Date: 2002-07-09
Speaker: SAM JOHNSON (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Mr. Speaker. I thank the gentleman for yielding me time. Mr. Speaker. it is a great honor to be here today in support of improving the quality of life for the men and women of our military and their loved ones with this Armed Forces Tax Fairness Act. Let me begin by saying how extremely proud I am of the men and women who serve in our military. as well as their families. No matter where I go. I have the absolute rapt attention from everyone when I talk about members of our Armed Services and the great job they are doing today. I hope that our troops know that all across the Nation. citizens are proud of our troops and that Americans are grateful for the sacrifices that they and their families make for the defense of our Nation. The bill we debate here today will put some muscle behind our statements of appreciation. While one could never. ever. put a price on life. as a very small token of respect and condolences. the military provides a death benefit for survivors called a death gratuity after the loss of a loved one. This money can be used to fly family members to a funeral or pay for memorial. service expenses. Unfortunately. in the last decade a large portion of that money has gone back to the Federal Government. The death gratuity was increased from $3.000 to $6.000 during the Persian Gulf War. but our Tax Code failed to keep up with the military changes. As a result. only half of that $6.000 is taxfree today. During times of war and times of peace. every military family prays for the safety of their loved ones. A visit by a military chaplain bearing bad news one day is only compounded by the horror of the tax man soon after. Taxing the loved ones loss is one of the most inappropriate. irresponsible and immoral forms of taxation. Todays action will change that. This exclusion would be effective for those who died in the Pentagon. have fought for freedom in Afghanistan. and any service member killed while defending this country on September 11 or since that tragic day. Mr. Speaker. I remember when my wife talked about the chaplain coming up to her front door just when I was missing in action. Those families who have suffered. suffered through the death of a loved one killed in action by terrorism. should not have to give one nickel more to Uncle Sam. The other important change being made concerns housing of military families. The act would provide a reasonable accommodation to members of the military so they. too. can benefit from the current $500.000 exclusion from capital gains on the sale of a home. To get this exclusion. a family must live in a home for at least 2 of the previous 5 years. This is generally reasonable. but for those serving in the military. such a requirement is out of their control when their orders ship them to any of the four corners of the earth. I know firsthand about being transferred. As a 29year veteran of the Air Force. my wife Shirley and our three kids and I moved 17 times. It is a reality of military life. It is fair for the Tax Code to hold them harmless for the time when they are not living in their own homes because of military orders. 0l 1300 Do not worry. Service members will not be able to become real estate moguls by buying property all over the country and getting this benefit. It is only relevant for one property per family. Todays action is one more way Congress can say "thank you" to our brave military men and women. as well as their families. I hope the Senate follows suit for the families and for freedom. and sends this bill to the President soon.