On the recordJuly 23, 2019
It has now been 6 legislative days since H.R. 553, the Military Surviving Spouses Equity Act, was denied a standalone vote. Democrat leadership subverted their own rules and prevented a vote on this bipartisan legislation, which now has 371 cosponsors, over 86 percent of the Members of the Congress. Under new rules in this Congress, H.R. 553 qualified for the Consensus Calendar, a provision for bills to receive a standalone vote. An article published in The Hill stated today: ``The new rule keeps top House leaders from squelching any bill that has at least 290 cosponsors, or two-thirds of the House membership.'' Sadly, the Democrats did just that. They targeted and removed H.R. 553 from the Consensus Calendar. Democrat leadership should bring this bill to the floor. The time is now to give these rightly deserved benefits to the surviving spouses of servicemembers and finally end the widow's tax. In conclusion, God bless our troops, and we will never forget September the 11th in the global war on terrorism. ____________________
