Reintroduction of the Respect for Grieving Military Families Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. GARAMENDI. Mr. Speaker, today I reintroduce the ``Respect for Grieving Military Families Act,'' with U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX). I thank U.S. Representatives Mike Turner (R-OH), Mark Amodei (R-NV), Marilyn Strickland (D-WA), and Don Bacon (R-NE) and U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) for their support as the original cosponsors in the House and Senate.

My friend, the late Congressman Walter B. Jones, Jr. (R-NC), sponsored this legislation by another title, the ``Military Retiree Survivor Comfort Act,'' every Congress since 2002 until his death in February 2019. I am honored to reintroduce this bicameral, bipartisan legislation to protect military families from completely avoidable bank overdrafts following a veteran's death.

The ``Respect for Grieving Military Families Act'' would allow the spouse or other designated beneficiary to retain the full retirement benefit paid out in the final month coinciding with the veteran's death. Under current Department of Defense policy, that final month's retirement benefit may be clawed back on a prorated basis if the family fails to immediately notify the Defense Finance and Accounting Services (DFAS) of their veteran's death.

Military families with joint bank accounts, into which retirement payments are deposited electronically, are often unaware that DFAS can withdraw payments without the accountholder's consent. This results in joint bank accounts being drained of funds, often subjecting veterans' families to overdraft fees and avoidable financial hardship during an already emotionally challenging time following a veteran's death.

The ``Respect for Grieving Military Families Act'' would finally end this needless and callous DFAS practice for any retirement benefit received in the month a veteran was alive for at least 24 hours. Military families grieving the loss of their loved one should not be penalized for an accounting oversight by the Department of Defense.

As Ranking Member of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness, I continue to make the ``Respect for Grieving Military Families Act'' a priority for the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). I look forward to working with Senator Cornyn, who assumed sponsorship of the bill this Congress from former U.S. Senator Rob Portman (R-OH).

Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members of the House to join Representatives Mike Turner (R-OH), Mark Amodei (R-NV), Marilyn Strickland (D-WA), Don Bacon (R-NE) and me in cosponsoring this commonsense bill to provide military families the respect and dignity they deserve while following the loss of a loved one. Our Nation owes them that.

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