Lathams Takes the Democrats to Task

The Des Moines Register has an article today about Congressman Latham's efforts at getting pension benefits opened to the parents of Jaime Jaenke so they may take care of her daugher. Jaime was killed in Iraq in June 2006.

Washington, D.C. — In an emotional speech Wednesday on the floor of the U.S. House, Rep. Tom Latham charged that Democrats denied an Iowa family a chance to collect a $100,000 death benefit to help raise the child of a reservist killed in Iraq.

"I would think you would be ashamed," said Latham, an Alexander Republican who has been trying to assist the Jaenke family of Iowa Falls. He said an amendment he proposed to a defense bill was killed "for partisan reasons" by Democrats on the House Rules Committee.

A Democratic committee spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.

The difficult situation came about after Jaime Jaenke, a Navy reservist, was killed in June 2006. She left behind a daughter, Kayla, 10, who is cared for by Jaenke's parents.

Jaime Jaenke had designated her mother, Susan Jaenke, as the beneficiary of a $100,000 death benefit intended as a "bridge" paid within 24 hours to help survivors. Jaime Jaenke also wrote a letter specifying her intentions.

However, under law, grandparents are not allowed access to the death benefit, and it will be kept in trust for Kayla until she turns 18.

Susan Jaenke told a House Veterans Affairs subcommittee in April that the family had depended on Jaime's income and plunged into deep financial trouble after her death. Members apologized and pledged to help her.

Latham, who says there are at least 143 identical cases, introduced a bill that would allow the benefit payment to be made to grandparents, aunts or uncles who had custody of the surviving child.

In addition, it would assist the Jaenkes by applying to earlier cases in which "a clear expression of intent" had been made by the member of the military.

The bill has drawn 27 co-sponsors, 15 of them Democrats and 12 Republicans, including every member of the Iowa delegation in the House. Two of the seven members of the Veterans Affairs subcommittee that held the hearing have signed on.

Latham asked the House Rules Committee Tuesday night to allow a vote on the bill as an amendment during House debate on the defense authorization bill.

The committee turned him down on a 9-4, party-line vote.

Latham said the Rules Committee wouldn't allow an amendment that would have given Kayla "access to the death gratuity that her mother wanted her to have when she was killed in Iraq. This is outrageous."

He said there was broad bipartisan support for the "simple change" in the law he proposed. "It would not cost a dime, and it's the right thing to do," he said.

In an interview, Susan Jaenke said she was disappointed to hear the House did not act on the bill, but she also said she did not expect much out of Washington, despite the sympathy expressed by lawmakers at the hearing.

"Does this surprise me? No," she said. "Mr. Latham can't do it by himself. He got all these pledges of help - where did they go?"

Republicans complained throughout the day that they were being denied the chance to offer amendments to the defense bill, and attempted, without success, to adjourn the House.

Reporter Jane Norman can be reached at (202) 906-8137 or at jnorman@dmreg.com

I've always been proud to have Tom Latham as my Congressman, and this just ads to the list of reasons. The bill has more Democrat co-sponsors than Republican, and the entire Iowa delegation signed on. However it went down to defeat on a party line vote. This shouldn't be a partisan issue, but apparently it is. Unfortunate, to say the least.

UPDATE: Here is some more from The Des Moines Register.:

Congress fails family of fallen Iowa soldier

Politics trumps doing right by surviving child.

REGISTER EDITORIAL BOARD
Susan Jaenke traveled to Washington last month to ask lawmakers for help after her daughter was killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq. Before her death, Navy reservist Jaime Jaenke wrote a letter to her mother, telling her she wanted the military's $100,000 "death gratuity" to be given to her parents to help raise her daughter, Kayla.

But the law requires money to go first to a spouse or child. Kayla - not her grandparents - collected the $100,000, which goes into a trust until she's 18.

Jaime Jaenke's military paychecks had been helping the family make ends meet. When she died, the money stopped coming. Now the grandparents can't use the death benefit to cover expenses for Kayla, who is 10.

It's an obvious case of the law not working for families - families whose loved ones died in the line of duty. It an obvious problem Congress needs to fix.

But it's also painfully obvious there is something wrong in Washington. Partisan politics have prevented this Iowa family and others like it from getting help.

Lawmakers should put aside politics and help the people they were elected to serve.

In February, Iowa Republican Rep. Tom Latham introduced a bill to allow service members to designate a parent, brother or sister who has custody of a service member's minor child as the recipient of the death benefit.

Passing it is a no-brainer. Like the Jaenkes, more than 140 families around the country have had trouble collecting benefits to help care for the children of fallen soldiers, Latham says. Lawmakers even apologized to Susan Jaenke after she testified.

But apparently being sorry doesn't trump partisan bickering in Congress.

On Tuesday, the House Rules Committee voted straight down party lines to block consideration of Latham's bill. Nine Democrats voted against it; four Republicans for it. Every Republican-proposed amendment was killed, according to James Carstensen, director of communications for Latham.

The vote "speaks volumes about how blind partisanship continues to block consideration of this legislation - legislation which is not controversial other than the author has an R behind his name in a body controlled by those with a D behind their names," he said.

This Iowa family has suffered enough. They've lost a loved one. They've navigated the bureaucratic nightmare of the U.S. government. They've hired a lawyer, traveled to Washington and pleaded with lawmakers.

And now they're victims of partisan bickering.

What a disgrace.

Latham has said he will continue to fight to help the Jaenkes. But that's going to require some help from the Democrats in power.

The DSM also printed an editorial cartoon here.

Pay attention to the quote from James Carstensen in the bold, because it speaks volumes and it what I was pointing to when I first posted this. What is wrong with Washington when a bill like this can't even be passed because of the letter behind the author's name? Disgraceful, and those who voted against this should be ashamed of themselves and owe the country, and our men and women in uniform, an apology.

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