Courtney Praises Bipartisan Passage of Bill to Allow DOD to Pay Military Death Benefits

WASHINGTON—Today, Congressman Joe Courtney (CT-2) released the following statement after the House unanimously passed a bill to allow the Defense Department to deliver payments to families of fallen soldiers:

“While Washington is mired in this House Republican-led government shutdown, our nation’s military families should not be caught in the middle as they suffer the terrible loss of a loved one. This bill fixes an abominable consequence of the government shutdown, and it will hopefully provide some small measure of solace to families of our brave servicemen and women who make the ultimate sacrifice for this country. Even as the House acts on this issue today, I am grateful that President Obama has issued an order to resuming payment of these vital benefits to the families of our nation’s fallen.

“Although I am relieved that we have acted on this issue, the fact that families were ever caught in this position in the first place clearly demonstrates that attempting to fund the government through a piecemeal approach, as House Republicans want to do, is a terrible strategy. These narrow appropriations bills amount to picking winners and losers—not only within government, but among the American people. The best and only way to alleviate the impacts of the government shutdown is to end the government shutdown, by passing the Senate version of the CR that has been before us for more than a week.”