EXPANSION OF ELIGIBILITY FOR SURVIVORS’ AND DEPENDENTS’ EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.

SEC. 301. EXPANSION OF ELIGIBILITY FOR SURVIVORS’ AND DEPENDENTS’ EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.(a) Expansion of Eligibility.—Section 3501(a)(1) is amended—(1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by striking “means—” and inserting “means any of the following:”;(2) in each of subparagraphs (A) through (D), by capitalizing the first letter of the first word;(3) in subparagraph (A)—(A) by inserting after “a person who” the following: “, as a result of qualifying service”;(B) by striking the comma at the end of clause (i) and inserting “; or”;(C) by striking “, or” at the end of clause (ii) and inserting a period; and(D) by striking clause (iii);(4) in subparagraph (B) by striking the comma at the end and inserting the following: “sustained during a period of qualifying service.”;(5) in subparagraph (C)—(A) by inserting “or child” after “the spouse”; and(B) by striking “, or” at the end and inserting a period;(6) in subparagraph (D)—(A) in clause (i), by inserting before the comma the following: “sustained during a period of qualifying service”; and(B) by striking the comma at the end and inserting a period;(7) by inserting after subparagraph (D) the following new subparagraph:“(E) The spouse or child of a person who—“(i) at the time of the Secretary’s determination under clause (ii), is a member of the Armed Forces who is hospitalized or receiving outpatient medical care, services, or treatment;“(ii) the Secretary determines has a total disability permanent in nature incurred or aggravated in the line of duty in the active military, naval, or air service; and“(iii) is likely to be discharged or released from such service for such disability.”; and(8) by striking “arising out of” and all that follows through the end.(b) Conforming Amendments to Chapter 35.—Chapter 35 is amended as follows:(1) Section 3501(a) is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:“(12) The term ‘qualifying service’ means service in the active military, naval, or air service after the beginning of the Spanish-American War that did not terminate under dishonorable conditions.”.(2) Section 3511 is amended—(A) in subsection (a)(1)—120 STAT. 3426(i) by striking “Each eligible person” and inserting the following: “Each eligible person, whether made eligible by one or more of the provisions of section 3501(a)(1) of this title,”;(ii) by striking “a period” and inserting “an aggregate period”; and(iii) by striking the second sentence;(B) in subsection (b)—(i) in paragraph (2)—(I) by striking “the provisions of section 3501(a)(1)(A)(iii) or” and inserting “section”; and(II) by striking “or” at the end;(ii) in paragraph (3)—(I) by striking “section 3501(a)(1)(D)” and inserting “subparagraph (D) or (E) of section 3501(a)(1)”; and(II) by inserting “or” after the comma at the end; and(iii) by inserting after paragraph (3) the following new paragraph:“(4) the parent or spouse from whom such eligibility is derived based upon subparagraph (E) of section 3501(a)(1) of this title no longer meets a requirement under clause (i), (ii), or (iii) of that subparagraph,”; and(C) by striking subsection (c).(3) Section 3512 is amended—(A) in subsection (a)—(i) by striking “an eligible person (within the meaning of section 3501(a)(1)(A) of this title)” and inserting “an eligible person whose eligibility is based on the death or disability of a parent or on a parent being listed in one of the categories referred to in section 3501(a)(1)(C) of this title”; and(ii) in paragraph (6), by striking “the provisions of section 3501(a)(1)(A)(iii)” and inserting “a parent being listed in one of the categories referred to in section 3501(a)(1)(C)”;(B) in subsection (b)—(i) in paragraph (1)(A)—(I) by inserting after “section 3501(a)(1) of this title” the following: “or a person made eligible by the disability of a spouse under section 3501(a)(1)(E) of this title”; and(II) by striking “or 3501(a)(1)(D)(ii) of this title” and inserting “3501(a)(1)(D)(ii), or 3501(a)(1)(E) of this title”;(ii) in paragraph (1)(B), by adding at the end the following new clause:“(iii) The date on which the Secretary notifies the member of the Armed Forces from whom eligibility is derived that the member has a total disability permanent in nature incurred or aggravated in the line of duty in the active military, naval, or air service.”; and(iii) in paragraph (2)—(I) by striking “or (D) of this title” and inserting “(D), or (E) of this title”; and120 STAT. 3427(II) by inserting “whose eligibility is based on the death or disability of a spouse or on a spouse being listed in one of the categories referred to in section 3501(a)(1)(C) of this title” after “of this title)”;(C) in subsection (d), by striking “veteran” and inserting “person”; and(D) in subsection (e)—(i) by inserting “based on a spouse being listed in one of the categories referred to in section 3501(a)(1)(C) of this title” after “of this title”;(ii) by inserting “so” after “the spouse was”; and(iii) by striking “by the Secretary” and all that follows through “occurs”.(4) Section 3540 is amended by striking “(as defined in subparagraphs (A), (B), and (D) of section 3501(a)(1) of this title)” and inserting “(other than a person made eligible under subparagraph (C) of such section by reason of a spouse being listed in one of the categories referred to in that subparagraph)”.(5) Section 3563 is amended by striking “each eligible person defined in section 3501(a)(1)(A) of this title” and inserting “each eligible person whose eligibility is based on the death or disability of a parent or on a parent being listed in one of the categories referred to in section 3501(a)(1)(C) of this title”.(c) Other Conforming Amendments.—Such title is further amended as follows:(1) Section 3686(a)(1) is amended by striking “or (D)” and inserting “(D), or (E)”.(2) Section 5113(b)(3) is amended—(A) in subparagraph (B) by striking “section 3501(a)(1)” and all that follows through the end and inserting the following: “subparagraphs (A), (B), (D), and (E) of section 3501(a)(1) of this title.”; and(B) in subparagraph (C)—(i) by striking “such veteran’s death” and inserting “the death of the person from whom such eligibility is derived”; and(ii) by striking “such veteran’s service-connected total disability permanent in nature” and inserting “the service-connected total disability permanent in nature (or, in the case of a person made eligible under section 3501(a)(1)(E), the total disability permanent in nature incurred or aggravated in the line of duty in the active military, naval, or air service) of the person from whom such eligibility is derived”.(d) Effective Date.—The amendments made by this section shall apply with respect to a payment of educational assistance for a course of education pursued after the date of the enactment of this Act.120 STAT. 3428