[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 350 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 350

   To authorize payment of special annuities to surviving spouses of 
  deceased members of the uniformed services who are ineligible for a 
survivor annuity under transition laws relating to the establishment of 
 the Survivor Benefit Plan under chapter 73 of title 10, United States 
                                 Code.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 25, 1997

 Mr. Thurmond introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
              referred to the Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To authorize payment of special annuities to surviving spouses of 
  deceased members of the uniformed services who are ineligible for a 
survivor annuity under transition laws relating to the establishment of 
 the Survivor Benefit Plan under chapter 73 of title 10, United States 
                                 Code.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. ANNUITIES FOR CERTAIN MILITARY SURVIVING SPOUSES.

    (a) Survivor Annuity.--(1) The Secretary concerned shall pay an 
annuity to the qualified surviving spouse of each member of the 
uniformed services who--
            (A) died before March 21, 1974, and was entitled to retired 
        or retainer pay on the date of death; or
            (B) was a member of a reserve component of the Armed Forces 
        during the period beginning on September 21, 1972, and ending 
        on October 1, 1978, and at the time of his death would have 
        been entitled to retired pay under chapter 67 of title 10, 
        United States Code (as in effect before December 1, 1994), but 
        for the fact that he was under 60 years of age.
    (2) A qualified surviving spouse for purposes of this section is a 
surviving spouse who has not remarried and who is not eligible for an 
annuity under section 4 of Public Law 92-425 (10 U.S.C. 1448 note).
    (b) Amount of Annuity.--(1) An annuity under this section shall be 
paid at the rate of $165 per month, as adjusted from time to time under 
paragraph (3).
    (2) An annuity paid to a surviving spouse under this section shall 
be reduced by the amount of any dependency and indemnity compensation 
(DIC) to which the surviving spouse is entitled under section 1311(a) 
of title 38, United States Code.
    (3) Whenever after the date of the enactment of this Act retired or 
retainer pay is increased under section 1401a(b)(2) of title 10, United 
States Code, each annuity that is payable under this section shall be 
increased at the same time and by the same total percent. The amount of 
the increase shall be based on the amount of the monthly annuity 
payable before any reduction under this section.
    (c) Application Required.--No benefit shall be paid to any person 
under this section unless an application for such benefit is filed with 
the Secretary concerned by or on behalf of such person.
    (d) Definitions.--For purposes of this section:
            (1) The terms ``uniformed services'' and ``Secretary 
        concerned'' have the meanings given such terms in section 101 
        of title 37, United States Code.
            (2) The term ``surviving spouse'' has the meaning given the 
        terms ``widow'' and ``widower'' in paragraphs (3) and (4) of 
        section 1447 of title 10, United States Code.
    (e) Prospective Applicability.--(1) Annuities under this section 
shall be paid for months beginning after the month in which this Act is 
enacted.
    (2) No benefit shall accrue to any person by reason of the 
enactment of this section for any period before the first month that 
begins after the month in which this Act is enacted.
    (f) Expiration of Authority.--The authority to pay annuities under 
this section shall expire on September 30, 2001.
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