Tom Latham: “Many servicemembers who are single parents rely upon grandparents or other caretakers to care for their children while…”

“Many servicemembers who are single parents rely upon grandparents or other caretakers to care for their children while they are deployed. If the servicemember is tragically killed in action, these caretakers are left without access to the death gratuity payment to help raise the servicemember's children. I am grateful that the House and Senate Armed Services Committees have addressed this issue, including in the 2008 defense authorization bill provisions allowing servicemembers to begin designating caretakers as recipients of all or part of the death gratuity as we go forward. However, it is important that we also consider those families that have already been affected by the situation, which is the purpose of this resolution today. There have been as many as 143 recent cases where minor children were the recipients of the death gratuity which they cannot access until reaching the age of 18.”