EXTENSION OF DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE TELECOMMUNICATIONS BENEFIT PROGRAM.

SEC. 355. EXTENSION OF DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE TELECOMMUNICATIONS BENEFIT PROGRAM.(a) Termination at End of Contingency Operation.—Subsection (c) of section 344 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004 (Public Law 108–136) is amended to read as follows:“(c) Termination of Benefit.—The authority to provide a benefit under subsection (a)(1) to a member directly supporting a contingency operation shall terminate on the date that is 60 days after the date on which the Secretary determines that the contingency operation has ended.”.(b) Application to Other Contingency Operations.—Such section is further amended—(1) in subsection (a), by striking “Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom” and inserting “a contingency operation”; and120 STAT. 2163(2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:“(g) Contingency Operation Defined.—In this section, the term ‘contingency operation’ has the meaning given that term in section 101(a)(13) of title 10, United States Code. The term includes Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.”.(c) Extension to Hospitalized Members.—Subsection (a) of such section is further amended—(1) by striking “As soon as possible after the date of the enactment of this Act, the” and inserting “(1) The”; and(2) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:“(2) As soon as possible after the date of the enactment of the John Warner National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007, the Secretary shall provide, wherever practicable, prepaid phone cards, packet based telephony service, or an equivalent telecommunications benefit which includes access to telephone service to members of the Armed Forces who, although are no longer directly supporting a contingency operation, are hospitalized as a result of wounds or other injuries incurred while serving in direct support of a contingency operation.”.(d) Report on Implementation of Modified Benefits.—Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate and the Committee on Armed Services of the House of Representatives a report describing the status of the efforts of the Department of Defense to implement the modifications of the Department of Defense telecommunications benefit required by section 344 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004 that result from the amendments made by this section.