[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 130 (Saturday, August 5, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1663]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


            FAIRNESS FOR THE WIDOWS OF OUR MILITARY RETIREES

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                            HON. BOB FILNER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, August 4, 1995
  Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce the Military 
Survivors Equity Act of 1995.
  I would like to tell you a story, a story with an unhappy ending. A 
resident of my congressional district, when he retired from his service 
in the Armed Forces of our country, decided to have a portion of his 
monthly retired pay withheld in order to pay for benefits for his wife 
in case he died.
  Unfortunately, he died an untimely death, and his wife began to 
receive a monthly death benefit. The amount she received was 55 percent 
of her husband's retired pay.
  Imagine her astonishment when she turned 62 and found that the amount 
of her benefit was reduced to 35 percent of her husband's retired pay. 
When she inquired as to the reason, she was told that because she was 
eligible to get Social Security, her survivor benefits were reduced.
  ``But my Social Security payment is based on my own work,'' she said. 
``Why is the pension that my husband paid for in any way connected to 
my Social Security?'' The answer: because that's the law!
  Well, I think it's time to change this law--a law which simply 
doesn't make sense. The Military Survivor Benefit Plan, called the SBP 
plan, is a good idea--but it is very complicated.
  For some, SBP benefits are reduced or offset by the amount of the 
military retiree's Social Security when the survivor reaches age 62--
regardless of when she actually begins to draw Social Security 
benefits.
  For others, under the newer two-tier SBP plan, like the widow in my 
congressional district, the benefit is automatically reduced at age 62 
to 35 percent of her husband's retired military pay--a reduction of 
over \1/3\ from her previous benefits
  I believe it is time to get rid of these offsets. It is time to live 
up to the expectations of our military retirees, when they choose to 
provide for their widows after their deaths. It is time to simplify 
this incredibly complicated SBP system.
  My bill will provide an SBP death benefit equal to 55 percent of the 
military retiree pay. Period. No offsets. No reductions. That is what 
our military retirees expected. That is what their widows expected. 
That is what we should deliver.
  It is time to live up to our commitment to those who have served our 
Nation so honorably. It is time to correct the wrongs inflicted on 
their widows. It is time to restore honor to the Military Survivor 
Benefit Plan.


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