[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 18]
[House]
[Pages 24494-24495]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  H.R. 3478: AMEND THE INTERNAL REVENUE CODE TO PERMIT MILITARY DEATH 
       GRATUITY TO BE CONTRIBUTED TO CERTAIN TAX-FAVORED ACCOUNTS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Jones) is recognized for 5 minutes.

[[Page 24495]]


  Mr. JONES of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, our men and women in 
uniform serve this Nation with great honor and distinction. Many give 
their lives for this country. It is for this reason I have introduced 
H.R. 3478, a bill to permit military families who receive the death 
gratuity to invest the full amount into certain tax-favored accounts.
  Mr. Speaker, as the Members may know, a death gratuity is a $100,000 
payment paid to survivors of servicemembers whose death resulted from 
combat-related circumstances. Current tax law limits the amount that 
recipients of the death gratuity can place in tax-preferred accounts 
such as Roth, IRA, Health Savings Accounts, Archer Medical Savings or 
Coverdell Education Savings Accounts. This legislation would change 
that to allow recipients to contribute up to the full amount of the 
gratuity payment to any one of those accounts.
  Mr. Speaker, as the families of our fallen heroes try to put their 
lives back together, they need all the help they can get. They should 
not have to worry about saving the death gratuity to pay for health 
care, college, or other expenses and then have the government come in 
and tax the interest on that savings. This bill would help to ensure 
that that does not happen.
  The need for this legislation, Mr. Speaker, was brought to my 
attention by Captain Michael Ceres, a constituent stationed at Marine 
Corps Air Station New River. Captain Ceres, who just returned from 
Operation Iraqi Freedom, contacted my office and suggested that 
Congress institute this change to ease the burden on grieving military 
families.
  Mr. Speaker, I am able to report that the Joint Committee on Taxation 
has scored this legislation at no cost, meaning that the actual cost of 
this proposal is less than $500,000 over 9 years.
  We owe it to our fallen military heroes to expand the options of 
families who receive the death gratuity, families who have paid the 
ultimate cost with the loss of their loved one.
  H.R. 3478 has also received the endorsement of The Military 
Coalition, a consortium of prominent national military and veterans 
organizations that represent more than 5.5 million members plus their 
families.
  Mr. Speaker, 36 organizations support H.R. 3478. Let me just name a 
few: the Air Force Association, AMVETS, Association of the United 
States Army, Marine Corps Reserve Association, National Guard 
Association of the United States, Naval Reserve Association, United 
Armed Forces Association, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and many others.
  And, Mr. Speaker, let me also say that we have bipartisan support for 
this legislation already, and I will insert into the Record those 
groups that do support this legislation.

                                       The Military Coalition,

                                 Alexandria, VA, October 26, 2005.
     Hon. Walter Jones, Jr.,
     House of Representatives,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Representative Jones:  The Military Coalition (TMC), a 
     consortium of nationally prominent military and veterans 
     organizations, representing more than 5.5 million members 
     plus their families and survivors, is writing to express our 
     strongest support for H.R. 3478. This bill would allow 
     military survivors additional savings options for the 
     increased death gratuity amounts first authorized in the 
     FY2005 Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act and expected 
     to be permanently authorized in the FY2006 National Defense 
     Authorization Act.
       The new $100,000 death gratuity provides greatly improved 
     compensation for the military survivors and their families. 
     H.R. 3478's provision to allow survivors to invest death 
     gratuity lump sums in Roth IRAs and certain other savings 
     accounts is a logical extension of efforts to increase 
     protections and benefits for military widows and their 
     families.
       The Military Coalition thanks you for introducing this 
     legislation and for your leadership on issues affecting all 
     servicemembers and their families. We pledge our strong 
     support in seeking enactment of this important legislation.
           Sincerely,
       The Military Coalition:
     Air Force Association.
     Air Force Sergeants Association.
     Air Force Women Officers Associated.
     American Logistics Association.
     AMVETS.
     Army Aviation Association of America.
     Association of Military Surgeons of the United States.
     Association of the United States Army.
     Chief Warrant Officer and Warrant Officer Association of the 
         United States Coast Guard.
     Commissioned Officers Association of the United States Public 
         Health Service Inc.
     Enlisted Association of the National Guard of the United 
         States.
     Fleet Reserve Association.
     Gold Star Wives of America.
     Jewish War Veterans of the United States of America.
     Marine Corps League.
     Marine Corps Reserve Association.
     Military Chaplains Association of the United States of 
         America.
     Military Officers Association of America.
     Military Order of the Purple Heart.
     National Association for Uniformed Services.
     National Guard Association of the United States.
     National Military Family Association.
     National Order of Battlefield Commissions.
     Naval Enlisted Reserve Association.
     Naval Reserve Association.
     Navy League of the United States.
     Non Commissioned Officers Association.
     Reserve Enlisted Association.
     Reserve Officers Association.
     The Retired Enlisted Association.
     Society of Medical Consultants to the Armed Forces.
     United Armed Forces Association.
     United States Army Warrant Officers Association.
     USCG Chief Petty Officers Association.
     Veterans of Foreign Wars.
     Veterans' Widows International Network.

  Mr. JONES of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, in this letter from the 
Coalition, they wrote: ``The new $100,000 death gratuity provides 
greatly improved compensation for the military survivors and their 
families. H.R. 3478's provision to allow survivors to invest death 
gratuity lump sums in Roth IRAs and certain other savings accounts is a 
logical extension of efforts to increase protection and benefits for 
military widows and their families.
  ``We pledge our strong support in seeking enactment of this important 
legislation.''
  Mr. Speaker, today, I call upon my colleagues to support H.R. 3478 to 
expand the options of our military families whose loved ones have given 
their lives in the name of freedom and in the defense of our Nation.
  Mr. Speaker, I close by asking God to please bless our men and women 
in uniform, I ask God to please bless the families of our men and women 
in uniform who have lost ones, and I ask God to please bless America.

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