National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017

Floor Speech

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Ms. KAPTUR. I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Chairman, the amendment I offer today, in cooperation with the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Jones) requires a report simply from the Secretary of Defense, detailing the quantity, composition, and lost income of survivors currently affected by the Dependency and Indemnity Compensation offset to the Survivor Benefit Program.

It continues this body's crucial, bipartisan effort to find a feasible solution for the disgraceful way we shortchange and penalize our military widows and widowers.

This mandatory offset hurts those who have already given more to freedom than most of us ever will, the life of a spouse.

It hurts women like the Army Sergeant First Class who recently contacted me. She is an Afghan veteran herself, mother of three. Tragically, she also is a Gold Star Wife due to the death of her husband in Iraq in 2004. As a young widow of a servicemember who died as a result of his service, she is not eligible to receive the full amount of her benefits, making the burden of living without her spouse that much more difficult at a time of enormous adjustment for their family. What's more, if she were a Federal civil service survivor, she could receive both benefits.

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Ms. KAPTUR. If she were a civil service survivor, she could receive both benefits; and if she were over the age of 37, she could receive both benefits. Her husband gave his life for liberty. She is a veteran, too. We must honor their sacrifice as we honor the sacrifice of any other American who dies in service to our Nation, and find a way to fix this awkward offset.

This report will help us better define the situation so we can find just solutions. I urge my colleagues to support this amendment.

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