§ 461. — Remission of indebtedness of enlisted members upon discharge.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 14USC461]
TITLE 14--COAST GUARD
PART I--REGULAR COAST GUARD
CHAPTER 13--PAY, ALLOWANCES, AWARDS, AND OTHER RIGHTS AND BENEFITS
Sec. 461. Remission of indebtedness of enlisted members upon
discharge
If he considers it in the best interest of the United States, the
Secretary may have remitted or canceled any part of an enlisted member's
indebtedness to the United States or any of its instrumentalities
remaining unpaid before or at the time of, that member's honorable
discharge.
(Aug. 4, 1949, ch. 393, 63 Stat. 530; Sept. 3, 1954, ch. 1263,
Sec. 33(b), 68 Stat. 1238; Pub. L. 87-526, Sec. 1(1), July 10, 1962, 76
Stat. 141; Pub. L. 87-649, Sec. 14d(7), Sept. 7, 1962, as added Pub. L.
89-718, Sec. 73(a)(3), Nov. 2, 1966, 80 Stat. 1124; Pub. L. 89-718,
Sec. 73(c)(1), Nov. 2, 1966, 80 Stat. 1124; Pub. L. 90-83, Sec. 2, Sept.
11, 1967, 81 Stat. 220; Pub. L. 94-546, Sec. 1(29), Oct. 18, 1976, 90
Stat. 2521.)
Historical and Revision Notes
Based on title 14, U.S.C., 1946 ed., Secs. 20a, 121 (May 18, 1920,
ch. 190, Sec. 8, 41 Stat. 603; June 10, 1922, ch. 212, 42 Stat. 625;
July 3, 1926, ch. 742, Sec. 10, 44 Stat. 817).
Said section 121 was omitted from the 1940 and 1946 editions of the
U.S. Code, but it has been held that the assimilation provision thereof
is inoperative only insofar as Congress has made specific legislative
provision for the Coast Guard, and that benefits derived from
legislation pertaining to the Navy previously conferred upon the Coast
Guard, and not provided for in subsequent legislation, survive to the
Coast Guard under the assimilation statute. (See 27 Comp. Dec. 234; 22
Comp. Gen. 723; decision of June 9, 1947, B-63472; decision of April 2,
1948, B-70438; and decision of September 2, 1948, B-77295.)
It seems desirable to retain this assimilation provision as to pay
in order to cover any failure to provide specifically for the Coast
Guard in military pay legislation.
This section assimilates the pay of military personnel of the Coast
Guard to the pay of military personnel of the Navy. It seems that this
is the most feasible method of insuring that the pay of military
personnel of the Coast Guard will not vary from the pay of military
personnel of the other armed forces. The assimilation is intended to
include authorization for extra pay and allowances as provided for
personnel of the Navy, for all types of special duty: for example,
qualified divers on diving duty, military personnel assigned to
submarine duty, military personnel assigned to aviation duty, officers
assigned as aides to flag officers, and enlisted persons assigned to
duty in the mess detail. Military pay acts are intended to include Coast
Guard personnel specifically; this section would cover any failure to so
provide for Coast Guard personnel in a pay act.
Changes were made in phraseology. 81st Congress, House Report No.
557.
Amendments
1976--Pub. L. 94-546 substituted ``Secretary'' for ``Secretary of
the Treasury''.
1967--Pub. L. 90-83 corrected section 73(a)(3) of Pub. L. 89-718 to
change the designation of sections repealed under Pub. L. 87-649 from
sections 471(a) and (b) of Title 14 to sections 461(a) and (b) of Title
14. See 1966 Amendment note below.
1966--Pub. L. 89-718, Sec. 73(a)(3), amended section 14d of Pub. L.
87-649, which contained in cls. (1) to (6) list of sections of Title 14
repealed by Pub. L. 87-649, by inserting ``(7) Section 471(a) and (b).''
However, for purposes of codification, the repeal has been executed to
former subsecs. (a) and (b) of this section, which provided respectively
for the awarding of the same pay and allowances as prescribed for
corresponding ranks, grades, or ratings for personnel of the Navy and
for the withholding of pay of officers on account of indebtedness to the
United States, since this appears to have been the intent of Congress.
Pub. L. 89-718, Sec. 73(c)(1), struck out references to pay and
allowances and pay of officers indebted to the United States from
section catchline and struck out letter designation ``(c)'' from
beginning of former subsec. (c), leaving text of former subsec. (c) as
constituting entire text of section.
1962--Pub. L. 87-526, Sec. 1(1)(A), amended section catchline to
provide for remission of indebtedness of enlisted members.
Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 87-526, Sec. 1(1)(B), added subsec. (c).
1954--Act Sept. 3, 1954 inserted ``; pay of officers indebted to
United States'' in section catchline, designated existing provisions as
subsec. (a), and added subsec. (b).
Effective Date of 1967 Amendment
Section 9(i) of Pub. L. 90-83 provided that: ``Section 2 of this Act
[correcting section 73(a)(3) of Pub. L. 89-718] is effective as of
November 2, 1966, for all purposes.''
