S. 2388 (112th): National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps Amendments Act of 2012

Introduced:
Apr 26, 2012 (112th Congress, 2011–2013)
Sponsor:
Sen. Mark Begich [D-AK]
Status:
Died (Passed Senate)
See Instead:
This bill was re-introduced as S. 1068 on May 23, 2013. See S. 1068 for current action on this subject.

The bill’s title was written by the bill’s sponsor. S. stands for Senate bill.

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Status

This bill was introduced in a previous session of Congress and was passed by the Senate on December 20, 2012 but was never passed by the House.

Progress
Introduced Apr 26, 2012
Referred to Committee Apr 26, 2012
Reported by Committee Jul 31, 2012
Passed Senate Dec 20, 2012
Cosponsors
5 cosponsors (3D, 2R) (show)
Committees

Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation

The committee chair determines whether a bill will move past the committee stage.

Full Title

A bill to reauthorize and amend the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps Act of 2002, and for other purposes.

Summary

No summaries available.

Text

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Last updated Dec 20, 2012.
46 pages

Primary Source

View on THOMAS (The Library of Congress)

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Citation

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GovTrack’s Bill Summary

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Library of Congress Summary

The summary below was written by the Congressional Research Service, which is a nonpartisan division of the Library of Congress.

11/14/2012. Reauthorizes and amends authorities relating to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Commissioned Officer Corps (NOAA Corps).
Section 2 -
Sets forth the commissioned grades of the NOAA Corps in relative rank with Navy officers, beginning with vice admiral, rear admiral, and rear admiral (lower half).
Maintains the existing distribution percentages of officers on the lineal list in grades of captain, commander, and lieutenant commander.
Amends the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps Act of 2002 to direct the Secretary of Commerce to prescribe distribution percentages applicable to grades of lieutenant, lieutenant (junior grade), and ensign.
Directs the Secretary to compute at least annually the number of officers on the lineal list authorized to serve in each grade.
Section 3 -
Prohibits officers serving in positions of importance and responsibility and officers recalled from retired status from being counted in or against the Secretary's computation of authorized strengths or the total number of authorized commissioned officers on the lineal list.
Section 4 -
Directs the Secretary to prescribe obligated service requirements for appointments, training, promotions, separations, continuations, and retirement of officers not otherwise covered by law.
Section 5 -
Authorizes officer training programs and correspondence courses. Requires the Secretary to ensure that officers maintain a physical state of readiness in preparation for functioning as a service in the Navy during times of war.
Section 6 -
Revises original appointment, reappointment, and temporary appointment requirements.
Authorizes the reappointment of individuals who previously served in the NOAA Corps to the grade the individual held prior to separation.
Directs the Secretary to coordinate with the Secretary of Defense (DOD) and the Secretary of the Department in which the Coast Guard is operating to promote and streamline inter-service transfers, give preference to such inter-service transfers for recruitment purposes, and reappoint such inter-service transfers to the equivalent grade in the NOAA Corps.
Section 7 -
Establishes membership criteria for personnel boards.
Section 8 -
Modifies temporary appointment requirements. Permits temporary appointments in the grade of ensign, lieutenant junior grade, or lieutenant to be made by the President alone.
Section 9 -
Directs the Secretary to determine the number of appointments of officer candidates and to prescribe regulations for such appointments. Establishes guidelines for the appointment, dismissal, and pay of officer candidate appointments. Establishes a basic officer training program.
Section 10 -
Permits deferment of a consenting officer's retirement or separation when evaluation of a medical condition requires hospitalization or observation that cannot be completed before the officer would otherwise be required to retire or be separated. Prohibits such a deferment from extending for more than 30 days after completion of the evaluation requiring hospitalization or medical observation.
Section 11 -
Excludes an officer discharged for twice failing selection for promotion to the next higher grade (if the officer expresses a desire not to be selected for promotion or requests removal from the list of selectees) from certain separation pay entitlements.
Section 12 -
Applies specified rights and benefits of the Armed Forces to the NOAA Corps, including benefits and services for members being separated or recently separated, military family programs, advanced education assistance, active duty agreements, and reimbursement requirements.
Section 13 -
Establishes an education loan repayment program in exchange for active duty service obligations of certain students enrolled at accredited educational institutions and other eligible persons.
Section 14 -
Establishes a student loan interest payment program for specified loans under the Higher Education Act of 1965 to eligible active duty officers who have not completed more than three years of active duty service.
Section 15 -
Establishes a pre-commissioning education assistance program for certain students enrolled at accredited educational institutions who agree to accept appointment as active duty officers.
Section 16 -
Directs the Secretary to limit the amount expended for such educational assistance each fiscal year to a specified amount based on a formula relating to the total pay of officer candidates.
Section 17 -
Expands various pay and allowances requirements of the Armed Forces to the NOAA Corps.
Section 18 -
Extends the application of certain competitive service position consideration requirements to applicants honorably separated from the NOAA Corps.
Section 19 -
Extends eligibility for the Legion of Merit award to all members of the uniformed services.
Section 20 -
Applies uniformed service civilian employment and reemployment rights to the NOAA Corps.
Section 21 -
Expands to the NOAA Corps certain laws protecting communications of members of the Armed Forces with Members of Congress and the Inspector General and prohibiting retaliatory personnel actions for specified communications.
Section 22 -
Expands the criminal penalty for wearing a uniform without authority to include NOAA Corps uniforms.
Section 23 -
Directs the Attorney General (DOJ) to report to Congress on whether officers of the NOAA Corps and the Public Health Service are treated as performing an essential level of activity to protect life and property during any period of a lapse in appropriations.
Section 25 -
Directs the Secretary to report to Congress on the current status and projected needs of the NOAA Corps (including attrition rates, recruitment, and areas of duplication) to operate sufficiently through FY2017.
Section 26 -
Requires specified provisions of this Act to take effect 90 days after the Secretary submits such report to Congress.

House Republican Conference Summary

The summary below was written by the House Republican Conference, which is the caucus of Republicans in the House of Representatives.

No summary available.

House Democratic Caucus Summary

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The bill contains the following citations to other parts of U.S. law:

Slip Laws

Slip laws refer to enacted bills and joint resolutions in their original form as enacted by Congress, that is, before other laws amend them. Slip laws are cited as “Public Law XXX-YYY”, where XXX is the number of the Congress in which the bill or resolution was introduced.

  • Public Law 107-372

United States Code

The United States Code is the compilation of permanent laws enacted by Congress. Temporary and other non-permanent laws do not appear in the United States Code. (About half of the United States Code is the law itself, called positive law. The other half is merely a compilation of the laws but has no legal significance.)