ROCKEFELLER ANNOUNCES IMPROVED BENEFITS FOR VETERANS, NATIONAL GUARD, AND RESERVES 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) today supported an $80 billion emergency supplemental appropriations bill that will give our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan the resources and equipment they need and at the same time improves benefits for troops.

“Two years after the invasion of Iraq, we remain a nation at war with enormous challenges,” said Rockefeller.  “First and foremost, we must ensure that our troops in the field have the equipment and resources so that they can fulfill their mission. At the same time, we must address the demands on our citizen soldiers by giving them equal pay.

“This legislation also attempts to provide family members who have lost a loved one with some meaningful contribution as they put their lives together.”

The bill will:  

·        Increase the military death gratuity to $100,000 for families of soldiers who die while on active duty.  

·        Allow military families to stay in military housing for a full year after the death of a spouse. Currently, survivors of those killed in action must move out of military housing within 180 days.

·        Provide $213 million for the purchase of Up-Armored Humvees.

·        Ensure that federal employees in the National Guard and Reserves are paid the equivalent of their full civilian salary when they are called to active military duty.

·        Provide free meals in military hospitals for service members wounded in Iraq or Afghanistan who are undergoing medical recuperation or therapy.

Rockefeller also supported other veterans amendments that either were not accepted or were blocked by Senate Republicans, including a $2 billion funding increase for veterans health care.

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