Folks, this is a good one to pass around and get the word out. Glen Doherty was one of the four contractors killed at Benghazi back in 2012, and his family was not able to receive death benefits because of how DBA is structured.
Tell congress that you support this bill so that not only will Glen’s family get the benefits they deserve, but also any future families of deceased security contractors will receive the same death benefits.
Below is a summary of the bill with links to where you can read about it’s progress. I have also included a portal to a very easy to use online letter writing tool that can connect you with your representatives. And finally, I have included the latest news on the bill and who supports it. With any luck, we will have a majority, bipartisan support for this thing and it will become law. –Matt
This undated photo provided by Mark and Kate Quigley shows Glen Doherty, who family members say died in an attack on the U.S. Consulate in Libya. Four Americans were killed at the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi on Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2012 along with U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens. Kate Quigley identifies Doherty as her brother, saying in a media interview he was a former U.S. Navy Seal. (AP Photo/Quigley Family Photo)
Write congress here.
Introduced in House (01/13/2015)
Glen Anthony Doherty Overseas Security Personnel Fairness Act
Amends the Defense Base Act with respect to payment of death benefits otherwise due a widow, widower, or surviving child of an individual employed at a military, air, or naval base outside of the United States who dies as a result of a war-risk hazard or act of terrorism occurring on or after September 11, 2001, when there is no person eligible for a death benefit under the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act.
Requires payment in such a case to:
a beneficiary designated by the deceased, or
the next of kin or the estate of the deceased under applicable state law if there is no designated beneficiary.
Requires benefits to be paid from the Employees’ Compensation Fund.Congress.gov link here.
Govtrack.us link here.US Sen. Ed Markey pushes bill to support family of Massachusetts man killed in 2012 Benghazi attack
By Shannon Young
December 09, 2015
U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., introduced legislation this week that seeks to ensure the families of federal contractors who died as the result of a war-risk hazard or terrorist act receive full death benefits.
Named after the Winchester, Mass. native and former Navy SEAL killed in the Libyan consulate attack in 2012, the “Glen Anthony Doherty Overseas Security Personnel Fairness Act” would fix an omission in federal law the bars families from receiving full benefits if a contractor was unmarried with no dependents at the time of his or her death, Markey’s office said.
The bill would modify the Defense Base Act of 1941 to allow payment of death benefits otherwise due to a surviving spouse or child to the surviving next of kin. According to the senator’s office it would specifically require payment to a beneficiary designated by the deceased or the next of kin or estate of the deceased under applicable state law. Benefits would be paid from the Employees’ Compensation Fund.