[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3200 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]


        H.R.3200

                       One Hundred Ninth Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America


                          AT THE FIRST SESSION

          Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
            the fourth day of January, two thousand and five


                                 An Act


 
 To amend title 38, United States Code, to enhance the Servicemembers' 
          Group Life Insurance program, 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 ``Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance 
Enhancement Act of 2005''.

SEC. 2. REPEALER.

    Effective as of August 31, 2005, section 1012 of division A of the 
Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War 
on Terror, and Tsunami Relief, 2005 (Public Law 109-13; 119 Stat. 244), 
including the amendments made by that section, are repealed, and 
sections 1967, 1969, 1970, and 1977 of title 38, United States Code, 
shall be applied as if that section had not been enacted.

SEC. 3. INCREASE FROM $250,000 TO $400,000 IN AUTOMATIC MAXIMUM 
              COVERAGE UNDER SERVICEMEMBERS' GROUP LIFE INSURANCE AND 
              VETERANS' GROUP LIFE INSURANCE.

    (a) Maximum Under SGLI.--Section 1967 of title 38, United States 
Code, is amended--
        (1) in subsection (a)(3)(A)(i), by striking ``$250,000'' and 
    inserting ``$400,000''; and
        (2) in subsection (d), by striking ``of $250,000'' and 
    inserting ``in effect under paragraph (3)(A)(i) of that 
    subsection''.
    (b) Maximum Under VGLI.--Section 1977(a) of such title is amended--
        (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ``in excess of $250,000 at 
    any one time'' and inserting ``at any one time in excess of the 
    maximum amount for Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance in effect 
    under section 1967(a)(3)(A)(i) of this title''; and
        (2) in paragraph (2)--
            (A) by striking ``for less than $250,000 under 
        Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance'' and inserting ``under 
        Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance for less than the maximum 
        amount for such insurance in effect under section 
        1967(a)(3)(A)(i) of this title''; and
            (B) by striking ``does not exceed $250,000'' and inserting 
        ``does not exceed such maximum amount in effect under such 
        section''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall take 
effect as of September 1, 2005, and shall apply with respect to deaths 
occurring on or after that date.

SEC. 4. SPOUSAL NOTIFICATIONS RELATING TO SERVICEMEMBERS' GROUP LIFE 
              INSURANCE PROGRAM.

    Effective as of September 1, 2005, section 1967 of title 38, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new 
subsection:
    ``(f)(1) If a member who is married and who is eligible for 
insurance under this section makes an election under subsection 
(a)(2)(A) not to be insured under this subchapter, the Secretary 
concerned shall notify the member's spouse, in writing, of that 
election.
    ``(2) In the case of a member who is married and who is insured 
under this section and whose spouse is designated as a beneficiary of 
the member under this subchapter, whenever the member makes an election 
under subsection (a)(3)(B) for insurance of the member in an amount 
that is less than the maximum amount provided under subsection 
(a)(3)(A)(i), the Secretary concerned shall notify the member's spouse, 
in writing, of that election--
        ``(A) in the case of the first such election; and
        ``(B) in the case of any subsequent such election if the effect 
    of such election is to reduce the amount of insurance coverage of 
    the member from that in effect immediately before such election.
    ``(3) In the case of a member who is married and who is insured 
under this section, if the member makes a designation under section 
1970(a) of this title of any person other than the spouse or a child of 
the member as the beneficiary of the member for any amount of insurance 
under this subchapter, the Secretary concerned shall notify the 
member's spouse, in writing, that such a beneficiary designation has 
been made by the member, except that such a notification is not 
required if the spouse has previously received such a notification 
under this paragraph and if immediately before the new designation by 
the member under section 1970(a) of this title the spouse is not a 
designated beneficiary of the member for any amount of insurance under 
this subchapter.
    ``(4) A notification required by this subsection is satisfied by a 
good faith effort to provide the required information to the spouse at 
the last address of the spouse in the records of the Secretary 
concerned. Failure to provide a notification required under this 
subsection in a timely manner does not affect the validity of any 
election specified in paragraph (1) or (2) or beneficiary designation 
specified in paragraph (3).''.

SEC. 5. INCREMENTS OF INSURANCE THAT MAY BE ELECTED.

    (a) Increase in Increment Amount.--Subsection (a)(3)(B) of section 
1967 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by striking ``member 
or spouse'' in the last sentence and inserting ``member, be evenly 
divisible by $50,000 and, in the case of a member's spouse,''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall 
take effect as of September 1, 2005.

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.