[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 140 (Wednesday, October 9, 2013)]
[House]
[Pages H6423-H6424]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              OBAMA REFUSES TO PAY MILITARY DEATH BENEFITS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Alabama (Mr. Brooks) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BROOKS of Alabama. Mr. Speaker, I am gravely disappointed at the 
lengths the White House has gone in order to manipulate American lives 
as they seek to coerce America's elected House of Representatives into 
spending money America does not have on a dysfunctional, socialized 
medicine program that does not work, that threatens American lives, and 
that a majority of Americans do not want.
  Congress and the White House agree on, roughly, 99 percent of Federal 
Government spending. We should fund that 99 percent, reopen the Federal 
Government, and debate our disagreements on the remaining 1 percent, 
but the White House and Senate refuse to do that. Instead, President 
Obama, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and their Democrat allies 
force a Federal Government shutdown. They hold 99 percent of the 
Federal Government hostage to support their all-or-nothing demands.
  The lengths the Democrats and the White House will go in order to 
manipulate American lives and public opinion is most disheartening.
  The Obama administration ordered the closings of all Washington, 
D.C., monuments, thereby denying World War II veterans access to their 
memorial. Never mind that, in the history of all Federal Government 
shutdowns, no President has ever ordered and spent taxpayer money to 
barricade and close Washington's open-air memorials.
  The Obama administration disregarded the Pay Our Military Act and 
illegally ordered furloughs of, roughly, 400,000 Department of Defense 
civilian personnel for a week, thereby disrupting their lives and, more 
importantly, jeopardizing America's national security. The Obama 
administration followed that up with illegally ordering furloughs for 
who-knows-how-many

[[Page H6424]]

thousands of defense contractors and their employees.
  Never mind that, in doing so, the Obama administration violated the 
Pay Our Military Act that President Obama, himself, signed--an act that 
fully funds all defense workers and contractors who ``are providing 
support to members of the Armed Forces,'' which, by the way, is all of 
them.
  Yesterday, America woke up to yet another political manipulation by 
the Obama administration. America's Commander in Chief denied death 
gratuities to the families of four soldiers and a marine who were 
killed in Afghanistan. Adding insult to injury, America's Commander in 
Chief refuses to pay the cost of the burial expenses of our men and 
women in uniform who have given their lives for their country.
  Mr. Speaker, this is an outrage. It must not stand.
  The Obama administration claims:

       As a result of the shutdown, we do not have the legal 
     authority to make death gratuity payments at this time.

  I respectfully disagree.
  The Pay Our Military Act expressly states:

       There are hereby appropriated sums for fiscal year 2014, 
     such sums as are necessary to provide pay and allowances to 
     members of the Armed Forces.

  Death benefits and burial expenses are part of our military's 
compensation package, a part of the ``pay and allowances'' the Pay Our 
Military Act says the Obama administration must pay. Congress should 
not have to pass yet another bill today to force the President to do 
what the law already says he should do.
  Instead of punishing America's military by illegally furloughing 
defense workers and contractors, instead of dishonoring our World War 
II veterans, our Korean war veterans, our Vietnam veterans by spending 
taxpayer money to barricade their memorials and by denying them access 
to their memorials, I yearn for a Commander in Chief who supports our 
veterans and our men and women in uniform rather than using them as 
pawns to be sacrificed in partisan, political games. I cannot help but 
think of the contrast between our current Commander in Chief and our 
first one.
  During the Revolutionary War, George Washington lived with his 
troops, fought with his troops, and sacrificed for his troops. When the 
Continental Army was faced with hardship, inadequate food and clothing, 
George Washington reached into his own pocket and sacrificed his wealth 
to help the men who fought under his command.
  Mr. Speaker, I pray our current Commander in Chief will study and 
understand the graciousness, the leadership, and the sacrifices of 
George Washington as he makes decisions on whether to treat our 
veterans, our troops, and our defense workers with the respect they 
have earned and deserve.

                          ____________________