Bill To Enhance Military Death Benefits

Senator Sessions Introduces Bill To Enhance Military Death Benefits HEROES Act of 2005 FULL TEXT

WASHINGTON — Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) today introduced legislation that would greatly expand death benefits for America’s military personnel and their families.

Sessions’ bill, which he co-sponsored with Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-CT), would raise the death gratuity to $100,000 from $12,420 for military personnel killed in combat. The death gratuity would be retroactive to cover those killed while deployed in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.

Sessions’ bill, called the HEROES Act of 2005 (Honoring Every Requirement Of Exemplary Service), would increase the Servicemen’s Group Life Insurance (SGLI) maximum benefit to $400,000 from $250,000. Under the proposal, the military would provide $150,000 of insurance for service members serving in a combat zone and electing coverage under SGLI. A second provision would require the service member to discuss opting out with a spouse or other beneficiary as is done with the Survivor Benefit Program.

The bill would index the death gratuity to the rate of annual pay raises and index the life insurance benefit to the annual pay raise. The Defense Department estimated the cost of Sessions’ bill at about $460 million the first year, though that figure would be expected to drop in future years by more than half once retroactive benefits are paid.

Sessions, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Airland Subcommittee, last year got a provision included in the Fiscal Year 2005 defense authorization bill directing the Defense Department to study the death benefits issue and offer a plan for enhanced benefits in President Bush’s budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2006. Bush will submit his budget to Congress early next month.

Press Release of Senator Sessions Contact: Monday, January 24, 2005

World Wetlands Day

World Wetlands Day

On February 2, 2004, United States Embassies from South America to the Middle East will join their local communities to commemorate World Wetlands Day, an annual celebration of the vital importance of wetlands to the world’s ecological health and of efforts to conserve these invaluable habitats. The day marks the anniversary of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, signed February 2, 1971 in Ramsar, Iran.

This year’s theme, "There’s wealth in wetland diversity --- don’t lose it," emphasizes the biological and cultural diversity of wetlands and their important role in sustaining people physically and emotionally. Wetlands are a source of water, food, recreation, transportation, and, in some places, are part of the local religious and cultural heritage. They provide groundwater replenishment, benefiting inhabitants of entire watersheds.

Wetlands play a vital role in storm and flood protection and water filtration. In addition, they provide a rich feeding ground for migratory birds, fish, and other animals and boost local economies through opportunities for the harvesting of aquatic resources and ecotourism.

Despite the great value of wetlands, they have been shrinking worldwide, including in the United States. In 1987 the United States joined the Ramsar Convention, an international treaty that aims to halt the worldwide loss of wetlands and to conserve those that remain. The treaty’s 144 Contracting Parties have designated 1,404 wetlands sites totaling more than 300 million acres for inclusion in the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance. Most recently, on Earth Day 2004, President Bush announced an aggressive new national initiative to move beyond a policy of "no net loss" of wetlands to an overall increase of wetlands in America. The President’s goal is to create, improve, and protect at least three million wetland acres over the next five years in order to increase overall wetland acreage and quality.

The United States designated three new Ramsar sites last month: the 2500-acre Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve in San Diego County, CA; the 160,000-acre Grassland Ecological Area in western Merced County, CA; and the 1000-acre Kawainui and Hamakua Marsh Complex located on the northeast coast of the island of Oahu, HI. That brings the total number of U.S. Ramsar sites to 22, covering nearly 3.2 million acres.

For further information, visit the State Department’s Bureau of Oceans, Environment and Science website at state.gov/g/oes and the Ramsar website at ramsar.org. 2005/105

Media Note Office of the Spokesman Washington, DC January 31, 2005