House lawmakers advance bipartisan bill helping Gold Star children obtain jobs

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The House Committee on Oversight and Reform this week advanced legislation that would help the children of fallen soldiers and disabled veterans find employment opportunities.

Texas Republican Rep. Van Taylor sponsored the Gold Star Children Act, which provides federal job hiring preference to children of permanently disabled or deceased veterans who served during wars or military campaigns. 

Eligible children would receive a few additional points on the 100 point federal employment assessment scale.

These preferences have long been available to veterans, but the legislation extends them to Gold Star children in honor of the hardships they have endured.

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"The Gold Star Children’s Act would honor the sacrifices of our fallen service members as well as permanently and totally disabled veterans by extending federal hiring preferences to their children," the committee’s chair Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y. said on Capitol Hill on Tuesday. "These children have suffered tremendously – the loss of a parent is a traumatic experience and something that will stay with them for the rest of their lives."

The bill has 14 cosponsors including both Democrats and Republicans.

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According to Taylor’s office, there are 15,000 children in the U.S. who have lost a parent to war. 

A "Gold Star Child" is defined as "the child of a service member who lost his or her life under honorable conditions while serving on active duty in the armed forces during a war, in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized, or during the period beginning April 28, 1952, and ending July 1, 1955."