Support Military Surviving Spouses Equity Act

MQ over at Word Well has info on supporting a bill for better survivor benefits to military widows. I think this is a good idea and desreve support.

Please take five minutes of your time to cut and paste this letter into Word to support the families who lost their soldier in Iraq or Afghanistan. Go to http://www.house.gov/ to locate your local rep. Put in your zip code. It will find your rep and you can click on the name to his/her webpage where you can get their address.

Please take the time to help those who have lost their spouse make ends meet.

Here's the letter, tailor it if you want:

Over the past three years, members of Congress have made statements of support for our troops and their families. Now is the time for action!

Since the start of hostilities in 2003, over 2400 of our servicemen and women have been killed in action in Iraq and Afghanistan, this represents over 2400 families that have been left grieving and wondering what the future holds for them.

Many of these families are now living below the poverty level on limited income they are receiving from the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Department of Veteran’s Administration (VA).

The monthly payment from the Department of Defense is called the Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP), while the monthly payment from the Department of Veteran’s Affairs is called Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC).

For every dollar of DIC the families receives, a dollar of SBP opportunity is stolen from their futures and their children’s futures. The families of our servicemen and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice deserve better. These families deserve both DIC and SBP for their sacrifices and losses in support of our government and the American way of life.

I strongly encourage you to support these fallen hero’s families and vote in favor of House Bill 808 (H.R. 808), sign on as a sponsor, and demand that the offset of SBP by DIC be eliminated, when House Bill 808 is reconciled with Senate Bill S.185.

Sincerely,
Your Name and Address