REPORT ON PAYMENT OF ANNUITIES FOR CERTAIN MILITARY SURVIVING SPOUSES.

SEC. 633. REPORT ON PAYMENT OF ANNUITIES FOR CERTAIN MILITARY SURVIVING SPOUSES. (a) Study Required.— (1) The Secretary of Defense shall conduct a study to determine the number of potential beneficiaries there would be if Congress were to enact authority for the Secretary of the military department concerned to pay an annuity to the qualified surviving spouse of each member of the Armed Forces who— (A) died before March 21, 1974, and was entitled to retired or retainer pay on the date of death; or (B) was a member of a reserve component who died during the period beginning on September 21, 1972, and ending on October 1, 1978, and at the time of death would have been entitled to retired pay under chapter 67 of title 10, United States Code, but for the fact that he was under 60 years of age. (2) A qualified surviving spouse for purposes of paragraph (1) is a surviving spouse who has not remarried and who is not eligible for an annuity under section 4 of Public Law 92–425 (10 U.S.C. 1448 note). (b) Required Determinations.— As part of the study under subsection (a), the Secretary shall determine the following: 110 STAT. 366 (1) The number of unremarried surviving spouses of deceased members and deceased former members of the Armed Forces referred to in subparagraph (A) of subsection (a)(1) who would be eligible for an annuity under authority described in such subsection. (2) The number of unremarried surviving spouses of deceased members and deceased former members of reserve components referred to in subparagraph (B) of subsection (a)(1) who would be eligible for an annuity under authority described in such subsection. (3) The number of persons in each group of unremarried former spouses described in paragraphs (1) and (2) who are receiving a widow’s insurance benefit or a widower’s insurance benefit under title II of the Social Security Act on the basis of employment of a deceased member or deceased former member referred to in subsection (a)(1). (c) Report.— Not later than March 1, 1996, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate and the Committee on National Security of the House of Representatives a report on the results of the study under this section. The Secretary shall include in the report a recommendation on the amount of the annuity that should be authorized to be paid under any authority described in subsection (a)(1), together with a recommendation on whether the annuity should be adjusted annually to offset increases in the cost of living.