Ciscomani Applauds Bipartisan Passage of his Bill to Ensure Families of Fallen Veterans Receive Promised Benefits

"Behind every brave man and woman in uniform are spouses, children, and families who face their own set of challenges during their loved one's time in service," said Ciscomani. "In the case one of our servicemembers or veterans passes away, their surviving family members deserve to have their needs prioritized, especially when it comes to accessing the benefits and support they need. My bill makes great strides to deliver on our promise to take care of our veterans and their families, and I am glad to see it pass out of the House once again with unanimous support."

In 2021, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) moved the Office of Survivors Assistance (OSA) from the Office of the VA Secretary into the middle of the sprawling bureaucracy of the Veterans Benefit Administration (VBA). As a result, OSA has operated under layers of red tape and no longer has direct access to the VA secretary to fix policy issues or address problems that arise with this program. 

Ciscomani's legislation will move the OSA back within the Office of the VA Secretary to ensure that surviving families of veterans receive the benefits and support they were promised and provide a direct line to the Secretary so their needs and concerns are prioritized program wide at the very top of the VA.

"I want to thank my friend and colleague, Rep. Ciscomani, for his leadership over the last year on working to get the Prioritizing Veterans' Survivors Act passed out of the House," said House Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Mike Bost. "This is a commonsense bill to ensure that the surviving families of our service men and women always have a seat at the VA table by reversing actions taken by the Biden administration that wrongfully moved the VA Office of Survivor Assistance out of the Office of the Secretary. In 2024, over 600,000 veterans' survivors received benefits from VA. Rep. Ciscomani's bill will ensure that the VA Secretary receives the advice they need to improve VA's delivery of benefits for all survivors, including those who are not currently in receipt of such care, services, and benefits."

This legislation passed the House of Representatives on April 9, 2025 with unanimous support by a vote of 424-0. The full text of the bill can be found here.

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