Senate backs boost in military death benefit

WASHINGTON – The Senate unanimously approved legislation late Tuesday night to double the amount paid to the families of members of the armed services who die in the line of duty. The legislation, which increases the “death gratuity” from $6,000 to $12,000, is retroactive to September 2001 to cover any service member who has died in Afghanistan, Iraq or other locations in the war on terror.

Megan Sowards, a spokeswoman for bill sponsor Sen. Susan M. Collins, R-Maine, said there had been some discussion about attaching the death gratuity provision to this year’s defense authorization bill, which sets spending limits for the Pentagon.

A spokeswoman for the House Armed Services Committee said that panel’s leaders had not decided whether to introduce their own version or to pass the version that the Senate approved. She said the panel did expect to pass the measure in some form before the end of the year.