Denver – Today, Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet joined First Lady Jill Biden for her visit to Fort Carson to honor Colorado’s military spouses ahead of Military Spouse Appreciation Day on Friday.
“It was a pleasure to welcome First Lady Jill Biden to Fort Carson today. The First Lady understands firsthand that military spouses and families are the unsung heroes of our national defense. Military families make personal sacrifices for our country alongside their active duty spouses or parents. We need to do everything we can to provide them with greater economic security and opportunity,” said Bennet.
“Here in Colorado, due to our strong military presence, we have a wide range of resources available for servicemembers and their families, including the USO’s Military Spouse Connection programs. There are steps Congress can take to make life easier for our nation’s military families — from making the enhanced Child Tax Credit permanent to expanding access to retirement plans for spouses. I look forward to working with the First Lady and the Biden Administration on these and other improvements, for both our military servicemembers and veterans,” Bennet continued.
The 2017 Republican tax law excluded an estimated 1 million children of U.S. veterans — and many additional children in active-duty military families — from receiving the full Child Tax Credit (CTC) simply because their families earned too little. In March, President Joe Biden signed into law a one-year expansion of the CTC in the American Rescue Plan Act — based on Bennet’s American Family Act — which will ensure that all low- and middle-income military and veteran families will receive the full CTC in 2021. Bennet is continuing to work with the administration and his colleagues in Congress to ensure the entire CTC expansion is made permanent to provide a measure of economic security to our troops and their families.
Bennet continues to work across the aisle to support Colorado veterans, servicemembers, and their families. Last month, Bennet introduced the Military Spouses Retirement Security Act, a bipartisan bill that would help spouses of active duty servicemembers save for retirement by expanding access to employer-sponsored retirement plans. He also co-sponsored the Veteran Families Health Services Act, legislation to ensure servicemembers’ and veterans’ fertility treatments are included as part of the health benefits they’ve earned. In March, Bennet reintroduced the Helping Unleash Benefits and Services (HUBS) Act to support local “network hubs” that streamline access to essential resources administered by the VA for veterans, service members, and their families.