{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://web.archive.org/web/20140912212446/http://shea-porter.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/shea-porter-letter-to-pentagon-grant-fallen-service-members-death", "Shea-Porter Letter to Pentagon: Grant Fallen Service Members Death Benefits", "2013-10-08", "2013", "2013-10", "Democrat", "House", "NH", "Carol Shea-Porter", "S001170", "web.archive.org", null, null, "legacy", "FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE\nContact: Ben Wakana, 202-295-7608\n\u00a0\nWASHINGTON, DC \u2013 Due to the federal government shutdown, the Pentagon is currently withholding the death gratuity benefit, a $100,000 payment normally sent to relatives of fallen soldiers to help family members cover funeral costs and travel to meet the coffins of their loved ones. After learning of this news, Congresswoman Carol Shea-Porter (NH-01), a member of the House Armed Services Committee, sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel requesting that the families of service members who died in combat or otherwise be granted the death gratuity during the shutdown.\n\u201cMilitary members who die while serving our country are certainly entitled to all the benefits, including the death gratuity and other death benefits that they were promised when they enlisted,\u201d Shea-Porter wrote. \u201cPayment of these benefits is crucial to maintaining the morale, well-being, and the current and future readiness of our Armed Forces and our military families.\u201d\u00a0\nShea-Porter noted that under the Pay Our Military Act, which passed the House and Senate unanimously and was signed into law on September 30, 2013, the Department of Defense is given considerable discretion to make determinations with regard to personnel pay and allowances. She urged the Department of Defense to take the broadest possible interpretation when executing this law.\nShea-Porter has always been committed to helping veterans and their families receive their promised benefits and be given the utmost respect for their service. In the 111th Congress, Shea-Porter introduced the Combat Veterans Debt Elimination Act (H. R. 5155), which prohibits the government from collecting debts from the families of soldiers who, since 9/11, have been killed in combat or died from their injuries. Her bill was included in the Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2008 and was signed into law on June 30, 2008.\nShea-Porter is also a cosponsor of the Fallen Heroes and Families Assistance Act, legislation that would explicitly authorize the Pentagon to pay survivor benefits despite the government shutdown.\nFull text of Shea-Porter\u2019s letter to Secretary Hagel can be found below.\n\u00a0\n+++\nOctober 8, 2013\nThe Honorable Chuck Hagel  \n\tSecretary of Defense  \n\t1400 Pentagon  \n\tWashington DC 20301-1400\n\u00a0\nDear Secretary Hagel,\nAs a member of the House Armed Services Committee\u2019s Subcommittees on Readiness and Military Personnel, I am deeply concerned about the serious harm that the government shutdown is inflicting on our nation\u2019s military personnel and readiness.\u00a0 I am writing to request that the families of service members who died in combat or otherwise, be granted the death gratuity during the shutdown.\nH.R. 3210, the Pay Our Military Act, which passed the House and Senate unanimously, and was signed into law on September 30, 2013, gives you considerable discretion to make determinations with regard to personnel pay and allowances.\u00a0 In the \u201cGuidance for Implementation of Pay Our Military Act,\u201d issued on October 5, 2013, you note that \u201cthe Act appropriated such sums as are necessary to provide pay and allowances to members of the Armed Forces, \u2018including reserve components thereof, who perform active service\u2019\u201d during the shutdown.\u00a0 Military members who die while serving our country are certainly entitled to all the benefits, including the death gratuity and other death benefits that they were promised when they enlisted.\u00a0 Payment of these benefits is crucial to maintaining the morale, well-being, and the current and future readiness of our Armed Forces and our military families.\u00a0 Therefore, I urge you to take the broadest possible interpretation when executing this law.\nMilitary families provide essential support to service members, and they are essential to accomplishing the defense mission.\u00a0 If military families across the Department see that promised death gratuities are not paid when a loved one has died\u2014exactly when a family needs support the most\u2014and they feel discarded by the Department of Defense, this is a recipe for recruitment and retention problems that will damage future force readiness.\u00a0 The need for force readiness to be maintained is critical, both now and in the future.\u00a0\nI know we both agree that it\u2019s vital to take care of the families of our service members.\u00a0 Thank you for your consideration of this request, and I look forward to your response.\n\u00a0\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "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://web.archive.org/web/20140912212446/http://shea-porter.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/shea-porter-letter-to-pentagon-grant-fallen-service-members-death"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.3947191182523966, "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"}