Key Provisions of Senate Version

Meanwhile the Senate version would: allow all agencies to pay the same allowances, benefits, and gratuities to personnel on official duty in Iraq and Afghanistan that the State Department pays its own personnel there; allow military personnel on military terminal leave who have lined up federal jobs to begin accumulating annual leave for that time; and provide for full replacement value of personal property for both military and civilian personnel that is damaged during transport at government expense. The Senate version also contains government-wide expansions of whistleblower protections including a guarantee of protection no matter to whom a disclosure is made, and the option to appeal cases to federal appellate courts other than the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals—which currently has exclusive jurisdiction and which handed down the contested rulings.