I 
112TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6046 
To amend titles 10, 32, 37, and 38 of the United States Code, to add 
a definition of spouse for purposes of military personnel policies and 
military and veteran benefits that recognizes new State definitions of 
spouse. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 27, 2012 
Mr. SMITH of Washington (for himself, Mr. FILNER, Mrs. DAVIS of California, 
Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr. ANDREWS, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. LARSEN 
of Washington, Ms. TSONGAS, Ms. PINGREE of Maine, Mr. RYAN of Ohio, 
Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. HANABUSA, and Ms. SPEIER) introduced 
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Serv-
ices, and in addition to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, for a period 
to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider-
ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
concerned 
A BILL 
To amend titles 10, 32, 37, and 38 of the United States 
Code, to add a definition of spouse for purposes of mili-
tary personnel policies and military and veteran benefits 
that recognizes new State definitions of spouse. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Military Spouses Equal 
Treatment Act of 2012’’. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF SPOUSE FOR PURPOSES OF MILI-
TARY PERSONNEL POLICIES AND MILITARY 
AND VETERAN BENEFITS TO REFLECT NEW 
STATE DEFINITIONS OF SPOUSE. 
(a) TITLE 10.— 
(1) DEFINITION.—Paragraph (5) of section 
101(f) of title 10, United States Code, is amended 
to read as follows: 
‘‘(5) Notwithstanding section 7 of title 1, an in-
dividual shall be considered a ‘spouse’ if the mar-
riage of the individual is valid in the State in which 
the marriage was entered into or, in the case of a 
marriage entered into outside any State, if the mar-
riage is valid in the place in which the marriage was 
entered into and the marriage could have been en-
tered into in a State. In this paragraph, the term 
‘State’ means the several States, the District of Co-
lumbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Com-
monwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and 
the territories and possessions.’’. 
(2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Such section 
is further amended— 
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(A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1). 
by striking ‘‘In this title—’’ and inserting ‘‘The 
following rules of construction apply in this 
title:’’; 
(B) in paragraph (1)— 
(i) by inserting ‘‘The term’’ after 
‘‘(1)’’; and 
(ii) by striking the semicolon at the 
end and inserting a period; 
(C) in paragraph (2)— 
(i) by inserting ‘‘The term’’ after 
‘‘(2)’’; and 
(ii) by striking the semicolon at the 
end and inserting a period; 
(D) in paragraph (3)— 
(i) by inserting ‘‘The phrase’’ after 
‘‘(3)’’; and 
(ii) by striking the semicolon at the 
end and inserting a period; and 
(E) in paragraph (4)— 
(i) by inserting ‘‘The term’’ after 
‘‘(4)’’; and 
(ii) by striking ‘‘; and’’ and inserting 
a period. 
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(b) TITLE 32.—Paragraph (18) of section 101 of title 
32, United States Code, is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(18) Notwithstanding section 7 of title 1, an 
individual shall be considered a ‘spouse’ if the mar-
riage of the individual is valid in the State in which 
the marriage was entered into or, in the case of a 
marriage entered into outside any State, if the mar-
riage is valid in the place in which the marriage was 
entered into and the marriage could have been en-
tered into in a State. In this paragraph, the term 
‘State’ means the several States, the District of Co-
lumbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Com-
monwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and 
the territories and possessions.’’. 
(c) TITLE 37.—Section 101 of title 37, United States 
Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph: 
‘‘(27) Notwithstanding section 7 of title 1, an 
individual shall be considered a ‘spouse’ if the mar-
riage of the individual is valid in the State in which 
the marriage was entered into or, in the case of a 
marriage entered into outside any State, if the mar-
riage is valid in the place in which the marriage was 
entered into and the marriage could have been en-
tered into in a State. In this paragraph, the term 
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‘State’ means the several States, the District of Co-
lumbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Com-
monwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and 
the territories and possessions.’’. 
(d) TITLE 38.—Section 101 of title 38, United States 
Code, is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘of the oppo-
site sex’’; and 
(2) by striking paragraph (31) and inserting 
the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(31) Notwithstanding section 7 of title 1, an indi-
vidual shall be considered a ‘spouse’ if the marriage of 
the individual is valid in the State in which the marriage 
was entered into or, in the case of a marriage entered into 
outside any State, if the marriage is valid in the place 
in which the marriage was entered into and the marriage 
could have been entered into in a State. In this paragraph, 
the term ‘State’ has the meaning given that term in para-
graph (20), except that the term also includes the Com-
monwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.’’. 
Æ 
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