Sharri Briley and Eric Edmundson Veterans Benefits Expansion Act of 2026
Floor Speech
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Mrs. HAYES. Mr. Speaker, today, I rise to oppose H.R. 6047.
For years, I have worked with Gold Star families to address the overdue need to increase benefits for surviving spouses of servicemembers and veterans who have given their lives in service to the United States of America.
This bill does not go far enough. The rate for dependency and indemnity compensation, or DIC, has been minimally adjusted since the Department of Veterans Affairs established the benefit in 1993.
The current DIC rate is lower and has more stringent rules than other Federal survivor programs. H.R. 6047 falls short of modernizing this program.
My bipartisan Caring for Survivors Act increases benefits and broadens eligibility in a comprehensive way to ensure families receive the financial compensation and support they deserve.
First, my bill would raise DIC benefits by more than $450 per month per recipient, compared to the nominal $16 being proposed in H.R. 6047. My Caring for Survivors Act would increase DIC benefit payments by 25 percent. The bill we are debating today would only have a 1-percent increase in the first year and cap out at 5 percent overall. Second, my bill also reduces the timeframe a veteran must be disabled to qualify for DIC benefits from 10 years to 5 years.
Together, these provisions would help surviving spouses who depend on DIC benefits to cover their basic expenses and make ends meet.
Supporting our veterans and military families is an intentional choice that we have the ability to make. Updating DIC benefits for the first time in decades would be an incredible show of support for surviving family members of our veterans who died in the line of service.
Generally, I wouldn't oppose legislation that I care so deeply about and have attempted to address for so many years, but as we have heard, this bill pays for that minimal 5-percent increase by taking money from veteran housing loans. That is a problem that also needs to be addressed.
I agree that veterans should be a priority. Why are we providing only a 5-percent increase instead of the 25 percent they deserve?
While I oppose H.R. 6047, I look forward to working with my colleagues to modernize DIC benefits, advance the Caring for Survivors Act to the floor, and have eventual passage so that veterans and their surviving families can get the benefits that they have earned.
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