[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 15412]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                MILITARY FAMILY BENEFITS DURING SHUTDOWN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
North Carolina (Mrs. Ellmers) for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. ELLMERS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to share with this body and 
the American people a great injustice. A few moments ago, one of my 
colleagues from Texas, from across the aisle, spoke of this as well. So 
as you can see, there are many times that we all can come together and 
agree upon certain items and move the American people forward in a 
better way; however, this particular situation is unthinkable.
  A great injustice is being done to our servicemembers and their 
families. We learned last night that five brave American servicemembers 
were killed over the weekend in Afghanistan while selflessly protecting 
our country. Normally, Mr. Speaker, the loved ones of these fallen 
warriors receive assistance in the form of benefits to help them make 
those final arrangements for burial and other necessary preparations. 
Yet, as a direct result of the political gridlock here in Washington 
and despite legislation passed in this House last week with great 
bipartisan support, servicemembers and their families are no longer 
receiving their benefits.
  Mr. Speaker, despite the government shutdown, our servicemembers are 
still expected to go to war, knowing full well that they may pay the 
ultimate sacrifice for this great Nation, and we should be expected to 
keep our promises to their family members. I am working, as we speak, 
to right this wrong, and I urge all of my colleagues to do the same.

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