Lynn C. Woolsey: “Yesterday the 352nd and 353rd American servicemembers were killed since the start of the war in Iraq. That means almost…”

“Yesterday the 352nd and 353rd American servicemembers were killed since the start of the war in Iraq. That means almost twice as many soldiers have died since the President declared an end to major fighting operations than during the 2 months of actual war. Something is drastically wrong here. We are not adequately showing our gratitude to those who have sacrificed for us. As a result, 353 of our soldiers have lost their lives, which speaks to the administration's haphazard planning for the postconflict phase in Iraq, costing those 353 Americans their lives and thousands who have been wounded. We must support our brave men and women stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan, and we must also make a commitment to support the widows and widowers of those soldiers who are killed halfway around the world. And we can do that by passing H.R. 3365, doubling the amount paid to survivors of service men and women killed on the battlefield from $6,000 to $12,000, at the same time making this benefit completely tax free. After all, taxing families of patriots does not seem very patriotic to me.”