A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to modify the definition of spouse and surviving spouse to include all individuals lawfully married, and for other purposes.

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1314 To amend title 38, United States Code, to modify the definition of spouse and surviving spouse to include all individuals lawfully married, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 26, 2023 Mr. PETERS (for himself and Ms. MURKOWSKI) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs A BILL To amend title 38, United States Code, to modify the defini- tion of spouse and surviving spouse to include all individ- uals lawfully married, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. MODIFICATION OF DEFINITION OF SPOUSE 3 AND SURVIVING SPOUSE FOR DEPARTMENT 4 OF VETERANS AFFAIRS TO INCLUDE ALL IN- 5 DIVIDUALS LAWFULLY MARRIED. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 101 of title 38, United 7 States Code, is amended— 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:47 May 03, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1314.IS S1314 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1314 IS (1) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘of the oppo- 1 site sex who was the spouse of a veteran’’ and in- 2 serting ‘‘who was lawfully married to a veteran, in- 3 cluding a marriage between two persons of the same 4 sex,’’; and 5 (2) in paragraph (31), by striking ‘‘of the oppo- 6 site sex’’. 7 (b) MODIFICATION OF REGULATIONS.—The Sec- 8 retary of Veterans Affairs shall update all rules and regu- 9 lations of the Department of Veterans Affairs to ensure 10 compliance with— 11 (1) the amendments made by subsection (a); 12 and 13 (2) section 7 of title 1, United States Code. 14 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:47 May 03, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1314.IS S1314 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS