC LA W 11 0– 1 8 1 —J A N .28, 2008 SEC.1045 .C OMPTR O L LER G E N ER A L REPORT ON D E F ENSE F I NANCE AND ACCO U NTING SER V ICE RESPONSE TO B UTTERBAUG H V. DEPARTMENT OF J USTICE. (a)INGE NE RAL.—Notl at er t h a n180d a ys a f ter the date of the ena c t m ent of th i s A ct , the C om p troller General of the U nited S tates shall s ub mit to the con g ressional defense committees a report setting forth an assessment by the Comptroller General of the response of the D efense F inance and Accounting Ser v ice to the decision in B utterbaugh v. Department of J ustice ( 3 3 6 F.3d 133 2 (2003)). (b) E LE M EN TS .— T he report re q uired by subsection (a) shall include the follo w ing

(1) An estimate of the number of members of the reserve components of the Armed Forces, both past and present, who are entitled to compensation under the decision in Butterbaugh v. Department of Justice. (2) An assessment of the current policies, procedures, and timeliness of the Defense Finance and Accounting Service in implementing and resolving claims under the decision in Butterbaugh v. Department of Justice. (3) An assessment whether or not the decisions made by the Defense Finance and Accounting Service in implementing the decision in Butterbaugh v. Department of Justice follow a consistent pattern of resolution. ( 4 ) An assessment of whether or not the decisions made by the Defense Finance and Accounting Service in imple - menting the decision in Butterbaugh v. Department of Justice are resolving claims by providing more compensation than an individual has been able to prove, under the rule of construction that laws providing benefits to veterans are liberally construed in favor of the veteran. ( 5 ) An estimate of the total amount of compensation pay- able to members of the reserve components of the Armed Forces, both past and present, as a result of the recent decision in H ernande z v. Department of the Air Force (No. 2006 – 33 7 5, slip op.) that leave can be reimbursed for R eserve service before 1 9 94, when Congress enacted chapter 43 of title 38, United States Code (commonly referred to as the ‘ ‘Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act ’ ’). (6) A comparative assessment of the handling of claims by the Defense Finance and Accounting Service under the deci- sion in Butterbaugh v. Department of Justice with the handling of claims by other Federal agencies (selected by the Comptroller General for purposes of the comparative assessment) under that decision. (7) A statement of the number of claims by members of the reserve components of the Armed Forces under the decision in Butterbaugh v. Department of Justice that have been ad j u- dicated by the Defense Finance and Accounting Service. (8) A statement of the number of claims by members of the reserve components of the Armed Forces under the decision in Butterbaugh v. Department of Justice that have been denied by the Defense Finance and Accounting Service. (9) A comparative assessment of the average amount of time required for the Defense Finance and Accounting Service to resolve a claim under the decision in Butterbaugh v. Depart- ment of Justice with the average amount of time required

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