On the recordOctober 9, 2013
I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise, first of all, to thank Mr. Frelinghuysen for bringing this legislation to the floor. I want to thank Chairman Young of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee and the subcommittee members for their work, and I certainly support the gentleman's legislation. Unfortunately, the Department of Defense had to report that since October 1 of this year, 17 servicemembers have perished whose survivors would be entitled to a death gratuity payment. So the gentleman's legislation is correct in that it is timely, and it should pass. The only other observation I would make at the beginning of the debate is the House passed the Pay Our Troops Act, H.R. 3210. I would hope that none of our colleagues are under the misimpression that we have solved all of our problems relative to our national defense because, in a comprehensive fashion, essentially, it deals with about 40 percent of the Department's budget. The problem that Mr. Frelinghuysen is attempting to address today is but a slice of that 60 percent that, unfortunately, the Government of the United States has not dealt with since the beginning of the fiscal year. But, again, I strongly support and thank the gentleman for his efforts. I reserve the balance of my time.
