Wednesday, June 26, 2002

A story released today by the Washington Post reports that President Bush has signed a bill allowing death benefits to be paid to same or opposite domestic partner or a blood relative of firefighters and police officers who die in the line of duty.

The new law allows a $250,000 federal benefit for survivors of public safety officers to be paid to any beneficiary listed on the victim's life insurance policy.

David Smith of the Human Rights Campaign, said he hopes the new law will be "the beginning of government recognition that gay families deserve the same rights and privileges that non-gay families have."

Domestic partners are not included in other federal death benefits. Members of the military may leave the proceeds of their life insurance to anyone they wish, but government benefits - including monthly survivor payments and burial assistance - can go only to a surviving spouse or child.

The new law is named for the Rev. Mychal F. Judge, the New York Fire Department's chaplain for nine years, who died in the collapse of the World Trade Center.

The White House said that the new law "adds chaplains to the list of individuals eligible for the Public Safety Officers' Benefits Program and allows life insurance beneficiaries to qualify as eligible survivors for death benefits if a public safety officer has no surviving spouse or child."

Scott McClellan, a White House spokesman, said the law honors the wishes of victims. "It is not a determination of legal status," he said. White House

officials also pointed out that the law is similar to the government's September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, which gives administrators discretion that could result in the awarding of benefits to domestic partners.