I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 548
To amend title 10, United States Code, to increase the minimum Survivor
Benefit Plan basic annuity for surviving spouses age 62 and older,
and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY 8, 2001
Mr. SCARBOROUGH (for himself, Mr. WELDON of Florida, Mr. PETRI, Mr.
SHOWS, Mr. MCINTYRE, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Mr. FOLEY,
Mr. SAXTON, and Mr. PICKERING) introduced the following bill; which
was referred to the Committee on Armed Services
A BILL
To amend title 10, United States Code, to increase the
minimum Survivor Benefit Plan basic annuity for sur-
viving spouses age 62 and older, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Military Survivor Ben-
efits Improvement Act of 2001’’.
SEC. 2. COMPUTATION OF SURVIVOR BENEFITS.
(a) INCREASED BASIC ANNUITY.—(1) Subsection
(a)(1)(B)(i) of section 1451 of title 10, United States
Code, is amended by striking ‘‘35 percent of the base
amount.’’ and inserting ‘‘the product of the base amount
and the percent applicable for the month. The percent ap-
plicable for a month is 35 percent for months beginning
on or before the date of the enactment of the Military Sur-
vivor Benefits Improvement Act of 2001, 40 percent for
months beginning after such date and before October
2004, 45 percent for months after September 2004 and
before October 2011, and 55 percent for months after
September 2011.’’.
(2) Subsection (a)(2)(B)(i)(I) of such section is
amended by striking ‘‘35 percent’’ and inserting ‘‘the per-
cent specified under subsection (a)(1)(B)(i) as being appli-
cable for the month’’.
(3) Subsection (c)(1)(B)(i) of such section is
amended—
(A) by striking ‘‘35 percent’’ and inserting ‘‘the
applicable percent’’; and
(B) by adding at the end the following: ‘‘The
percent applicable for a month under the preceding
sentence is the percent specified under subsection
(a)(1)(B)(i) as being applicable for that month.’’.
(4) The heading for subsection (d)(2)(A) of such sec-
tion is amended to read as follows: ‘‘COMPUTATION OF AN-
NUITY.—’’.
(b) ADJUSTED SUPPLEMENTAL ANNUITY.—Section
1457(b) of title 10, United States Code, is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘5, 10, 15, or 20 percent’’ and
inserting ‘‘the applicable percent’’; and
(2) by inserting after the first sentence the fol-
lowing: ‘‘The percent used for the computation shall
be an even multiple of 5 percent and, whatever the
percent specified in the election, may not exceed 20
percent for months beginning on or before the date
of the enactment of the Military Survivor Benefits
Improvement Act of 2001, 15 percent for months
beginning after that date and before October 2004,
and 10 percent for months after September 2004
and before October 2011. For months after Sep-
tember 2011, the percent used for the computation
shall be zero.’’.
(c) RECOMPUTATION OF ANNUITIES.—(1) Effective
on the first day of each month referred to in paragraph
(2)—
(A) each annuity under section 1450 of title 10,
United States Code, that commenced before that
month, is computed under a provision of section
1451 of that title amended by subsection (a), and is
payable for that month shall be recomputed so as to
be equal to the amount that would be in effect if the