I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 94 
To replace references to ‘‘wives’’ and ‘‘husbands’’ in Federal law with 
references to ‘‘spouses’’, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 3, 2019 
Ms. BROWNLEY of California introduced the following bill; which was referred 
to the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To replace references to ‘‘wives’’ and ‘‘husbands’’ in Federal 
law with references to ‘‘spouses’’, 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 ‘‘Amend the Code for 
Marriage Equality Act of 2019’’. 
SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS. 
(a) ACT OF AUGUST 16, 1941.—Section 2(b) of the 
Act of August 16, 1941, entitled ‘‘An Act to provide com-
pensation for disability or death to persons employed at 
military, air, and naval bases outside the United States.’’ 
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(42 U.S.C. 1652(b)) is amended by striking ‘‘wife’’ each 
place such term appears and inserting ‘‘spouse’’. 
(b) ACT OF AUGUST 4, 1955.—Section 43(a) of the 
Act of August 4, 1955, entitled ‘‘An Act to direct the Sec-
retary of Agriculture to release on behalf of the United 
States conditions in two deeds conveying certain submar-
ginal lands to Clemson Agricultural College of South 
Carolina so as to permit such college, subject to certain 
conditions, to sell, lease, or otherwise dispose of such 
lands.’’ (42 U.S.C. 2333(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘hus-
band and wife’’ and inserting ‘‘married couple’’. 
(c) ACT OF DECEMBER 2, 1942.—Section 101(c) of 
the Act of December 2, 1942, entitled ‘‘An Act to provide 
compensation for the injury, disability, death, or enemy 
detention of employees of contractors with the United 
States, and for other purposes.’’ (42 U.S.C. 1701(c)) is 
amended by striking ‘‘wife or husband’’ each place such 
term appears and inserting ‘‘spouse’’. 
(d) ACT OF FEBRUARY 28, 1891.—Section 5 of the 
Act of February 28, 1891 (25 U.S.C. 371), is amended 
by striking ‘‘husband and wife’’ and inserting ‘‘a married 
couple’’. 
(e) ACT OF SEPTEMBER 2, 1960.—The Act of Sep-
tember 2, 1960, entitled ‘‘An Act to provide for continued 
delivery of water under the Federal reclamation laws to 
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lands held by husband and wife upon the death of either’’ 
(43 U.S.C. 423h) is amended— 
(1) in the title, by striking ‘‘husband and wife 
upon the death of either’’ and inserting ‘‘a married 
couple upon the death of either spouse’’; and 
(2) by striking ‘‘husband or wife’’ and inserting 
‘‘married person’’. 
(f) CENTRAL
INTELLIGENCE
AGENCY
ACT
OF 
1949.—The Central Intelligence Agency Act of 1949 (50 
U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) is amended— 
(1) in the heading of section 16(c), by striking 
‘‘Wives or Husbands’’ and inserting ‘‘Spouses’’; and 
(2) in section 19(b)(4), by striking ‘‘widow or 
widower, former spouse, and/or a child or children as 
defined in section 204 and section 232 of the Cen-
tral Intelligence Agency Retirement Act of 1964 for 
Certain Employees’’ and inserting ‘‘surviving spouse, 
former spouse, or child as defined in section 102 of 
the Central Intelligence Agency Retirement Act’’. 
(g) CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY RETIREMENT 
ACT.—The Central Intelligence Agency Retirement Act 
(50 U.S.C. 2001 et seq.) is amended— 
(1) in section 221(d)(5), by striking ‘‘former 
wife or husband of’’ and inserting ‘‘person who has 
been, but is no longer, married to’’; 
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(2) in section 232(c)(3), by striking ‘‘former 
wife or husband of’’ and inserting ‘‘person who has 
been, but is no longer, married to’’; 
(3) in section 241— 
(A) in subsection (b)— 
(i) in paragraph (2), by inserting after 
‘‘former spouse’’ the following: ‘‘(as de-
fined under section 102)’’; 
(ii) in paragraph (3)— 
(I) in the heading, by striking 
‘‘wife or husband’’ and inserting 
‘‘spouse other than as defined under 
section 102’’; and 
(II) by striking ‘‘former wife or 
husband of the former participant’’ 
and inserting ‘‘person who has been, 
but is no longer, married to the 
former participant, but who is not a 
former spouse as defined under suc-
tion 102’’; and 
(iii) in paragraph (4)(A), by striking 
‘‘former wife or husband’’ and inserting 
‘‘person’’; 
(B) in subsection (c)(2), by striking ‘‘sur-
viving wife or husband of such participant’’ and 
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inserting ‘‘person who was married to such par-
ticipant at the participant’s death’’; and 
(C) in paragraph (d)(2)— 
(i) by striking ‘‘surviving former 
spouse or surviving former wife or husband 
of such participant’’ and inserting ‘‘per-
son’’; and 
(ii) by striking ‘‘to such former spouse 
or former wife or husband’’ and inserting 
‘‘under such paragraph’’; and 
(4) in section 304(d)(2), by striking ‘‘widow or 
widower’’ each place such term appears and insert-
ing ‘‘surviving spouse’’. 
(h) ENERGY EMPLOYEES OCCUPATIONAL ILLNESS 
COMPENSATION PROGRAM ACT OF 2000.—The Energy 
Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program 
Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 7384 et seq.) is amended— 
(1) in section 3628(e)(3)(A), by striking ‘‘wife 
or husband of that individual’’ and inserting ‘‘per-
son’’; and 
(2) in section 3630(e)(3)(A), by striking ‘‘wife 
or husband of that individual’’ and inserting ‘‘per-
son’’. 
(i) ETHICS IN GOVERNMENT ACT OF 1978.—Section 
109(16) of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (5 
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U.S.C. App. 109(16)) is amended by striking ‘‘husband, 
wife’’ and inserting ‘‘spouse’’. 
(j) FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE ACT OF 1993.— 
Section 102(f) of the Family and Medical Leave Act of 
1993 (29 U.S.C. 2612(f)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘husband and 
wife’’ and inserting ‘‘married couple’’; and 
(2) in paragraph (2)— 
(A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘that 
husband 
and 
wife’’ 
and 
inserting 
‘‘such 
spouses’’; and 
(B) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘hus-
band and wife’’ and inserting ‘‘married couple’’. 
(k) FEDERAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN ACT OF 1971.— 
Section 313(c)(3)(B) of the Federal Election Campaign 
Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30114(c)(3)(B)) is amended by 
striking ‘‘husband, wife’’ and inserting ‘‘spouse’’. 
(l) FEDERAL MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ACT OF 
1977.—The Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 
(30 U.S.C. 801 et seq.) is amended— 
(1) in section 402— 
(A) in subsection (a)(2)— 
(i) by striking ‘‘wife who is a member 
of the same household of the miner’’ and 
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inserting ‘‘spouse who is a member of the 
same household as the miner’’; 
(ii) by striking ‘‘miner for her sup-
port’’ and inserting ‘‘miner for his or her 
support’’; 
(iii) by striking ‘‘whose husband is a 
miner who has been ordered by a court to 
contribute to her support’’ and inserting 
‘‘for whose support the miner has been or-
dered by a court to contribute’’; 
(iv) by striking ‘‘216(b) (1) or (2)’’ 
and inserting ‘‘216(b)(1) or (2)’’; 
(v) by striking ‘‘status as the ‘wife’ of 
a miner’’ and inserting ‘‘status as the 
‘spouse’ of a miner’’; 
(vi) by striking ‘‘ ‘wife’ also includes a 
‘divorced wife’ as defined in section 
216(d)(1)’’ and inserting ‘‘ ‘spouse’ also in-
cludes a ‘divorced spouse’ as defined in 
section 216(d)(9)’’; 
(vii) by striking ‘‘one-half of her sup-
port’’ and inserting ‘‘half of his or her sup-
port’’; and 
(viii) by inserting ‘‘his or’’ before ‘‘her 
support from such miner’’; and 
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(B) in subsection (e)— 
(i) by striking ‘‘widow includes the 
wife’’ and inserting ‘‘surviving spouse in-
cludes the spouse’’; 
(ii) by striking ‘‘individual’s status as 
the ‘widow’ ’’ and inserting ‘‘individual’s 
status as the ‘surviving spouse’ ’’; 
(iii) by striking ‘‘surviving divorced 
wife’’ and inserting ‘‘surviving divorced 
spouse’’; and 
(iv) by inserting ‘‘his or’’ before ‘‘her’’ 
each place such term appears; 
(2) in section 411(c)(4)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘widow’s,’’ and inserting 
‘‘surviving spouse’s,’’; and 
(B) by striking ‘‘wife’s’’ and inserting 
‘‘spouse’s’’; and 
(3) in section 413(b)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘wife’s’’ and inserting 
‘‘surviving spouse’s’’; and 
(B) by striking ‘‘widow,’’ and inserting 
‘‘surviving spouse,’’. 
(m) FOREIGN SERVICE ACT OF 1980.—The Foreign 
Service Act of 1980 (22 U.S.C. 3901 et seq.) is amend-
ed— 
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(1) in the item relating to the first section 830 
in the table of contents, by striking ‘‘wives and hus-
bands’’ and inserting ‘‘spouses’’; 
(2) in section 804— 
(A) in paragraph (6), by striking ‘‘former 
wife or husband of a participant or former par-
ticipant’’ and inserting ‘‘person’’; and 
(B) in paragraph (13), by striking ‘‘sur-
viving wife or husband of a participant or annu-
itant who was married to the’’ and inserting 
‘‘person who was married to a’’; 
(3) in section 815(f)(2), by striking ‘‘wife or 
husband’’ and inserting ‘‘spouse’’; and 
(4) in the first section 830 (relating to qualified 
former wives and husbands)— 
(A) in the heading of such section, by 
striking ‘‘former wives and husbands’’ and in-
serting ‘‘spouses’’; 
(B) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘quali-
fied former wife or husband’’ and inserting 
‘‘qualified former spouse’’; and 
(C) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘former 
wife or husband’’ each place such term occurs 
and inserting ‘‘former spouse’’. 
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(n) IMMIGRATION AND NATIONALITY ACT.—The Im-
migration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.) is 
amended— 
(1) 
in 
section 
101(a)(35) 
(8 
U.S.C. 
1101(a)(35))— 
(A) by striking ‘‘, ‘wife’, or ‘husband’ ’’; 
and 
(B) by striking ‘‘, wife, or husband’’; 
(2) in section 202(b) (8 U.S.C. 1152(b)), by 
striking 
‘‘husband 
and 
wife’’ 
and 
inserting 
‘‘spouses’’; 
(3) in section 278 (8 U.S.C. 1328), by striking 
‘‘a husband or wife shall be admissible and com-
petent evidence against each other’’ and inserting 
‘‘an individual shall be admissible and competent 
evidence against such individual’s spouse’’; and 
(4) in section 283 (8 U.S.C. 1353), by striking 
‘‘wives’’ and inserting ‘‘spouses’’. 
(o) INDIAN LAND CONSOLIDATION ACT.—Section 
207(j)(3)(A)(ii) of the Indian Land Consolidation Act (25 
U.S.C. 2206) is amended by striking ‘‘husband and wife’’ 
and inserting ‘‘the participants as spouses’’. 
(p) INTERNAL REVENUE CODE.—The Internal Rev-
enue Code of 1986 is amended— 
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(1) in the matter following section 21(d)(2)(B), 
by striking ‘‘husband and wife’’ and inserting ‘‘mar-
ried couple’’; 
(2) in section 22(e)(1), by striking ‘‘husband 
and wife’’ and inserting ‘‘married couple’’; 
(3) in section 38(c)(6)(A), by striking ‘‘husband 
or wife’’ and inserting ‘‘spouse’’; 
(4) in section 42(j)(5)(C)— 
(A) in the heading of clause (i), by striking 
‘‘Husband and wife’’ and inserting ‘‘Married 
couple’’; and 
(B) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘a husband 
and wife’’ and inserting ‘‘a married couple’’; 
(5) in section 62(b)(3)(A), by striking ‘‘hus-
band and wife’’ and inserting ‘‘married couple’’; 
(6) in section 121— 
(A) in subsection (b)(2), by striking ‘‘hus-
band and wife’’ and inserting ‘‘married couple’’; 
and 
(B) in subsection (d)(1), by striking ‘‘hus-
band and wife make’’ and inserting ‘‘married 
couple makes’’; 
(7) in section 165(h)(4)(B), by striking ‘‘hus-
band and wife’’ and inserting ‘‘married couple’’; 
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