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Senators seek rise in death payments
By Stephen Dinan
THE WASHINGTON TIMES

Several senators are proposing increasing the amount of money paid to the family of a military service member who dies in combat, raising the issue of what a grateful nation owes those who have given their lives in the service of their country.

Sen. Jeff Sessions, Alabama Republican, and Sen. Joe Lieberman, Connecticut Democrat, are sponsoring a bill to increase the instant death gratuity payment for troops killed in combat zones from $12,420 to $100,000. The bill also calls for raising the payout from the Serviceman's Group Life Insurance (SGLI) to $400,000 from the current $250,000.

Virginia Republican Sen. George Allen has a proposal of his own simply to raise the death gratuity to $100,000, and several other senators have said they are interested in other bills to help families of troops killed while serving. The Sessions-Lieberman bill will be introduced when Congress reconvenes after the presidential inauguration.

[Read the rest here.]

Note: Please read the Washington Times article in addition to  the other news articles I've linked to, not instead of. It contains some good information I hadn't seen anywhere else, including the fact that some doofus is pushing an alternate bill that would not include the SGLI increase, but it leaves out some information it could have included, like the name of the HEROES Act and the name of the Congressman who's sponsoring it in the house. It's also the first news item I've seen that says the Bush administration opposed the last increase in the death benefit, from $6,000 to $12,400, and the first one to point out that the HEROES Act would only increase the benefit for combat deaths, one of a number of things I think should be changed. (I'll try to get a list together soon of ways I think the HEROES Act could be improved. Please feel free to use my comments section to pass on your thoughts on the matter.)

Posted by Bill Faith on January 17, 2005 at 06:30 AM in Brianna | Permalink

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