Pub. L. 94-169, tit. I, sec. 101

Sec. 101. Effective January 1, 1976, title 38, United States Code, is amended as follows: (1) chapter 1 of title 38, United States Code, is amended— (A) by striking out in paragraph (3) of section 101 “widow”, “woman”, “wife”, “his”, “him”, “man”, and “herself” each time they appear and inserting in lieu thereof “surviving spouse”, “person of the opposite sex”, “spouse”, “the veteran’s”, “the veteran”, “person”, and “himself or herself ”, respectively; (B) by striking out in the second sentence of paragraph (4) of section 101 “his support” and “his spouse” and inserting in lieu thereof “the person’s support” and “the veteran’s spouse”, respectively; (C) by striking out in paragraph (5) of section 101 “his” and inserting in lieu thereof “the veteran’s”; (D) by striking out in paragraph (13) of section 101 “widow” and inserting in lieu thereof “surviving spouse”; (E) by striking out in paragraph (14) of section 101 “widow” each time it appears and inserting in lieu thereof “surviving spouse”; (F) by striking out in paragraph (15) of section 101 “widow” and inserting in lieu thereof “surviving spouse”; and (G) by adding at the end of section 101 the following new paragraph: “(31) The term ‘spouse’ means a person of the opposite sex who is a wife or huband and the term ‘surviving spouse’ means a person of the opposite sex who is a widow or widower.”; and (2) chapter 15 of title 38, United States Code, is amended— (A) by inserting in subsection (a) of section 503 “and” after the semicolon at the end of clause (16) of such subsection; (8) by striking out in subsection (a) of section 541 “widow” and inserting in lieu thereof “surviving spouse” and by striking out “his” preceding the word “death”; 89 STAT. 1014 (C) by striking out in subsection (e) of section 541 the language preceding clause (1) of such subsection and inserting in lieu thereof “No pension shall be paid to a surviving spouse of a veteran under this section unless the spouse was married to the veteran—” and by amending subclause (D) of clause (1) of such subsection, to read as follows: “(D) May 8, 1985, in the case of a surviving spouse of a Vietnam era veteran; or”; (D) by striking out in section 542 “widow” and inserting in lieu thereof “surviving spouse” and by striking out “his” preceding the word “death”; (E) by striking out in section 543 “widow” and inserting in lieu thereof “surviving spouse”; (F) by repealing sections 510 and 531; (G) by striking out in the heading of subchapter III “Widows” and inserting in lieu thereof “Surviving Spouses”; (H) by striking out in the catchline of section 541 “Widows” and inserting in lieu thereof “Surviving Spouses”; (I) by striking out in the subheading of subchapter III immediately following section 543 “widows” and inserting in lieu thereof “surviving spouses”; and (J) by amending the table of sections at the beginning of such chapter 15— (i) by striking out “510. Confederate forces veterans.”; (ii) by striking out “subchapter iii— pensions to widows and children” and inserting in lieu thereof “subchapter iii— pensions to surviving spouses and children” (iii) by striking out “531. Widows of Mexican War veterans.”; (iv) by striking out “541. Widows of Mexican border period, World War I, and World War II, Korean conflict, or Vietnam era veterans.” and inserting in lieu thereof “541. Surviving spouses of Mexican border period, World War I, World War II, Korean conflict, or Vietnam era veterans.”; and (v) by striking out “Widows of Veterans of All Periods of War” and inserting in lieu thereof “Surviving Spouses of Veterans of All Periods of War”.