‘‘(h) The Secretary shall include in the Secretary’s 
annual report under section 529 of this title an assessment 
of the programs of the Department addressing the infor-
mation and assistance needs of veterans and eligible de-
pendents. The Secretary shall include in each such report 
the following: 
‘‘(1) Information about expenditures, costs, and 
workload under the program of the Department di-
rected towards the information and assistance needs 
of veterans and eligible dependents. 
‘‘(2) Information about outreach efforts di-
rected toward veterans and eligible dependents. 
‘‘(3) Information about emerging needs within 
the program that relate to other provisions of law, 
including section 7725 of this title with respect to 
language needs of veterans and eligible dependents. 
‘‘(4) Information as to the timeline for imple-
mentation of improvements to meet existing and 
emerging needs of veterans and eligible dependents 
in addition to those specified in this section.’’.
TITLE III—SURVIVORS AND 
DEPENDENTS 
SEC. 301. REPEAL OF DEPENDENCY AND INDEMNITY COM-
PENSATION OFFSET FROM SURVIVOR BEN-
EFIT PLAN SURVIVING SPOUSE ANNUITIES. 
(a) REPEAL.—Subsections (c), (e), and (k) of section 
1450 of title 10, United States Code, and subsection (c)(2) 
of section 1451 of such title are repealed. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 
subsection (a)— 
(1) shall take effect on the later of October 1, 
2005, or the date of the enactment of this Act; and 
(2) shall apply with respect to payment of an-
nuities under subchapter II of chapter 73 of title 10, 
United States Code, for months beginning on or 
after that date. 
(c) RECOUPMENT
OF
CERTAIN
AMOUNTS
PRE-
VIOUSLY REFUNDED TO SBP RECIPIENTS.—(1) A sur-
viving spouse who is in receipt of an SBP annuity that 
is in effect before the date specified in subsection (b) and 
that is adjusted by reason of the amendments made by 
subsection (a) and who had previously received an SBP 
retired pay refund shall repay an amount determined 
under paragraph (2). Any such repayment shall be made 
in the same manner as a repayment under subsection
(k)(2) of section 1450 of title 10, United States Code, as 
in effect on the day before the date of the enactment of 
this Act. 
(2) The amount of a repayment under paragraph (1) 
shall be the amount that bears the same ratio to the 
amount of that refund as the surviving spouse’s life ex-
pectancy (determined in accordance with standard actu-
arial practices) bears to the anticipated total duration of 
the annuity (determined as the sum of such life expectancy 
and the duration of the annuity already received). 
(3) In this subsection: 
(A) The term ‘‘SBP annuity’’ means an annu-
ity under the program established under subchapter 
II of chapter 73 of title 10, United States Code. 
(B) The term ‘‘SBP retired pay refund’’ means 
a refund under subsection (e) of section 1450 of title 
10, United States Code, as in effect before the date 
specified in subsection (b). 
SEC. 302. INCREASE IN MONTHLY DEPENDENCY AND IN-
DEMNITY COMPENSATION PAYABLE TO A 
SURVIVING SPOUSE FOR SO LONG AS THERE 
ARE MINOR CHILDREN. 
(a) INCREASE IN DIC.—Subsection (b) of section 
1311 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by in-
serting ‘‘$250, plus’’ after ‘‘shall be increased by’’.
(b) CONFORMING REPEAL OF TWO-YEAR LIMITA-
TION.—Subsection (e) of such section is repealed. 
(c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
subsection (a) shall take effect with respect to payments 
of dependency and indemnity compensation under section 
1311 of title 38, United States Code, for the first month 
beginning on or after the date of the enactment of this 
Act. 
TITLE 
IV—ADDITIONAL 
SUP-
PORT 
FOR 
ACTIVE 
DUTY 
SERVICEMEMBERS 
SEC. 401. ONE-TIME BONUS FOR CERTAIN SERVICE IN CON-
NECTION WITH OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM 
OR OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM. 
(a) ARMY, NAVY, AIR
FORCE, 
AND
MARINE 
CORPS.—The Secretary of Defense shall provide for the 
payment of a bonus under this section to each member 
of the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marine Corps who, at 
any time during the service of the member in connection 
with Operation Iraqi Freedom or Operation Enduring 
Freedom, satisfied or satisfies the eligibility criteria for 
receipt of special pay under section 310 of title 37, United 
States Code, for duty subject to hostile fire or imminent 
danger.
(b) COAST GUARD.—The Secretary of Homeland Se-
curity shall provide for the payment of a bonus under this 
section to each member of the Coast Guard who, at any 
time during the service of the member in connection with 
Operation Iraqi Freedom or Operation Enduring Free-
dom, satisfied or satisfies the eligibility criteria for receipt 
of special pay under such section. 
(c) AMOUNT OF BONUS.—The amount of the bonus 
paid under this section shall be equal to $1,000. 
(d) ENTITLEMENT LIMITED TO SINGLE BONUS PAY-
MENT.—A member may not receive more than one bonus 
under the authority of this section. 
SEC. 402. INCREASE IN ACTIVE-DUTY END-STRENGTH LEV-
ELS FOR THE ARMED FORCES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Armed Forces are authorized 
strengths for active duty personnel as of September 30, 
2006, as follows: 
(1) The Army, 512,400. 
(2) The Navy, 365,900. 
(3) The Marine Corps, 180,000. 
(4) The Air Force, 359,700. 
(b) REVISION IN PERMANENT ACTIVE DUTY END 
STRENGTH MINIMUM LEVELS.—Section 691(b) of title 
10, United States Code, is amended by striking para-
graphs (1) through (4) and inserting the following:
‘‘(1) For the Army, 512,400. 
‘‘(2) For the Navy, 365,900. 
‘‘(3) For the Marine Corps, 180,000. 
‘‘(4) For the Air Force, 359,700.’’. 
SEC. 403. ADDITIONAL FISCAL YEAR 2006 PAY INCREASE 
FOR MIDDLE- AND SENIOR-LEVEL ENLISTED 
MEMBERS AND WARRANT OFFICERS. 
(a) TARGETED PAY INCREASE.—The Secretary of 
Defense shall increase the rates of monthly basic pay for 
enlisted members of the Armed Forces in the pay grades 
E–5 through E–9 and all warrant officers of the Armed 
Forces as necessary to ensure that, by the end of fiscal 
year 2006, the compensation received by such enlisted 
members and warrant officers is equal to not less than 
80 percent of the compensation for persons in the private 
sector with comparable educational levels and experience, 
as determined by the Secretary. 
(b) RELATION TO OTHER PAY INCREASES.—The pay 
increase required by subsection (a) shall be in addition to 
any other adjustment to become effective during fiscal 
year 2006 in the rates of monthly basic pay authorized 
members of the Armed Forces, whether made pursuant 
to section 1009 of title 37, United States Code, or a law 
authorizing appropriations for the Department of Defense 
for fiscal year 2006.
TITLE V—EDUCATION, EMPLOY-
MENT AND COMPENSATION 
Subtitle A—Active Duty 
Montgomery GI Bill 
SEC. 501. ENHANCED BENEFITS UNDER THE MONTGOMERY 
GI BILL FOR FOUR YEARS OF ACTIVE-DUTY 
SERVICE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 30 of title 38, United 
States Code, is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing new subchapter: 
‘‘SUBCHAPTER V—ENHANCED EDUCATIONAL 
ASSISTANCE 
‘‘§ 3041. Enhanced educational assistance entitlement 
‘‘(a) ENTITLEMENT.—An eligible individual is enti-
tled to enhanced educational assistance under this sub-
chapter. 
‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE INDIVIDUAL DEFINED.—(1) For pur-
poses of this subchapter, the term ‘eligible individual’ 
means an individual who meets the service requirement 
described in subsection (c) and whose status after comple-
tion of such service is described in section 3011(a)(3) of 
this title (relating to continuation on active duty, honor-
able discharge, or honorable service, as the case may be). 
‘‘(2) Such term does not include an individual de-
scribed in paragraph (1) or (2) of section 3011(c) of this