[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 11]
[House]
[Pages 15497-15498]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




            GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN STOPS MILITARY DEATH BENEFIT

  (Ms. CASTOR of Florida asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. CASTOR of Florida. Mr. Speaker, one of the harsh impacts of the 
Republican government shutdown is the fact that military families of 
our fallen heroes will no longer receive survivor benefits. They have 
been suspended.
  Meanwhile, on Sunday, 8,000 miles away in Afghanistan, four Army 
Rangers were killed and 30 others were wounded by a suicide bomber and 
an IED. That's why I urge the approval today of legislation on the 
floor to provide the death benefits to our fallen soldiers.

[[Page 15498]]

  But I'd also like to salute a Tampa, Florida, foundation, the Special 
Operations Warrior Foundation, that has stepped forward to fill the 
void and will provide four very generous grants to the families of our 
brave soldiers killed in action.
  They typically provide scholarships and financial aid and counseling 
to the families of Special Operations soldiers, and I'd like to thank 
them: Retired Air Force Major Steve McLeary, Retired General Doug 
Brown, Retired Vice Admiral Joe Maguire, Melinda Scofield and Dahlia 
Munoz, and the entire board of directors, and the greater community of 
the Tampa Bay area that supports Special Operations Command and all of 
our brave heroes.

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