[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 6]
[House]
[Page 7895]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   DEMOCRATS FIGHT TO PROTECT RETIREMENT BENEFITS OF MILITARY WIDOWS

  (Mr. RODRIGUEZ asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. RODRIGUEZ. Mr. Speaker, most Americans believe that our troops 
should be given the opportunity to provide the services that they are 
entitled to and as they battle we all recognize and we are extremely 
supportive of their efforts. But we also need to respect them when they 
come home. We know that the spouses also sacrifice. But this House has 
refused to keep the promise and provide the military retirees and their 
spouses with the retirement benefits that they earned in this country. 
Over 225,000 military spouses are currently paying the survivor benefit 
penalty and it eventually will be 1.2 million military retirees 
enrolled in this survivor benefit plan.
  Today we ask you to sign and we launched a discharge petition to 
force this House in a bipartisan way to reach out to end the survivor 
benefit penalty and change it so that our military individuals and 
spouses will be able to get that service that is needed.
  The survivors penalty hurts military widows. We need to do the right 
thing. Sign the discharge petition.

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