[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 44 (Thursday, April 14, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3614-S3616]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         DEATH BENEFITS IN THE SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS BILL

  Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I rise to speak in morning business 
about the provision of this supplemental appropriations bill before us 
that rights a wrong done with regard to death benefits of those who 
served the United States in uniform. I begin my remarks by thanking my 
friend and colleague from Alabama, Senator Sessions, and acknowledge 
his leadership on this very important humanitarian reform. I also thank 
the Senate Appropriations Committee, under the leadership of Senator 
Cochran and Senator Byrd, for bringing forward this emergency 
supplemental in a way that includes an important provision to improve 
the financial benefits for families of our fallen soldiers.
  I am grateful that this supplemental uses the so-called HEROES bill, 
S. 77, which Senator Sessions and I cosponsored and introduced in 
January as the basis for the reforms to enhance the death benefit and 
the level of coverage under the Servicemen's Group Life Insurance 
Program.
  Yesterday, the Senate amended this provision and voted to increase 
eligibility for the expanded death benefit to $100,000, which was in 
our HEROES bill, to include all active-duty service men and women.
  These reforms honor the brave men and women wearing America's uniform 
who have made the ultimate sacrifice to defend our liberty by giving 
them and their families what we the American people owe them. 
Obviously, nothing can replace the loss of life. But a decent death 
benefit and adequate life insurance can provide our service members and 
their loved ones with a sense of security about their future which they 
deserve. For too long, they have not gotten that peace of mind, and 
indeed not the respect they deserve.
  Senator Sessions and I have worked together for some time as members 
of the Senate Armed Services Committee to investigate and then to react 
to this wrong. We began looking at the question of what survivor 
benefits were in place for our men and women in uniform as we were 
concerned that the benefits being provided to families of those who 
lose their lives in the service of this country lagged behind benefits 
provided for public service employees in high-risk occupations, namely 
policemen and firefighters. The families of fallen policemen and 
firefighters deserve those higher benefits. But so, too, of course, do 
the families of fallen military personnel.
  When Senator Sessions and I began this review, the death benefit paid 
to the families of service men and women who were killed in action was 
$6,000, an embarrassing sum. A small step forward was taken last year 
when the death benefit was increased to $12,000, but obviously that was 
still woefully inadequate.
  Two studies, one done by the Department of Defense and the other done 
by the Government Accountability Office, documented that survivor 
benefits provided to some of the public employee groups I have 
mentioned in high-risk positions were greater than those provided for 
our soldiers killed in combat. That was evidently unfair, and that is 
why our legislation, the HEROES bill, was worked on for over 2 years 
with the Pentagon's service member group and veterans groups which 
resulted in a bill to correct that imbalance by adjusting military 
survivor benefits to more equitably reflect today's world.
  I am very gratified that idea has taken hold, and it is reflected in 
the emergency supplemental before the Congress today.
  With the changes adopted, if soldiers buy the servicemen's group life 
insurance, their families will receive $250,000, for which the soldier 
pays, and then an additional $150,000 of insurance the U.S. Government 
will pay for. In addition to that will be the $100,000 death benefit. 
That is half a million dollars, which in these times is not a lot when 
we consider families left behind, a parent or a spouse and children who 
will need to go to college and all the expenses related to it. These 
families who have lost a family member have a terrible void. All of us 
who have visited with them in our respective States or elsewhere have 
felt that void and have tried to the extent we could to let them know 
we share it with them. But, of course, it is uniquely and singularly 
theirs as they go through their life. Nothing can fill that void. But 
the least we can do is what we do in this bill--give them some sense of 
financial security as they go forward, with a kind of security in a 
much more fundamental sense that their loved one's service has given 
each and every American.

[[Page S3615]]

  Theodore Roosevelt once said:

       A man who was good enough to shed blood for his country is 
     good enough to be given a square deal afterward.

  Of course, in our time we say a man and a woman.
  T.R. was right, and the men and women who are shedding blood for our 
Nation today in the cause of liberty and doing so in a way that has 
fundamentally improved the security of the American people here at home 
should know their families will be taken care of no matter what happens 
to them.
  I can't think of a piece of legislation which I have been involved in 
my over 17 years in the Senate that I have felt better about. This is 
one of those occasions that doesn't get celebrated quite enough where 
we forget the party labels, Republican and Democrat, and act in a 
higher calling, which is our status as Americans which unites us all. I 
am glad to see we are about to put these reforms in place.
  We all recognize we have to keep faith with our service men and 
women. We have to give them a square deal. They are doing their duty to 
protect us, and it is our duty to protect their families, should they 
give their lives in defense of our liberty. That is what the provisions 
in the supplemental do. I am proud to have been a part of it. I am 
grateful to my colleagues for supporting it. I urge its adoption.
  I thank the Chair. I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Alabama is recognized.
  Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I associate myself with the comments of 
Senator Lieberman and say how he expressed my feelings about this 
important legislation. It has been a pleasure to work with him in a 
bipartisan way. He has demonstrated time and again his interest in 
matters of national defense and national security and his commitment to 
those who serve us. I, too, believe, as was discussed not too long ago 
at one of the hearings, there is a bond between the American people and 
those we send out to defend our interests in dangerous areas of the 
world. We as American people need to honor that bond.
  One of the commitments I think we must make as a people is to say to 
those who go in harm's way to execute the just policies of the United 
States that if something happens to you, we are going to try to take 
care of your family. That is one thing you don't need to worry about.
  I believe the HEROES bill, as we named it, honoring every requirement 
of exemplary service, is the legislation that moves us a long way in 
that regard. I couldn't be more excited. I thank the Appropriations 
Committee Chairman, Senator Cochran, and the ranking member, Senator 
Byrd, for their support of making this a part of the supplemental.
  We certainly have worked hard in trying to gain support from the 
military community and the Department of Defense which understands 
exactly how and what we should do to better support those who lose 
their lives in the service to their country. We did a number of things.
  Two years ago, as part of the Defense bill I asked that we put in 
language to study this. Senator Lieberman and I talked about it. And 
they put that language in. We have gotten some studies back. We began 
to figure and think about what we could do to make families more secure 
in the case of the loss of a loved one. Last year, they completed the 
study and we began to look at it. The President and the Secretary of 
Defense responded to our request promptly and, I believe, honestly and 
objectively.
  The Senate report that is before us today recommended increasing the 
death gratuity benefit from $12,420 to $100,000 for our service members 
who die on active duty in a combat theater, and then we amended the 
bill to include those who serve on active duty who lose their lives. It 
also allows, as I have proposed, for every member of the military to 
raise the level of coverage under the servicemen's group life insurance 
which is capped out at $250,000 to $400,000. I believe that is a more 
legitimate sum for a family suffering this kind of loss.
  Additionally, for those serving in the combat zone or a designated 
contingency, the Department of Defense will pay the member's premium 
for the first $150,000 of insurance to guarantee they are participants 
in that program.
  The report before us also makes these changes retroactive to cover 
those who lost their lives since the beginning of the global war on 
terrorism which began October 7, 2001. Families of our service members 
who have died since October 7, 2001, will receive a one-time cash 
payment of $238,000 which is a sum of the added coverage of life 
insurance, $150,000 more life insurance, coupled with proposed increase 
of the death gratuity of $88,000.
  Finally, the report will place language in the law to require service 
members to inform their spouses of the level of coverage that may be 
enacted.
  As I conclude my remarks, let me be clear on this issue. There is no 
amount of compensation that can replace the loss of a loved one. Not 
for a soldier, not for a police officer, not for a teacher, or a 
fireman. However, our military service members volunteer to leave their 
families and engage in a very difficult and dangerous campaign to 
defeat terrorists and secure peace and prosperity not only for America 
but for countless millions around the world. The training and 
operations conducted to ready them for combat are also dangerous and 
will also be included in the death gratuity section of the report. The 
enhancements of the death gratuity and SGLI outlined in this bill 
reflect the risks and dangers faced by our service men and women as 
they serve us around the world.

  The language stays true to what our President requested in the 
supplemental and what Senator Lieberman and I put in S. 77, the HEROES 
bill. This report and the death benefits enhancements offered are based 
on a sound analysis of this highly important and emotional issue. We 
can never do enough to thank these brave Americans. Each and every one 
of them who serves us in our military today is a national treasure.
  I am thankful and grateful that the Senate has included the HEROES 
provision in this report, and I look forward to voting on this bill and 
seeing it enacted into law.
  I note that not too many months ago I flew from Baghdad to Kuwait in 
a C-130 late at night, and there were two flag-draped coffins of 
soldiers who had given their lives in service to our country. 
Yesterday, I talked with the daughter, 25 years old, of Sergeant Major 
Banks. Her mother, a sergeant major in the Army, was one of the 
soldiers who died in the tragic helicopter crash in Afghanistan 
recently. I talked to her about her mother, and how much she admired 
her mother, and to think how she had risen through the ranks to become 
a sergeant major, growing up in a poor area of Alabama, African 
American, who inspired her daughter, Shante Banks, as she described her 
mother's influence on her life. She gave her life serving our country, 
as many have.
  I believe we have done the right thing here. I think it is going to 
be a good step forward. I have enjoyed the opportunity to work with 
Senator Lieberman as we have moved this legislation forward.
  I thank the President and yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Vitter). The Senator from South Dakota is 
recognized.
  Mr. THUNE. I thank the Senator from Alabama and the Senator from 
Connecticut for the great work they have done in recognizing the 
sacrifice of our men and women who are fighting for freedom's cause in 
Iraq and Afghanistan and other places around the world. This is 
important legislation. I am pleased to be able to support their efforts 
and to see it becomes a matter of law.
  (The remarks of Mr. Thune pertaining to the introduction of S.J. Res. 
12 are located in today's Record under ``Statements on Introduced Bills 
and Joint Resolutions.'')
  I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. CORZINE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. ENSIGN). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

[[Page S3616]]



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