Press Releases

 Ahead of House Floor consideration this week of Rep. Tom Barrett (R-Mich.) and House Republicans landmark bill, H.R. 6047, the Sharri Briley and Eric Edmundson Veterans Benefits Expansion Act, the bill’s namesakes, the Briley and Edmundson family’s published the below opinion piece underscoring the impact the proposed Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) benefits increases in the bill would have on the hundreds of thousands of veteran and Gold Star families like theirs. Additional information on H.R. 6047 can be found here.

Congress is debating the details. Our military families are living the consequences.

By Sharri Briley and Edgar “Ed” Edmundson

May 18, 2026

One of us lost her husband, Army Chief Warrant Officer Donovan “Bull” Briley, when he was killed in action in Somalia in 1993. In a single moment, I became a Gold Star widow — raising our children while trying to build a future shaped by grief and the long financial shadow that follows permanent sacrifice. The folded flag did not close a chapter; it began a lifetime of responsibility.

The other nearly lost his son. Eric Edmundson suffered a severe brain injury while serving in Iraq. He cannot walk. He cannot speak. He requires constant, round-the-clock care. He will never return to work — and his parents cashed in their retirement to care for him. Two incomes vanished. The expenses multiplied. When a service-connected injury permanently removes earning capacity, the math does not bend for patriotism.

Our circumstances are different, but the consequence is the same: the cost of military service does not end when the ceremony and the headlines fade. It echoes through decades — through college tuition bills, medical equipment invoices, mortgage payments and retirement plans that must be deferred or abandoned altogether.

That is why the Sharri Briley and Eric Edmundson Veterans Benefits Expansion Act of 2025 matters and why Congress must act. The legislation offers a long overdue increase in compensation for the most catastrophically wounded and ill veterans and offers a down payment on desperately needed increases to Dependency and Indemnity Compensation for survivors. In plain terms, it would update benefits that have not kept pace with the true cost of severe injury or loss of life.

As reported by Military Times, the proposal would add roughly $10,000 annually for veterans with the most severe disabilities and modestly increase monthly survivor benefits — an adjustment long overdue as living and care costs continue to rise.

What is being considered in Washington may look like numbers on a page. To families like ours and so many other Americans, it is the difference between a road toward stability and a financial cliff.

The impact of service is not confined to two households. A landmark Rand Corp. study estimates that 14.3 million Americans are caring for wounded, ill or injured service members and veterans. More than 500,000 Americans are navigating life as surviving spouses. The ripple effects of war extend far beyond the battlefield — and far beyond a single generation.

For decades, compensation for the most catastrophically disabled veterans and survivor benefits have not been meaningfully adjusted to reflect modern realities. Catastrophic injury is permanent. Widowhood caused by war is permanent. The obligations do not shrink with time — they compound.

Accessible housing must be maintained. Specialized equipment must be repaired or replaced. Therapy continues. Children grow up. Savings are stretched thin. None of this is abstract. It defines daily life.

We recognize that lawmakers have a responsibility to examine how legislation is structured and funded. That scrutiny is part of governing. But delay is not neutral. Every year that passes without modernization forces those living with the most severe consequences of service to absorb costs that were never meant to be borne alone.

This is not about comfort. It is about dignity. It is about ensuring that a veteran who cannot walk or speak can live with security.

It is about ensuring that a surviving spouse can raise children without wondering whether gratitude from a nation will translate into financial stability.

We are grateful — for survival, for sacrifice, for the honor of loving those who served. But gratitude does not pay a mortgage. It does not fund adaptive equipment. It does not replace lost earning power.

Service members are not wounded as Republicans or Democrats. They are wounded as Americans. The promise to care for them — and for those who live with the lifelong consequences of their service — should rise above party lines just as clearly.

This legislation now stands before leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives. The question is not whether the need exists — it does. The question is whether Congress will act with the urgency that lifelong sacrifice demands.

Because the financial cliff facing those most profoundly affected by war — like our families — is not rhetorical. And once stability is lost, rebuilding can take years, if it is possible at all.

Our loved ones answered the call without hesitation. It is time for our leaders to do the same — not with speeches, but with action that honors veterans, survivors and the enduring cost of service. It is time for Congress to pass the Sharri Briley and Eric Edmundson Veterans Benefits Expansion Act of 2025.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS: Sharri Briley is a Gold Star widow whose husband, Army Chief Warrant Officer Donovan “Bull” Briley, was killed in action. Edgar “Ed” Edmundson is the father of Eric Edmundson, a severely wounded Iraq War veteran whose catastrophic combat injuries left him permanently disabled and in need of lifelong care.