releases: 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
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
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| 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 | legacy | FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Ben Wakana, 202-295-7608 WASHINGTON, DC – 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. “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,” Shea-Porter wrote. “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.” Shea-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. Shea-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. Shea-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. Full text of Shea-Porter’s letter to Secretary Hagel can be found below. +++ October 8, 2013 The Honorable Chuck Hagel Secretary of Defense 1400 Pentagon Washington DC 20301-1400 Dear Secretary Hagel, As a member of the House Armed Services Committee’s Subcommittees on Readiness and Military Personnel, I am deeply concerned about the serious harm that the government shutdown is inflicting on our nation’s military personnel and readiness. 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. H.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. In the “Guidance for Implementation of Pay Our Military Act,” issued on October 5, 2013, you note that “the Act appropriated such sums as are necessary to provide pay and allowances to members of the Armed Forces, ‘including reserve components thereof, who perform active service’” during the shutdown. 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. 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. Therefore, I urge you to take the broadest possible interpretation when executing this law. Military families provide essential support to service members, and they are essential to accomplishing the defense mission. If military families across the Department see that promised death gratuities are not paid when a loved one has died—exactly when a family needs support the most—and they feel discarded by the Department of Defense, this is a recipe for recruitment and retention problems that will damage future force readiness. The need for force readiness to be maintained is critical, both now and in the future. I know we both agree that it’s vital to take care of the families of our service members. Thank you for your consideration of this request, and I look forward to your response. ### | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |