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Opinion of the Court
of" an impairment); OASI Disability Insurance Letter No. 39 (Jan. 22, 1957), id., Tab A, p. 1 (duration requirement refers to the "expected duration of the medical impairment" at a "level of severity sufficient to preclude" substantial gainful activity"). And this Court will normally accord particular deference to an agency interpretation of "longstanding" duration. North Haven Bd. of Ed. v. Bell, 456 U. S. 512, 522, n. 12 (1982).
Finally, Congress has frequently amended or reenacted the relevant provisions without change. E. g., Social Security Amendments of 1965, § 303(a)(1), 79 Stat. 366; see also S. Rep. No. 404, 89th Cong., 1st Sess., pt. I, pp. 98-99 (1965) ("[T]he committee's bill . . . provide[s] for the payment of disability benefits for an insured worker who has been or can be expected to be totally disabled throughout a continuous period of 12 calendar months" (emphasis added)); id., at 98 (rejecting effort to provide benefits to those with "short-term, temporary disabilit[ies]," defined as inability to work for six months); H. R. Rep. No. 92-231, p. 56 (1971) ("No benefit is payable, however, unless the disability is expected to last (or has lasted) at least 12 consecutive months" (emphasis added)); S. Rep. No. 744, 90th Cong., 1st Sess., 49 (1967) ("The committee also believes . . . that an individual who does substantial gainful work despite an impairment or impairments that otherwise might be considered disabling is not disabled for purposes of establishing a period of disability"). These circumstances provide further evidence—if more is needed—that Congress intended the Agency's interpretation, or at least understood the interpretation as statutorily permissible. Commodity Futures Trading Comm'n v. Schor, 478 U. S. 833, 845-846 (1986).
Walton points in reply to Title II language stating that a claimant who is "under a disability . . . shall be entitled to a . . . benefit . . . beginning with the first month after" a "waiting period" of "five consecutive calendar months . . . throughout which" he "has been under a disa-
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