[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5125 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 5125

   To amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to limit the use of 
   arbitration to resolve controversies under the Act, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             August 1, 2023

  Ms. Porter introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                     Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to limit the use of 
   arbitration to resolve controversies under the Act, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``End Servicemember Forced Arbitration 
Act''.

SEC. 2. LIMITATIONS ON METHODS OF DISPUTE RESOLUTION UNDER THE 
              SERVICEMEMBERS CIVIL RELIEF ACT.

    (a) Limitation on Use of Arbitration To Resolve Controversies Under 
Servicemembers Civil Relief Act.--
            (1) Arbitration; written consent requirement.--Section 102 
        of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (50 U.S.C. 3912) is 
        amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(d) Written Consent Requirement for Arbitration.--Notwithstanding 
any other provision of law, whenever a contract with a servicemember, 
or a servicemember and the spouse of the servicemember jointly, 
provides for the use of arbitration to resolve a controversy subject to 
a provision of this Act and arising out of or relating to such 
contract, arbitration may be used to settle such controversy only if, 
after such controversy arises, all parties to such controversy consent 
in writing to use arbitration to settle such controversy.''.
            (2) Applicability.--Subsection (d) of such section, as 
        added by paragraph (1), shall apply with respect to contracts 
        entered into, amended, altered, modified, renewed, or extended 
        after the date of the enactment of this Act.
    (b) Limitation on Waiver of Rights and Protections Under 
Servicemembers Civil Relief Act.--
            (1) Limitation.--Section 107(a) of the Servicemembers Civil 
        Relief Act (50 U.S.C. 3918(a)) is amended--
                    (A) in the second sentence, by inserting ``and if 
                it is made after a specific dispute has arisen and the 
                dispute is identified in the waiver'' after ``to which 
                it applies''; and
                    (B) in the third sentence, by inserting ``and if it 
                is made after a specific dispute has arisen and the 
                dispute is identified in the waiver'' after ``period of 
                military service''.
            (2) Applicability.--The amendment made by paragraph (1) 
        shall apply with respect to waivers made on or after the date 
        of the enactment of this Act.
    (c) Clarification of Private Right of Action Under Servicemembers 
Civil Relief Act.--Section 802(a) of the Servicemembers Civil Relief 
Act (50 U.S.C. 4042(a)) is amended--
            (1) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by inserting ``, 
        notwithstanding any previous agreement to the contrary,'' after 
        ``may''; and
            (2) in paragraph (3), by striking ``, notwithstanding any 
        previous agreement to the contrary''.
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