[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2004 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2004

To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for the reinstatement 
 of eligibility for dependency and indemnity compensation for certain 
                     surviving spouses of veterans.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 20, 1997

 Mr. Filner (for himself and Mr. Evans) introduced the following bill; 
        which was referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for the reinstatement 
 of eligibility for dependency and indemnity compensation for certain 
                     surviving spouses of veterans.

    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 ``Give Surviving Spouses of Veterans a 
Chance to Remarry Act of 1997''.

SEC. 2. ELIGIBILITY OF REMARRIED SURVIVING SPOUSES FOR REINSTATEMENT OF 
              DEPENDENCY AND INDEMNITY COMPENSATION UPON TERMINATION OF 
              THAT REMARRIAGE.

    (a) In General.--Section 1311 of title 38, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following new section:
    ``(e)(1) The remarriage of the surviving spouse of a veteran shall 
not bar the furnishing of dependency and indemnity compensation to such 
person as the surviving spouse of the veteran if the remarriage is 
terminated by death or divorce, unless the Secretary determines that 
the divorce was secured through fraud by the surviving spouse or 
collusion.
    ``(2) If the surviving spouse of a veteran ceases living with 
another person and holding himself or herself out openly to the public 
as that person's spouse, the bar to granting that person dependency and 
indemnity compensation as the surviving spouse of the veteran shall not 
apply.
    ``(3) The first month of eligibility for payment of dependency and 
indemnity compensation to a surviving spouse by reason of this 
subsection shall be the month after--
            ``(A) the month of the termination of such remarriage, in 
        the case of a surviving spouse described in paragraph (1); or
            ``(B) the month of the cessation described in paragraph 
        (2), in the case of a surviving spouse described in that 
        paragraph.
    (b) Effective Date.--No payment may be made by reason of section 
1311(e) for any month before October 1, 1997.
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