United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2004-01-23 monographic deposited born digital 18 p. GA 1.13:GAO-04-353R https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-353R P0b002ee18039b9d7 f:d04353r DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-23 GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-353R machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-353R GAO-04-353R Data collection Federal law Federal legislation Legal research Marital status Correspondence A09189

The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) provides definitions of "marriage" and "spouse" that are to be used in construing the meaning of a federal law and, thus, affect the interpretation of a wide variety of federal laws in which marital status is a factor. In 1997, we issued a report identifying 1,049 federal statutory provisions classified to the United States Code in which benefits, rights, and privileges are contingent on marital status or in which marital status is a factor. In preparing the 1997 report, we limited our search to laws enacted prior to September 21, 1996, the date DOMA was signed into law. Recently, Congress asked us to update our 1997 compilation. We have identified 120 statutory provisions involving marital status that were enacted between September 21, 1996, and December 31, 2003. During the same period, 31 statutory provisions involving marital status were repealed or amended in such a way as to eliminate marital status as a factor. Consequently, as of December 31, 2003, our research identified a total of 1,138 federal statutory provisions classified to the United States Code in which marital status is a factor in determining or receiving benefits, rights, and privileges. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-353R/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-353R.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-353R/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-353R.pdf GAO-04-353R https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-04-353R Correspondence GAO-04-353R; Defense of Marriage Act: Update to Prior Report; Data collection Federal law Federal legislation Legal research Marital status Title 33 Section 3071 33 U.S.C. 3071 Volume 110 Page 2246 Volume 110 Page 3009-615 110 Stat. 2246 110 Stat. 3009-615 Volume 111 Page 839 Volume 111 Page 948 111 Stat. 839 111 Stat. 948 Volume 112 Page 1059 Volume 112 Page 1581 112 Stat. 1059 112 Stat. 1581 Volume 114 Page 1221 Volume 114 Page 1464 114 Stat. 1221 114 Stat. 1464 Volume 116 Page 418 116 Stat. 418 Volume 117 Page 763 Volume 117 Page 827 117 Stat. 763 117 Stat. 827 Volume 1151 Page 823 1151 Stat. 823 Volume 5532 Page 664 5532 Stat. 664 Public Law 104-193 Public Law 104-208 Public Law 105-220 Public Law 105-225 Public Law 105-261 Public Law 105-332 Public Law 105-354 Public Law 106-65 Public Law 106-345 Public Law 106-655 Public Law 107-372