美国国家公共电台 NPR--For military widows and widowers, getting married again can be costly

For military widows and widowers¹, getting married again can be costly²

Transcript³

Military widows and widowers can lose military benefits if they remarry before age 55. NPR's A Martinez talks to Military Times reporter Leo Shane III about attempts to end the remarriage penalty.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

For military widows and widowers, getting married again can be costly. Federal rules cut off benefits to widows and widowers who get remarried before the age of 55. Joining us now is Military Times reporter Leo Shane III. Leo, can you give us an idea of how much a veteran's surviving spouse⁴ stands to lose if they remarry before 55?

LEO SHANE III: Yeah. It's quite a bit of money. I mean, these military survivor⁵ benefits can be generous. So we're talking anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars a year. That can total up to over 40,000, $50,000 a year. So it's a real financial burden for these families.

MART?NEZ: Yeah, and these rules can lead to something that you call relationship limbo⁶. Tell us what relationship limbo means.

SHANE: Yeah. Basically, these family - these spouses⁷, after they've lost a loved one, they go through the grieving process. If they want to move on and get remarried to a new boyfriend or girlfriend, they've got to make these financial decisions. They've got to decide whether or not their love outweighs⁸ that kind of big financial burden that comes in. I mean, it's - it seems cruel, but to ask someone, hey, is it really worth marrying this person if you're going to lose $40,000 a year, it just puts these spouses who have already gone through so much into an awkward position.

MART?NEZ: Yeah. What a tough choice, deciding between love and money in this case. Yeah. And you interviewed a woman who went through this. Her husband was in the army, and then he took his own life when she was just 24 years old. What happened when she eventually decided⁹ to remarry?

SHANE: Yeah. Her name is Rebecca Morrison Mullaney, and I actually spoke¹⁰ to her years ago when she - before she had gotten remarried, trying to make these decisions, trying to understand, you know, what exactly this would be. Ultimately, she did decide that she wanted to move ahead with having a family, you know, raising a new family, having a new husband. But it did - it cost her $42,000 a year to do this. And now she's on Capitol Hill talking to lawmakers, saying, look, this just isn't fair. This feels like you're saying that I'm all settled and that this first marriage never happened. You're erasing¹¹ my husband, Ian, who I loved and wanted to stay with, but couldn't because of circumstances. So it's not just the money. It's also the feeling that the government's saying, well, this is over now. This is settled. And frankly¹², his service didn't count, and his service is gone.

MART?NEZ: I mean, it just sounds like these rules are keeping military widows and widowers from getting remarried.

SHANE: Yeah. And that's what's happening in a lot of cases here. You know, we talked to folks over at the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors¹³. They've been tracking this for a while. They said only about 5% of surviving military spouses under the age of 55 get remarried because of these financial penalties. After 55, you do see quite a few spouses who will step in, who've been in long-term relationships, who've sort of kept their relationships hidden from the government just to keep doing this. But this could impact, you know, upwards¹⁴ of 60,000, 65,000 families across the country who are just looking to move on with their lives.

MART?NEZ: And you write that legislation recently introduced maybe might address this issue. Tell us about the Love Lives On Act.

SHANE: Yeah. This is the latest attempt to try and fix this problem. It simply would remove that penalty, allow these spouses to get remarried before 55. So it's already been introduced in both the House and the Senate. It's got support from Republicans and Democrats¹⁵. And we'll see if there's some support for it this year.

MART?NEZ: All right. That's Military Times reporter Leo Shane III. Leo, thanks.

SHANE: Thank you.

(SOUNDBITE OF MAN MOUNTAIN'S "TO BE MADE AS NEW")

1 widowers   

n.鳏夫( widower的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Even elderly widows and widowers choose to live on their own. 连年迈的寡妇和鳏夫都选择独自生活。 来自互联网
• His works contain Widowers' House, Mrs. Warren's Profession, a play about the economic oppression of women. 他的早期代表作品包括《鳏夫的房产》，《沃伦夫人的职业》的主题是对妇女们经济上的压迫。 来自互联网

2 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

3 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

4 spouse   

n.配偶(指夫或妻)

参考例句：

• Her spouse will come to see her on Sunday.她的丈夫星期天要来看她。
• What is the best way to keep your spouse happy in the marriage?在婚姻中保持配偶幸福的最好方法是什么？

5 survivor   

n.生存者，残存者，幸存者

参考例句：

• The sole survivor of the crash was an infant.这次撞车的惟一幸存者是一个婴儿。
• There was only one survivor of the plane crash.这次飞机失事中只有一名幸存者。

6 limbo   

n.地狱的边缘；监狱

参考例句：

• His life seemed stuck in limbo and he could not go forward and he could not go back.他的生活好像陷入了不知所措的境地，进退两难。
• I didn't know whether my family was alive or dead.I felt as if I was in limbo.我不知道家人是生是死，感觉自己茫然无措。

7 spouses   

n.配偶，夫或妻( spouse的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Jobs are available for spouses on campus and in the community. 校园里和社区里有配偶可做的工作。 来自辞典例句
• An astonishing number of spouses-most particularly in the upper-income brackets-have no close notion of their husbands'paychecks. 相当大一部分妇女——特别在高收入阶层——并不很了解他们丈夫的薪金。 来自辞典例句

8 outweighs   

v.在重量上超过( outweigh的第三人称单数 )；在重要性或价值方面超过

参考例句：

• Her need to save money outweighs her desire to spend it on fun. 她省钱的需要比她花钱娱乐的愿望更重要。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Its clarity in algebraic and analytical operations far outweighs any drawbacks. 文化代数和解析运算中的清晰性远远胜过任何缺点。 来自辞典例句

9 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

10 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

11 erasing   

v.擦掉( erase的现在分词 )；抹去；清除

参考例句：

• He was like a sponge, erasing the past, soaking up the future. 他象一块海绵，挤出过去，吸进未来。 来自辞典例句
• Suddenly, fear overtook longing, erasing memories. 突然，恐惧淹没了渴望，泯灭了回忆。 来自辞典例句

12 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

13 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

14 upwards   

adv.向上，在更高处...以上

参考例句：

• The trend of prices is still upwards.物价的趋向是仍在上涨。
• The smoke rose straight upwards.烟一直向上升。

15 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》