H.R. 9188House118th Congress (2023-2025)In Committee

Gold Star and Surviving Spouse Career Services Act

To amend title 38, United States Code, to make certain spouses eligible for services under the disabled veterans' outreach program, and for other purposes.

AI-Generated Summary

Updated January 20, 2026 at 6:12 PM UTC

The Gold Star and Surviving Spouse Career Services Act expands the Disabled Veterans' Outreach Program to cover certain spouses of veterans. It amends the eligibility language in 38 U.S.C. § 4103A to include these spouses as “eligible persons,” removes a restriction on “non‑veteran‑related” services, and adds a definition of “eligible person” covering Gold Star spouses and surviving spouses of service members who died while on active duty. The changes aim to give these spouses access to career counseling and other outreach services.

Key Provisions

Inserts the phrase “and eligible persons” throughout the eligibility criteria of § 4103A, so spouses are treated like veterans for program access.
Deletes the term “non‑veteran‑related” from subsection (d)(1) to broaden the scope of services.
Adds a new subsection (e) defining “eligible person” as any spouse described in § 4101(5) (Gold Star spouse) or the spouse of a service member who died while on active duty.

Legislative Activity

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2 earlier actions

HouseCommittee Latest Action

Referred to the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity.

Economic Opportunity Subcommittee

September 11, 2024

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HouseIntro Referral

Introduced in House

July 30, 2024

HouseIntro Referral

Referred to the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

Veterans' Affairs Committee

July 30, 2024

HouseCommittee

Referred to the Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity.

Economic Opportunity Subcommittee

September 11, 2024

Bill Text

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Introduced in HouseIssued July 30, 2024

118th CONGRESS

2d Session

H. R. 9188

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

July 30, 2024

Mr. Bacon (for himself, Mr. Carbajal, Ms. Kuster, Mr. Nunn of Iowa, Mr. Panetta, and Mr. D'Esposito) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs

A BILL

To amend title 38, United States Code, to make certain spouses eligible for services under the disabled veterans’ outreach program, and for other purposes.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Gold Star and Surviving Spouse Career Services Act.

Eligibility of spouses for services under the disabled veterans’ outreach program

Section 4103A of title 38, United States Code, is amended—

(1)

in subsection (a)—

(A)

in paragraph (1)—

(i)

in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by inserting and eligible persons after eligible veterans; and

(ii)

in subparagraph (C), by inserting , and eligible persons, after Other eligible veterans;

(B)

in paragraph (2), by inserting and eligible persons after veterans each place it appears; and

(C)

in paragraph (3)—

(i)

by inserting or eligible person after veteran each place it appears; and

(ii)

by inserting or eligible person’s after veteran’s;

(2)

in subsection (d)(1)—

(A)

by inserting and eligible persons after eligible veterans each place it appears; and

(B)

by striking non-veteran-related; and

(3)

by adding at the end the following new subsection:

(e)

Eligible person defined

In this section, the term eligible person means—

(1)

any spouse described in section 4101(5) of this title; or

(2)

the spouse of any person who died while a member of the Armed Forces.