While career politicians have spent decades ignoring the families who've paid the ultimate price for our freedom, freshman Rep. Matt Van Epps (R-TN) is making his first piece of legislation count for those who matter most – our Gold Star families.
Van Epps is introducing the bipartisan HONOR Gold Star Families Act on Thursday, marking a long-overdue effort to increase the "death gratuity" payment for military families who have lost loved ones in service to our nation. The shocking reality? These benefits haven't been touched in over 20 years.
"Our Gold Star families have sacrificed everything for this country, and it's unconscionable that we've allowed their benefits to stagnate for two decades while everything else has skyrocketed in cost," Van Epps told the Washington Examiner in an exclusive interview.
Finally, Someone Who Gets It
This is exactly the kind of America First leadership we need in Washington. While the previous administration was busy funding foreign wars and sending billions overseas, our own military families were left behind with benefits that haven't kept pace with inflation or the true cost of their sacrifice.
Van Epps, who won his special election in December, is wasting no time in showing what real priorities look like. Instead of grandstanding on cable news or playing political games, he's putting our military families first – something that should have been done years ago.
"These families didn't just lose a loved one – they lost their financial security, their future plans, everything. The least we can do is ensure they're properly taken care of,"
The Tennessee Republican's move comes at a perfect time, as President Trump's second administration continues to rebuild our military and restore respect for those who serve. This is the kind of bipartisan effort that actually matters to real Americans, not the swamp's usual political theater.
It's telling that it takes a freshman congressman to champion something this basic and decent. How many establishment Republicans have sat on their hands for decades while Gold Star families struggled? How many Democrats talked about "supporting the troops" while ignoring the families left behind?
Van Epps is showing what actual leadership looks like. Our Gold Star families deserve nothing less than our full support, and it's about time someone in Congress remembered that.