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The Senate approved an amendment from Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., that rejects Bush administration plans to establish a two-tiered military death gratuity and to limit retroactive payment of $238,000 in enhanced death benefits only to families of members who die in combat assignments. The Kerry amendment, approved by voice vote April 13, would allow higher retroactive death payments for an additional 3,000 families, those who lost loved ones to noncombat-related accidents or illnesses since Oct. 7, 2001, the start of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. The death benefit initiatives are part of the fiscal 2005 wartime emergency supplemental appropriations bill...

WASHINGTON | President Bush will propose a dramatic increase to $250,000 in government payments to families of U.S. troops killed in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and in future combat zones. The plan to increase the tax-free “death gratuity,” now $12,420, to $100,000 and provide an extra $150,000 in life insurance payouts will be part the 2006 budget proposal submitted to Congress next week, the Pentagon’s personnel chief said in an Associated Press interview. Veterans groups and many in Congress have been pushing for such increases. “We think the nation ought to make a larger one-time payment, quite apart from...

WASHINGTON — President Bush will propose a dramatic increase to $250,000 in government payments to families of U.S. troops killed in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and in future combat zones. ADVERTISEMENT The plan to increase the tax-free "death gratuity," now $12,420, to $100,000 and provide an extra $150,000 in life insurance payouts will be part the 2006 budget proposal submitted to Congress next week, the Pentagon's personnel chief said in an Associated Press interview. Veterans groups and many in Congress have been pushing for such increases. "We think the nation ought to make a larger one-time payment, quite apart...

If there is any common ground for agreement left between the warring political parties in Congress it should be in protecting the welfare of the loved ones of American soldiers who die in combat. At the moment, the nation's gratitude for those who have given their utmost is a paltry $12,420 — in many cases hardly enough to pay for funeral expenses. - - - - - - - - - Since established under Theodore Roosevelt in 1908 as a bonus for Civil War veterans, the gratuity, originally a few hundred dollars, has been increased several times but not by...

WASHINGTON - President Bush will propose a dramatic increase to $100,000 in government payments to families of U.S. troops killed in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and in future combat zones. The plan to increase the tax-free "death gratuity," now $12,420, will be part the 2006 budget proposal submitted to Congress next week, the Pentagon's personnel chief said in an Associated Press interview. Veterans groups and many in Congress have been pushing for such an increase. "We think the nation ought to make a larger one-time payment, quite apart from insurance, should you be killed in a combat area of...

WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. Senator George Allen (R-VA) today urged Congress to do more to help the families of soldiers killed in action by raising what is called the "Death Gratuity" to $100,000. The benefit is a cash payment to the survivor of soldiers killed in battle to help them cope with their immediate needs following the loss of their loved one. Currently, families receive $12,000 under the program......