Brought over from This Ain't Hell with permission from TSO:
LINK(excerpt)
Not according to a bill being discussed and voted on in the US House today. Let me start with an example….
Imagine two best friends, Allen and Bob who decide to attend VA Tech together. Allen majors in English, but his heart and soul is dedicated to the Corps of Cadets, where he is an Army ROTC member. Bob is a wood science major, and wants more than anything to join the US Forest Service under the Department of Agriculture. Both graduate with honors, and move on to their respective fields.
Allen trains for about a year, and becomes an Infantry platoon leader. He’s a young LT who just wants to do the right thing. He finds himself quickly deployed to Afghanistan, assigned to a scout section in the Wardak province. One day his convoy of humvees comes under attack by small arms and RPG fire. He’s waited his whole life for just such a moment, and knows that on a near-side ambush, you attack into the source, and he orders just that. He is killed in the line of duty, but his quick response saves the lives of many of the men in his command.
Bob is hired by the US Forest Service, and becomes an expert on Pteridophyta (ferns.) One day while doing a survey of the flora of the Shenendoah National Park, he spies a particularly large Ophioglossales and goes to investigate. He never sees the large branch that has been recently broken from a recent hurricane, and said branch lands on his head, killing him immediately.
Both are tragic deaths to be sure, but are they both deserving of the same honors? If H.R. 2061 passes the House of Representatives today, and goes on to become a law, they will be. This bill would:
LINK to HR2061To authorize the presentation of a United States flag at the funeral of Federal civilian employees who are killed while performing official duties or because of their status as a Federal employee.
(snip)
A flag shall be furnished and presented under this section in the same manner as a flag is furnished and presented on behalf of a deceased member of the Armed Services who dies while on active duty.
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This is a pretty hot-button issue on TAH today, and since the vote is today, any input to your Congressional Reps would be appreciated. Frankly, this is silly and needs to get voted down. Federal employees who are killed in the line of duty connected to service with armed force in contingency operation (or as result of terrorist/other military action) are already accorded this honor by federal law.