CHAPLAIN ALLIANCE FOR RELIGIOUS LIBERTY February 13, 2013 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact CHAPLAIN ENDORSERS at info@chaplainalliance.org or call (571) 293-2427
DoD bypasses Congress…again
WASHINGTON — Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty, an organization of chaplain endorsers, is expressing dismay that the Department of Defense issued a policy memorandum Monday extending benefits to “same-sex domestic partners” of military members without notifying Congress.
The memorandum allows service members to fill out a one-page form stating they are in a domestic relationship with a person of the same sex. The form allows the named partner to receive a DoD Dependent ID card, which then qualifies the named dependent to an array of benefits previously granted only to military spouses. Heterosexual partners are not eligible under the policy.
“This new policy makes a mockery of the Defense of Marriage Act that is still the law of this nation,” said Chaplain (COL) Ron Crews, USAR retired, executive director of Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty. “It is an outrage that the Department of Defense would provide benefits to an unknown number of persons, at significant cost to the military, at a time when the military’s budget is being reduced. It is even worse that this is being done without consulting Congress.”
New benefits provided to domestic partners by this policy change include a DoD Identification Card, commissary privileges, family center programs, joint duty assignments, disability and death compensation, space-available travel, child care, legal assistance, and other benefits.
Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty is an organization of chaplain endorsers, the faith groups that provide chaplains for the U.S. military and other agencies needing chaplains. The endorsers in Chaplain Alliance speak for more than 2,600 chaplains serving the Armed Forces.
###