September 10, 2014

Today Congresswoman Dina Titus of Nevada’s First District released the following statement on the House Committee on Veterans Affairs’ consideration of an amendment based on her bipartisan bill H.R. 2529, the Veteran Spouses Equal Treatment Act. The language was voted down 13-12 with one Republican voting in favor. 

“Every military family is owed a great debt for the sacrifices they make on behalf of this nation, regardless of whom they love or where they live. Unfortunately, legally-married, same-sex veterans and their spouses continue to face discrimination by the very nation they fought to defend,” said Titus. “Today the House VA Committee had the opportunity to end this injustice by passing my amendment to ensure all veterans have equal access to the federal benefits they have earned and deserve. It makes no sense that legally married soldiers receive benefits while in the military but can lose those benefits when they become veterans if they live in the wrong place. And it is unfair that a legally married couple can get federal VA benefits if they live in California but lose them if they move to Florida. Sadly, my Republican colleagues chose not to stand with our veterans and their families, and instead remained silent, allowing this discrimination to continue. They lack one ounce of the courage they so often extol as a virtue of our nation’s veterans. Shame on them.”

Introduced in June 2013, the Veteran Spouses Equal Treatment Act amends the definition of “spouse” in Title 38 of the U.S. Code to ensure equal treatment for same-sex spouses, thereby aligning the VA with the Department of Defense and the Supreme Court ruling in Windsor v. U.S. Supported by the VA, the change would simply prevent legally married LGBT veterans from losing their federal benefits if they live in a state which does not recognize marriage equality. On March 26, 2014, the House Veterans Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs held a legislative hearing to consider H.R. 2529. At the hearing no one spoke against legislation which was supported by the Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans of America, Veterans of Foreign Wars, VetsFirst, and AMVETS. It is also endorsed by the American Military Partners Association and the Human Rights Campaign. The legislation has 57 cosponsors.