Mr. JONES of North Carolina. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank Chairman Charlie Rangel and the House Ways and Means Committee for their work in putting together a package of legislation called the Heroes Earning Assistance and Relief Tax Act of 2007, which is designed to help members of the United States Armed Forces and their families. I'm especially grateful, Mr. Speaker, that the committee has indicated plans to include in this legislation a bill that I first introduced in 2005.

H.R. 418 would permit military families to receive the death gratuity to invest the full amount into certain tax-favored accounts. A death gratuity is a $100,000 payment paid to survivors of servicemembers whose death resulted from combat-related circumstances.

Current tax law limits the amount that recipients of the death gratuity can place in tax-preferred accounts, such as a Roth IRA or Coverdell Education Savings Account. This legislation would change that to allow recipients to contribute up to the full amount of the gratuity payment to these accounts.

Mr. Speaker, as the families of our fallen heroes try to put their lives back together, they need all the help they can get. The families should not have to worry about saving the death gratuity to pay for health care, college or other expenses and then have the government come in and tax the interest on that savings. This bill would help ensure that does not happen.

Mr. Speaker, the need for this legislation was brought to my attention by Captain Michael Ceres, a constituent stationed at Marine Corps Air Station New River. Captain Ceres, who just returned from serving in Iraq, contacted my office and suggested that Congress should institute this change to ease the burden on grieving military families.

Mr. Speaker, the Joint Committee on Taxation has scored this legislation at no cost, meaning that the actual cost of this proposal is less than $500,000 over 9 years. Our men and women in uniform serve this Nation with great honor and distinction; many give their lives for this country. We owe it to our fallen military heroes to expand this option of families who receive the death gratuity, families who have paid the ultimate cost with the loss of their loved one.

H.R. 418 has also received the endorsement of The Military Coalition, a group of prominent national military and veterans organizations that represent more than 5.5 million members plus their families.

Mr. Speaker, of the 35 organizations that have voiced their support for H.R. 418, let me name just a few: the Air Force association, AMVETS, Fleet Reserve Association, Gold Star Wives of America, Military Officers Association of America, Marine Corps League, Navy League of the United States, and there are many others.

I call upon my colleagues to support the inclusion of H.R. 418 in the Heroes Earning Assistance and Tax Relief Act of 2007 in order to expand the options of military families whose loved ones have given their lives in the name of freedom and in defense of this Nation.

Mr. Speaker, I close by asking God to please bless our men and women in uniform. I ask God to please bless the families of our men and women in uniform. And also, I will ask God to continue to bless America.