Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer (OR-05) has cosponsored bipartisan legislation that would adjust monthly benefits for family members and survivors of veterans who lost their lives in service to the United States. The Caring for Survivors Act would amend Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) — the rate of compensation paid to survivors of service members who die in the line of duty or veterans who die from service-related injuries — to bring parity to payments for DIC recipients, which currently lag behind other federal program payments by nearly 12 percent. DIC payments have been minimally adjusted since its establishment in 1993.
“The Caring for Survivors Act is long overdue legislation that will provide much-needed financial relief to surviving military spouses and their families. As a nation, we owe it to our fallen service members to take good care of their loved ones, and this bill will ensure they can maintain their standard of living more comfortably. I’m honored to support this bipartisan legislation and am hopeful that not one more year will go by before we bring some commonsense parity to DIC recipients,” Chavez-DeRemer said.
Under current law, DIC restricts benefits for survivors if the veteran was disabled for less than ten years before his or her death. In addition to increasing the rate of compensation, the Caring for Survivors Act would reduce the timeframe a veteran needs to be considered totally disabled from ten to five years — broadening eligibility to more survivors.
The proposal is being led in the U.S. House of Representatives by Reps. Jahana Hayes (CT-05) and Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-01) and in the U.S. Senate by Sens. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and John Boozman (R-Ark.).
Full text of the bill is available HERE.
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