[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2632 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2632

    To provide an equitable formula for computing the annuities of 
    surviving spouses of members of the uniformed services who died 
  entitled to retired or retainer pay but before the Survivor Benefit 
    Plan existed or applied to the members, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 18, 2002

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To provide an equitable formula for computing the annuities of 
    surviving spouses of members of the uniformed services who died 
  entitled to retired or retainer pay but before the Survivor Benefit 
    Plan existed or applied to the members, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Forgotten Widows' Benefit Equity Act 
of 2002''.

SEC. 2. EQUITABLE AMOUNT OF SURVIVOR ANNUITIES FOR CERTAIN MILITARY 
              SURVIVING SPOUSES.

    (a) Formula.--Subsection (b) of section 644 of the National Defense 
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1998 (Public Law 105-85; 10 U.S.C. 
1448 note) is amended--
            (1) by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the following:
    ``(1) An annuity payable under this section for the surviving 
spouse of a deceased member shall be equal to the higher of $186 per 
month, as adjusted from time to time under paragraph (3), or the 
applicable amount as follows:
            ``(A) In the case of the surviving spouse of a deceased 
        member described in subparagraph (A) of subsection (a)(1) who 
        died before September 21, 1972, the amount computed under the 
        SBP program, from the day after the date of death, as if--
                    ``(i) the SBP program had become effective on the 
                day before the date of the death of the deceased 
                member; and
                    ``(ii) the member had effectively elected to 
                provide the maximum survivor annuity for the surviving 
                spouse under the SBP program.
            ``(B) In the case of the surviving spouse of a deceased 
        member described in subparagraph (A) of subsection (a)(1) who 
        died after September 20, 1972, the amount computed under the 
        SBP program, from the day after the date of death, as if the 
        member had effectively elected to provide the maximum survivor 
        annuity for the surviving spouse under that program.
            ``(C) In the case of the surviving spouse of a deceased 
        member described in subparagraph (B) of subsection (a)(1) who 
        died before October 1, 1978, the amount computed under the SBP 
        program, from the day after the date of death, as if--
                    ``(i) the SBP program, as in effect on October 1, 
                1978, had become effective on the day before the date 
                of the death of the deceased member;
                    ``(ii) the member had been 60 years of age on that 
                day; and
                    ``(iii) the member had effectively elected to 
                provide the maximum survivor annuity for the surviving 
                spouse under the SBP program.''; and
            (2) in paragraph (3), by inserting after ``the annuity that 
        is payable under this section'' the following: ``in the amount 
        under paragraph (1) that is adjustable under this paragraph''.
    (b) SBP Program Defined.--Subsection (d) of such section is amended 
by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(3) The term `SBP program' means subchapter II of chapter 
        73 of title 10, United States Code.''.
    (c) Effective Date and Applicability.--(1) The amendments made by 
subsections (a) and (b) shall take effect on October 1, 2002.
    (2) The Secretary concerned shall recompute under section 644 of 
Public Law 105-85 (as amended by subsections (a) and (b)) the amounts 
of the survivor annuities that are payable under such section for 
months beginning after the effective date under paragraph (1).
    (3) No benefit shall be payable for any period before the effective 
date under paragraph (1) by reason of the amendments made by 
subsections (a) and (b).
                                 <all>