Tanya Wilson-Thomas, widow of a Marine Corps veteran and member of Gold Star Wives of America, testifies at a House Veterans’ Affairs subcommittee hearing on Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026, in Washington. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)
WASHINGTON — A House Veterans’ Affairs subcommittee on Wednesday examined several bills that seek to fill gaps for compensation and provide other help for the spouses of service members who died in the line of duty or from diseases connected to military service.
“The fact that these service members — our family members — are no longer here does not mean that their military service, nor our family’s contributions, just vanish into thin air,” said Tanya Wilson-Thomas, widow of a Marine Corps veteran and member of Gold Star Wives of America.
Wilson spoke during a two-hour hearing before the House VA panel on disability assistance and memorial affairs, which reviewed nine bills largely focused on enhancing death benefits and services provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
In addition to Gold Star Wives, several other major veterans groups offered testimony, including AMVETS, Veterans of Foreign Wars and Vietnam Veterans of America.
Legislation included separate proposals to remove financial penalties on widowed spouses who remarry, and to ensure dependency compensation for spouses of veterans who died from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
ALS, which is more commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a rare disease that afflicts veterans at twice the rate of the general population.
Rep. Morgan Luttrell, R-Texas, a retired Navy SEAL and subcommittee chairman, voiced support for the Love Lives On Act of 2025, which allows widowed spouses who remarry before the age of 55 to continue collecting dependency and indemnity compensation.
The tax-free compensation is paid monthly to eligible survivors — the spouses, children and parents of service members and veterans. It was set up as financial support when a loved one’s death is linked to their military service.
“I lost a lot of teammates over two wars. A spouse’s job is probably the most challenging job there is,” said Luttrell, who sustained serious injuries in a Black Hawk helicopter crash in 2009. He retired from the military in 2014.
“My spouse looked at me every day and said, ‘You are doing great things for this country, and we are here for you.’ Taking something from spouses who walked alongside us is not right,” Luttrell said. “In my opinion, that is something earned forever.”
More than 95% of eligible surviving spouses opt not to remarry to avoid losing their dependency compensation, said Paul Shipley, national commander of AMVETS. There are about 20 million American veterans.
Surviving spouses — who often are raising children — are forced to make “an unreasonable choice between companionship and economic security,” Shipley said.
“AMVETS has listed this bill as one of our top national priorities, marching alongside our fellow military service organizations, veteran service organizations, and, most importantly, the surviving families themselves,” Shipley said.
The Love Lives On Act also would restore access to TRICARE, if the spouse’s subsequent marriage ends in divorce or death.
The bill would bring military survivors into parity with survivors of other first responders who retain benefits after remarriage, Shipley said.
The Justice for ALS Act would end a rule that disqualifies widowed spouses from receiving full compensation if a veteran with ALS — a fatal disease — lives less than eight years after diagnosis.
But the average life expectancy after an ALS diagnosis is three to five years, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
The terminal disease causes muscles to weaken and atrophy, incapacitating patients, who lose the ability to walk, talk and breathe on their own.
The bill removes the requirement that a veteran must have a 100% service-connected disability for ALS for at least eight years for survivors to collect compensation.
“ALS is a fast-moving disease with no known cure. Denying [survivor’s compensation] to a spouse because a loved one didn’t live long enough is a betrayal. We need to right this wrong,” said Rep. Chris Pappas, D-N.H.
The subcommittee also heard testimony on a bill to provide benefits for “atomic veterans” — former service members exposed to radiation at the Nevada National Security Site, formerly called the Nevada Test Site.
Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., discusses the PRESUME Act at a House Veterans’ Affairs subcommittee hearing on Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026, in Washington. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)
Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., who is leading the PRESUME Act, said the legislation eliminates an “impossible requirement” for veterans to provide their radiation exposure levels to qualify for service-connected health care and benefits.
Thousands of personnel from the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps were exposed to ionizing radiation during atmospheric nuclear weapons tests between 1951 and 1962.
“Many of these veterans were exposed without their knowledge, and the government retains the information, which no longer may be kept or was destroyed,” Titus said.
Titus estimated that only a few hundred atomic veterans are still alive.
The veterans are in their late 80s and older, according to the National Cancer Benefits Center.
Many developed cancer, leukemia and other chronic conditions.
But the tests were classified, and veterans later could not obtain military records showing their radiation exposure — or that the nuclear weapons tests took place.
“They were told by the system set up to help them that they were never there,” Titus said. “Let’s remove the bureaucratic barriers and bring dignity, transparency and justice for these veterans.”
