[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 15490]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             DEATH BENEFITS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Barletta) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BARLETTA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a fallen soldier 
from my district, and I urge the passage of a bill later today to 
ensure that death benefits still flow to the families of our military 
heroes despite the government shutdown.
  Army Ranger Sergeant Patrick C. Hawkins, from Carlisle, Pennsylvania, 
was killed this past Sunday by an IED.
  Sergeant Hawkins was on his fourth tour in Afghanistan and was 
serving as a rifleman, a gun team leader, and a Ranger team leader when 
he was killed. Fittingly, he was tending to another wounded Ranger when 
he was killed. Sergeant Hawkins was clearly following part of the Army 
Ranger creed, which says:

       I will never leave a fallen comrade.

  Mr. Speaker, we should take that advice as well here in this body and 
not leave behind Sergeant Hawkins' wife, Brittanie, of Lansing, Kansas, 
or his parents, Roy and Sheila Hawkins, of Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
  Here in the House, we thought we had taken care of this problem by 
passing our Pay Our Military Act soon after the shutdown occurred; but, 
apparently, the Pentagon wants to have more explicit guidance on their 
ability to provide the death benefits to military families. So let it 
be said loudly and clearly here in the House of Representatives: we 
will never leave a fallen comrade.
  I urge my colleagues to pass the bill to make sure that the $100,000 
gratuity is paid to cover final costs for Sergeant Hawkins and for all 
of our other brave men and women in service and that loved ones left 
behind receive what they are entitled to. I hope that the Senate 
follows suit and that the President signs it into law so that there is 
no further delay.
  May God bless Sergeant Patrick C. Hawkins and all others like him who 
defend our freedoms every day.

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