 Hello, my name is Jeremy Villanueva, Assistant National Legislative Director for DAB. I am joined today by members of Congress and representatives from various major veterans service organizations to discuss legislation that would affect our nation's ill and injured veterans and their survivors. During Abraham Lincoln's second inaugural address, he reminded the American people who were suffering through the third year of a terrible civil war that one of this nation's obligations was to care for those who had borne the battle to include their widows and orphans. To honor these veterans, we should ensure that, to the best extent possible, their families are taken care of by the nation that they have served, and those who have laid so costly a sacrifice on the altar of freedom are honored for that sacrifice. Spouses, children and parents who have stepped up to care for those who have sacrificed their health for this nation, some have sacrificed their livelihood to support their disabled loved one. These men and women have also served their country by caring for those who have worn the uniform, and when these caregivers have become survivors, we should not forget about them. Today, as we prepare to observe memorial today during these challenging times and families across the United States pause to remember those brave men and women that they have lost, fathers, mothers, sons and daughters, and service to this country, we must remember our sacred obligation to those who have borne this loss. We these gathered veteran service organizations applaud the introduction of the Caring for Survivors Act of 2020 during this most solemn of holidays. This bill would increase the dollar amount paid to survivors of seriously disabled veterans and service members killed in the light of duty, ease the time limit requirements for those seriously disabled veterans, and reduce the age for surviving spouse to remarry and keep their benefits. I am pleased to introduce the sponsor of this bill, Congressman T.J. Cox, representative from the 21st District of California, to speak about this important legislation. Hi, this is Congressman T.J. Cox from California's 23rd District and the beautiful Central Valley of California. This week I'm proud to announce the Caring for Survivors Act of 2020. A bill that would increase dependent feeding and indemnity compensation for DIC, for surviving families of service members, and also it expands access to survivors currently excluded from these benefits. The bill would help hard-working families of veterans in three ways. First, the bill lowers the age at which a survivor's spouse can remarry and maintain their benefits from 57 to 55. That's the rule for most survivors of our program. So veterans' families absolutely deserve the same. Second, it increases the compensation to a disabled veteran, to a DIC base rate of 55%. And third, it eases the 10-year rule for eligibility and replaces it with a grant to make a sub-stable benefits that begins after year five and increases twice the percentage until reaching the full amount at the 10-year mark. The intent of the current law is to provide DIC benefits for survivors' spouses and minor children based on the length and severity of the veteran's total disability rating. Currently, veterans must be disabled for 10 years consecutively before accessing these benefits. That's arbitrary and unfair, especially given the severity of disabilities and their impact on veterans and their families. I've heard from many veterans and families in the Central Valley. So many of them and their survivor's dependents are not entitled to any portion of the veterans' military retirement pay after his or her death. Retirement plans in the private sector and other parts of the federal government generally don't work like that. And that's simply not right, and we need to do whatever we can to make sure that the people who have risked their lives for this country and their families are taken care of. The legislation will help all those who have served across station and their families, and I encourage you to reach out to your representative and ask them to support this legislation. I want to say thank you to our veterans and the families who care for them, and the reckless service organizations like the Disabled American Veterans, Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion, Paralyzed Veterans of America, and the Tragedy Assistance Program for survivors who are fighting every day for their members and for the families and survivors of our veterans. I hope you're all staying safe. Hello everyone, my name is Congressman Gil Cisneros, and I represent California's 39th District. I hope you're all staying safe and practicing social distancing. As we continue to care for the most vulnerable in our society, helping our service members, veterans, and their families is also my top priority. This is why I am proud to introduce the Bipartisan Caring for Survivors Act of 2020 with my colleagues Congressman Cox, Congressman Yoho, Congressman Van Drew, and Congresswoman Hayes. Our legislation would increase dependency and indemnity compensation for surviving dependents and allow certain survivors to receive this benefit who currently do not meet the current requirements. As a Navy veteran, one of my reasons I ran for Congress was to ensure that veteran voices are uplifted and heard. In Congress, I have the honor of serving on the House Veterans Affairs Committee. I have heard directly from veterans and VSOs that have raised how the surviving families of service members who pass away from the non-service connected injury or disease before the 10-year consecutive requirement are barred from DIC compensation. That is not right. DIC payments were intended to provide the surviving spouses or family members a means to maintain some sense of economic support after the loss of their loved one and many rely solely on these benefits. I believe the right fix is this bill. By reducing the 10-year requirement to five years, we can help families who are caring for a veteran family member who was disabled. This bill also changes arbitrary age requirements and puts it on equal footing as other federal survivor programs. This is the least we can do for our nation's heroes. This is common sense bipartisan legislation supported by several veteran service organizations like Disabled American Veterans, Paralyzed Veterans of America, Veterans of Foreign Wars, The American Legion, and Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, TAPS. As a country, we talk about honoring our service members veterans and their families. This bipartisan legislation is a chance to do that. Today and every day, I remain committed to helping our nation's heroes and ensure they get the resources, tools, and benefits they deserve. They've always had our backs. It's time we have theirs. Thank you again for having me here. Stay safe and take care. Hello, I'm Maureen Elias with Paralyzed Veterans of America. Paralyzed Veterans of America is the only congressionally chartered Veterans Service Organization dedicated solely for the benefit and representation of veterans with spinal cord injuries or disorders. For nearly 75 years, our organization has ensured that veterans receive the benefits earned through service to our nation, monitored their care in VA spinal cord injury units, and funded research and education in search for a cure and improved care for individuals with paralysis. Today, we want to thank the representatives for their bipartisan support with the introduction of the Caring for Our Survivors Act of 2020. Your strong support of veterans and their families is evidenced by this legislation that would improve benefits for those who lost their loved ones to service-related conditions by ensuring the rate of VA dependency and indemnity compensation they receive is equal to what other federal survivor programs provide. Since PBA's members are veterans with spinal cord injuries and disorders whose lives can be shortened because of their injuries, we are especially thankful for language lowering the threshold of eligibility for dependency and indemnity compensation. Using a graduated scale to provide benefits for those who lost their loved ones, including those who lost their veteran prior to the tenure window, would allow more survivors to receive these important benefits. As a country, we owe it to these veterans to care for those left behind, especially those veterans who are rendered totally disabled as a result of their military service. The Caring for Our Survivors Act of 2020 will help us do just that. Again, PBA thanks these representatives and their staff for their continuing efforts to improve the lives of our veterans surviving family members. Hello, my name is Candice Wheeler and I'm the Policy Director for the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors. TAPS is the national nonprofit organization providing compassionate care to all those grieving the death of a military loved one. For the past 26 years, TAPS has worked to support military survivors and to protect their earned benefits. We are honored to support the bipartisan legislation, the Caring for Our Survivors Act of 2020. This important legislation would improve benefits for survivors who lost their loved ones to a service-related injury or disease. TAPS has long advocated for improving B.A. dependency and indemnity compensation and providing equity with other federal survivor benefits. For many survivors, increasing DIC to 55% will be a much needed financial lifeline. We hear from many surviving spouses who opt not to remarry because the loss of financial benefits would have a negative impact on them, especially those with children. TAPS appreciates that this legislation changes eligibility for DIC for surviving spouses who remarry after age 57 to age 55. We remain committed to ending the remarry penalty for all surviving spouses. TAPS is grateful to Congress for their continued advocacy on behalf of our nation's veterans, service members, and their surviving families. We are proud to support this legislation and look forward to Congress passing the Caring for Our Survivors Act of 2020. Thank you. I am DAV National Commander Butch Whitehead. When a veteran has served this nation honorably and was disabled as a result of that service, the last thing they should have to worry about is what will happen to their surviving family members should they pass away. But stringent eligibility rules for VA survivor benefits have led to undue stress, anxiety, and financial hardship for families and survivors. It's time we make that right. We are hopeful the Caring for Survivors Act of 2020 will ease the burden on many veterans and their family members, helping ensure the security of their future in the wake of losing their veteran and also honoring the tremendous sacrifice caring for that veteran during his or her lifetime. I would now like to introduce my counterpart DAV Exhilarate National Commander Diane France. Thank you. My father was a 100% service connected disabled Army veteran. He fell ill during service, severely damaging his heart. This ultimately led to his death. After he passed it was survivor benefits from the VA which saved our family from falling into poverty and allowed me to attend college. But today I personally know other survivors unable to receive these benefits because they were weeks or merely days short of the 10-year eligibility rule or have life wise been punished for remaring too early. I dread thinking of what would have happened to my mother who gave so much of her life caring for my father when he was ill had those survivor benefits not been there to provide a security net. Service connected disabilities plays enough strain on veterans and their families in life. We must care for their survivors to ensure we don't place further undue hardships on them after the veteran is gone. On behalf of my colleagues I would like to thank Representative T.J. Cox, Teddy Oho, Gil Cisneros, Jeff Van Drew, and Johanna Hayes for introducing the Caring for Survivors Act. This important legislation already has the support of a growing coalition of veterans organizations including DAV, the VFW, PVA, the American Legion and TAPS amongst others. Just over 50 years ago President Lyndon Johnson noted that America shows its gratitude not only in memorials which grace city parks and courthouse squares across the land but more meaningfully in the programs which care for the veterans and their survivors. The Caring for Survivors Act will do just that by strengthening DIC programs to prevent better support for surviving spouses and children of disabled veterans. Thank you for watching this press event and we hope you will join us and contact your elected representatives to ask them to support the Caring for Survivors Act. Thank you.