John Spratt: “I rise to support and to praise the chairman and the ranking member for their efforts in bringing this bill to fruition…”

“I rise to support and to praise the chairman and the ranking member for their efforts in bringing this bill to fruition this fall, rather than Christmas Eve, as was our experience last year. There may be some questions as to whether or not it is worth it, to have two committees process a bill of this magnitude, an authorization process and an appropriations process. But in addition to having a second scrub of a $462 billion bill, that double, two-part process also leads to some positive provisions from each mark. Let me just highlight a couple to show you some of the valuable features in this bill. A couple of years ago, we became concerned about the level of Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance. We increased the amount of coverage from $250,000 to $400,000. I offered an amendment to pay for the full premium for those troops that go into a combat zone and hazardous duty zones. That did not pass, but we did pass a provision that $150,000 of the increased coverage would be paid for. This bill takes it a step further, as it should. What we are saying in this bill is that the full $400,000 in life insurance coverage in the combat zone will be paid for in full when you enter the combat zone. This is the least we can do for those who put their lives on the line for our country.”