514
Opinion of the Court
"military service resulted in hardship excusing timely legal action." 4 It agreed with those courts that it would be "absurd and illogical" to toll limitations periods for career service personnel who had not been "handicapped by their military status." 5 The Supreme Judicial Court of Maine affirmed by an equally divided court.6 We granted certiorari to resolve the conflict in the interpretation of § 525. 505 U. S. 1203 (1992).
II
The statutory command in § 525 is unambiguous, unequivocal, and unlimited. It states that the period of military service "shall not be included" in the computation of "any period now or hereafter provided by any law for the redemption of real property . . . ." Respondents do not dispute the plain meaning of this text. Rather, they argue that when § 525 is read in the context of the entire statute, it implicitly conditions its protection on a demonstration of hardship or prejudice resulting from military service. They make three points in support of this argument: that the history of the Act reveals an intent to provide protection only to those whose lives have been temporarily disrupted by military service; that other provisions of the Act are expressly conditioned on a showing of prejudice; and that a literal interpretation produces illogical and absurd results. Neither separately nor in combination do these points justify a departure from the unambiguous statutory text.
Respondents correctly describe the immediate cause for the statute's enactment in 1940, the year before our entry into World War II. Congress stated its purpose to "expedite the national defense under the emergent conditions which are threatening the peace and security of the United
4 Pet. for Cert. 33. The court particularly relied on Pannell v. Continental Can Co., 554 F. 2d 216 (CA5 1977); Bailey v. Barranca, 83 N. M. 90, 488 P. 2d 725 (1971); King v. Zagorski, 207 So. 2d 61 (Fla. App. 1968).
5 Pet. for Cert. 34.
6 Conroy v. Danforth, 599 A. 2d 426 (1991).
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