PUBLIC LAW 105-178-^JUNE 9, 1998 112 STAT. 495 SEC. 8207. ELIGmnJTY OF CERTAIN REMARRIED SURVIVING SPOUSES FOR REINSTATEMENT OF DEPENDENCY AND INDEMNITY COMPENSATION UPON TERMINATION OF THAT REMARRIAGE. (a) RESTORATION OF PRIOR ELIGIBILITY.— Section 1311 of title 38, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection: "(e)(1) The remarriage of the surviving spouse of a veteran shall not bar the furnishing of dependency and indemnity compensation to such person as the surviving spouse of the veteran if the remarriage is terminated by death, divorce, or annulment unless the Secretary determines that the divorce or annulment was secured through fraud or collusion. "(2) If the surviving spouse of a veteran ceases living with another person and holding himself or herself out openly to the public as that person's spouse, the bar to granting that person dependency and indemnity compensation as the surviving spouse of the veteran shall not apply. "(3) The first month of eligibility for payment of dependency and indemnity compensation to a surviving spouse by reason of this subsection shall be the later of the month after— "(A) the month of the termination of such remarriage, in the case of a surviving spouse described in paragraph (1); or "(B) the month of the cessation described in paragraph (2), in the case of a surviving spouse described in that paragraph.". (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.— No payment may be made by reason 38 USC 1311 of section 1311(e) of title 38, United States Code, as added by note, subsection (a), for any month before October 1998. SEC. 8208. EXTENSION OF PRIOR REVISION TO OFFSET RULE FOR 10 USC 1174 DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE SPECIAL SEPARATION BENE- note. FIT PROGRAM. The amendment made by section 653 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1997 (Public Law 104-201; 110 Stat. 2583) to subsection (h)(2) of section 1174 of title 10, United States Code, shall apply to any payment of separation pay under the special separation benefits program under section 1174a of that title that was made during the period beginning on December 5, 1991, and ending on September 30, 1996. SEC. 8209. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS CONCERNING RECOVERY FROM TOBACCO COMPANIES OF COSTS OF TREATMENT OF VET- ERANS FOR TOBACCO-RELATED ILLNESSES. It is the sense of the Congress— (1) that the Attorney General or the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, as appropriate, should take all steps necessary to recover from tobacco companies amounts corresponding to the costs which would be incurred by the Department of Veterans Affairs for treatment of tobacco-related illnesses of veterans, if such treatment were authorized by law; and (2) that the Congress should authorize by law the treatment i ^.. of tobacco-related illnesses of veterans upon the recovery of such amounts.
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