{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://turner.house.gov/2021/3/rep-turner-joins-rep-garamendi-to-reintroduce-bill-to-protect-military", "Rep. Turner Joins Rep. Garamendi to Reintroduce Bill to Protect Military Families from Bank Overdrafts Following a Veteran\u2019s Death", "2021-03-26", "2021", "2021-03", "Republican", "House", "OH", "Michael R. Turner", "T000463", "turner.house.gov", "turner", "https://turner.house.gov/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON DC\u2014Today, Congressmen John Garamendi (D-CA) and Mike Turner (R-OH) reintroduced the \u201cMilitary Retiree Survivor Comfort Act\u201d. This bipartisan legislation would prohibit the Defense Finance and Accounting Services (DFAS) from clawing back the final retirement benefit paid to a veteran the month that they pass.\n\nCongressman Turner, a senior Republican member of the House Armed Services Committee, stated:\n\n\u201cUnder the Department of Defense\u2019s current policy, the final month\u2019s retirement benefit of a deceased veteran may be refunded if the family fails to immediately notify the DoD of their loved one\u2019s passing. Military families in grieving should not be punished under heartless and unnecessary penalties,\u201d said Turner. \u201cCongressman Garamendi and I introduced The Military Retiree Survivor Comfort Act to fix this misguided policy. Military families deserve our respect, and our bipartisan bill will help these families avoid undue hardship during what is already a difficult time.\u201d\n\nThe Department of Defense policy currently dictates that the final month\u2019s retirement benefit of a military member can be clawed back on a prorated basis if the family of the deceased fails to notify the Department of Defense of the veteran\u2019s death.\n\nMilitary families with joint bank accounts, who often have retirement benefits deposited electronically, are often unaware that the DoD\u2019s DFAS can claw back overpayments without their consent. This results in joint bank accounts being drained of funds and subject to overdraft fees, all while the family is still grieving from their loved one\u2019s death.\n\nCongressmen Garamendi (D-CA) is Chairman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness, which oversees issues pertaining to the U.S. military and service members.\n\nRep. Turner cosponsored this legislation in 2019.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T19:33:37Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://turner.house.gov/2021/3/rep-turner-joins-rep-garamendi-to-reintroduce-bill-to-protect-military"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.0052111465483904, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}