FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 14, 2001
CONTACT: Lisette McSoud Mondello
SENATOR HUTCHISON INTRODUCES BILL TO HELP MILITARY FAMILIES
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Senators Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) and Daniel K. Inouye (D-Hawaii) have introduced legislation that would permit the military to posthumously retire active duty members of the armed forces who are killed in the line of duty, to allow their families to receive survivor benefits.
"In the past five years, 2,206 military families lost a loved one who was serving our country," Senator Hutchison said. "In just the past year, we have mourned the loss of sailors on the U.S.S. Cole, Air Force pilots who died in Scotland, and service members who died in helicopter crashes in Hawaii and Vietnam. Because members of the armed forces are not vested in their retirement system until the day they retire, their families do not receive full retirement pensions because the service member died before he or she reached full retirement."
The senator said such a vesting requirement creates a hardship for families, who are denied benefits they would have received had their loved one been ‘retired' before death. She said it also places a heavy burden on military personnel. "An Army nurse in Kosovo told me medical personnel there would perform manual CPR for two hours to keep mortally wounded patients alive, solely to buy enough time to push through retirement paperwork in order to help their families," Senator Hutchison said.
The Active Duty Survivor Benefit Plan Bill has been endorsed by General Henry H. Shelton, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who wrote to Senator Hutchison, "I enthusiastically support your bill without hesitation." The bill has also been endorsed by the 31 organizations comprising the Military Coalition, such as The Retired Officers Association, The National Military Family Association, The American Legion and the Non Commissioned Officers Association.
The legislation also would allow the services to ensure the family is given the best choice of benefits based on their individual situation.
"The training and operations of our armed forces are inherently dangerous," Senator Hutchison said. "If we are going to maintain and recruit a quality force, we must reassure those who serve that we are going to provide for their family."
Senator Hutchison is a member of the Appropriations Committee, and is the ranking Republican on its military construction subcommittee. Senator Inouye, a Congressional Medal of Honor winner, also serves on the Appropriations Committee, and is chairman of the defense subcommittee.
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