,,ii  #aaeth ,,congress  #b;d ,session  
,s4 #bdcj  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of     
,,the ,,united ,,states  ,february #ad1 
#bjah,mr4 ,coons 7for himself1 ,mr4     
,rounds1 ,mr4 ,moran1 ,mr4 ,donnelly1   
,mr4 ,manchin1 ,mrs4 ,ernst1 ,mrs4      
,capito1 and ,ms4 ,cortez ,masto7       
introduced the following bill2 which was
 read twice and referred to the         
,committee on ,appropriations  ,a ,,bill
  ,to provide a permanent appropriation 
of funds for the payment of death       
gratuities and related benefits for     
survivors of deceased members of the    
uniformed services in event of any      
period of lapsed appropriations4  #a4   
,short title ,this ,act may be cited as 
the ,families of ,fallen ,servicemembers
 ,first ,act4  #b4 ,permanent           
appropriation of funds for payment of   
death gratuities and related benefits   
for survivors of deceased military      
servicemembers in event of a period of  
lapsed appropriations  7a7              
,appropriation ,funds are hereby        

appropriated during any period of lapsed
 appropriations during a fiscal year1   
out of any money in the ,treasury not   
otherwise appropriated1 for ,operation  
and ,maintenance and ,military          
,personnel accounts related to members  
of the uniformed services 7as defined in
 section #aja7e7 of title #cg1 ,united  
,states ,code7 for the payment of death 
gratuities and the provision of related 
benefits described in subsection 7c7 to 
survivors of deceased members of the    
uniformed services during the period of 
lapsed appropriations4  7b7 ,rate of    
appropriation ,funds appropriated       
pursuant to subsection 7a7 are          
appropriated at a rate for operations as
 provided for the most recent fiscal    
year for which an ,act making           
appropriations for the uniformed        
services has been enacted and under the 
authority and conditions provided in    
such ,act4  7c7 ,covered benefits ,funds
 appropriated pursuant to subsection 7a7
 are available for the following        

purposes during the period of lapsed    
appropriations3  7#a7 ,the payment of a 
death gratuity under sections #adge-adgg
 and #adhi of title #aj1 ,united ,states
 ,code4  7#b7 ,the payment or           
reimbursement for funeral and burial    
expenses authorized under sections #adha
 and #adhb of title #aj1 ,united ,states
 ,code4  7#c7 ,the payment or           
reimbursement of authorized funeral     
travel and travel related to the        
dignified transfer of remains and unit  
memorial services under section #dha;f  
of title #cg1 ,united ,states ,code4    
7#d7 ,the temporary continuation of a   
basic allowance of housing for          
dependents of members dying on active   
duty1 as authorized by section #djc7l7  
of title #cg1 ,united ,states ,code4    
7d7 ,duration ,funds appropriated       
pursuant to subsection 7a7 and authority
 granted pursuant to this ,act shall be 
available whenever there is a period of 
lapsed appropriations for the duration  
of the period of lapsed appropriations4 

7e7 ,treatment of expenditures          
,expenditures made pursuant to this ,act
 shall be charged to the applicable     
appropriation1 fund1 or authorization   
whenever a bill in which such applicable
 appropriation1 fund1 or authorization  
is contained is enacted into law4  7f7  
,rule of implementation ,this ,act shall
 be implemented so that only the most   
limited funding action of that permitted
 in this ,act shall be taken in order to
 provide for continuation of the        
benefits described in subsection 7c74   
7g7 ,period of lapsed appropriations    
defined ,in this ,act1 the term period  
of lapsed appropriations means any      
period during which appropriations are  
not available due to the absence of the 
timely enactment of any ,act or joint   
resolution 7including any ,act or joint 
resolution making continuing            
appropriations7 appropriating funds for 
the payment of the benefits described in
 subsection 7c74