July 16, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 119 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session

[Page H5833]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1215
             WIDOW'S TAX: STILL TIME TO DO THE RIGHT THING

  (Mr. WILSON of South Carolina asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Mr. Speaker, it has been 3 legislative 
days since House Democrats undermined the Military Surviving Spouses 
Equity Act by shifting the bipartisan bill into a partisan NDAA.
  There is still time to correct the widow's tax on spouses of 
servicemembers whose lives were lost during Active Duty or through a 
service-connected cause.
  Members of Congress know this legislation is critical, with over 365 
cosponsors being 86 percent of the Members of Congress.
  Congress needs to act out of respect of members of the military and 
their families.
  According to the ongoing WUSA 9 report, thousands of surviving 
military spouses feel their government has abandoned them. This is 
unconscionable.
  As Edith Smith, a surviving spouse, said, those who died earned this 
benefit. It is not a gratuitous benefit. They earned it.
  Mr. Speaker, in conclusion, God bless our troops, and we will never 
forget September the 11th in the global war on terrorism.

                          ____________________