In the Senate of the United States,

September 27, 2005.

Resolved, That the bill from the House of Representatives (H.R. 3200) entitled ‘‘An Act to amend title 38, United

States Code, to enhance the Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance program, and for other purposes.’’, do pass with the

following

AMENDMENT:

Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert:

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Servicemembers’ Group

3 Life Insurance Enhancement Act of 2005’’.
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1 SEC. 2. REPEALER.

2 Effective as of August 31, 2005, section 1012 of divi3 sion A of the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act

4 for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Tsunami Relief,

5 2005 (Public Law 109–13; 119 Stat. 244), including the

6 amendments made by that section, are repealed, and sec7 tions 1967, 1969, 1970, and 1977 of title 38, United States

8 Code, shall be applied as if that section had not been en9 acted.

10 SEC. 3. INCREASE FROM $250,000 TO $400,000 IN AUTOMATIC

11 MAXIMUM COVERAGE UNDER

12 SERVICEMEMBERS’ GROUP LIFE INSURANCE

13 AND VETERANS’ GROUP LIFE INSURANCE.

14 (a) MAXIMUM UNDER SGLI.—Section 1967 of title 38,

15 United States Code, is amended—

16 (1) in subsection (a)(3)(A)(i), by striking

17 ‘‘$250,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$400,000’’; and

18 (2) in subsection (d), by striking ‘‘of $250,000’’

19 and inserting ‘‘in effect under paragraph (3)(A)(i) of

20 that subsection’’.

21 (b) MAXIMUM UNDER VGLI.—Section 1977(a) of such

22 title is amended—

23 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘in excess of

24 $250,000 at any one time’’ and inserting ‘‘at any one

25 time in excess of the maximum amount for
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1 Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance in effect under

2 section 1967(a)(3)(A)(i) of this title’’; and

3 (2) in paragraph (2)—

4 (A) by striking ‘‘for less than $250,000

5 under Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance’’

6 and inserting ‘‘under Servicemembers’ Group

7 Life Insurance for less than the maximum

8 amount for such insurance in effect under section

9 1967(a)(3)(A)(i) of this title’’; and

10 (B) by striking ‘‘does not exceed $250,000’’

11 and inserting ‘‘does not exceed such maximum

12 amount in effect under such section’’.

13 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by this

14 section shall take effect as of September 1, 2005, and shall

15 apply with respect to deaths occurring on or after that date.

16 SEC. 4. SPOUSAL NOTIFICATIONS RELATING TO

17 SERVICEMEMBERS’ GROUP LIFE INSURANCE

18 PROGRAM.

19 Effective as of September 1, 2005, section 1967 of title

20 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end

21 the following new subsection:

22 ‘‘(f)(1) If a member who is married and who is eligible

23 for insurance under this section makes an election under

24 subsection (a)(2)(A) not to be insured under this sub-
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1 chapter, the Secretary concerned shall notify the member’s

2 spouse, in writing, of that election.

3 ‘‘(2) In the case of a member who is married and who

4 is insured under this section and whose spouse is designated

5 as a beneficiary of the member under this subchapter, when6 ever the member makes an election under subsection

7 (a)(3)(B) for insurance of the member in an amount that

8 is less than the maximum amount provided under sub9 section (a)(3)(A)(i), the Secretary concerned shall notify the

10 member’s spouse, in writing, of that election—

11 ‘‘(A) in the case of the first such election; and

12 ‘‘(B) in the case of any subsequent such election

13 if the effect of such election is to reduce the amount

14 of insurance coverage of the member from that in ef15 fect immediately before such election.

16 ‘‘(3) In the case of a member who is married and who

17 is insured under this section, if the member makes a des18 ignation under section 1970(a) of this title of any person

19 other than the spouse or a child of the member as the bene20 ficiary of the member for any amount of insurance under

21 this subchapter, the Secretary concerned shall notify the

22 member’s spouse, in writing, that such a beneficiary des23 ignation has been made by the member, except that such

24 a notification is not required if the spouse has previously

25 received such a notification under this paragraph and if
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1 immediately before the new designation by the member

2 under section 1970(a) of this title the spouse is not a des3 ignated beneficiary of the member for any amount of insur4 ance under this subchapter.

5 ‘‘(4) A notification required by this subsection is satis6 fied by a good faith effort to provide the required informa7 tion to the spouse at the last address of the spouse in the

8 records of the Secretary concerned. Failure to provide a no9 tification required under this subsection in a timely man10 ner does not affect the validity of any election specified in

11 paragraph (1) or (2) or beneficiary designation specified

12 in paragraph (3).’’.

13 SEC. 5. INCREMENTS OF INSURANCE THAT MAY BE ELECT14 ED.

15 (a) INCREASE IN INCREMENT AMOUNT.—Subsection

16 (a)(3)(B) of section 1967 of title 38, United States Code,

17 is amended by striking ‘‘member or spouse’’ in the last sen18 tence and inserting ‘‘member, be evenly divisible by $50,000

19 and, in the case of a member’s spouse,’’.

20 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by sub21 section (a) shall take effect as of September 1, 2005.

Attest:

Secretary.
109TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 3200

AMENDMENT