I am writing to secure enactment and funding for H.R. 548, a bill that would end the current practice of reducing benefits to veterans enrolled in the military Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP).

SBP has gone through many legislative changes since it was created in 1972. These modifications have greatly complicated the structure of this plan. The SBP states that if a service member participates in the plan then their survivor will receive 55\% of the member's retirement pay. Unfortunately, current law mandates that at age 62 these benefits be reduced by the amount of the survivor's Social Security benefit or to 35\% of the SBP benefit. In addition to this the retirees enrolled in the plan pay a premium of close to 74\% of the plan's cost. Originally the retiree's premium was only 60\% of the plan's cost.

I feel that it is imperative that our government support those men and women who served our country to give us the freedoms we enjoy today. Recently H.R. 548 was introduced in Congress to rectify this injustice. This bill has been referred to the House Committee on Armed Services. We seek your support of this bill and hope that progress will be made on this issue during consideration of the Defense Authorization Act of 2001.

Thank you for considering this important issue and for your support to the men and women who have served our nation.