Can you put it on the scales, please? http://ww.daimonismo.altervista.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=1004&p=84662 keandra In his statement announcing the deal, Hagel said he warned Congress about the lapse in death benefits. "In the days after the shutdown, departmental lawyers and budget officials pursued every tool and option at our disposal in an effort to provide these benefits. Even under the Pay Our Military Act, we found that we lacked the necessary authority to make payments to the families directly," he said. Pentagon Comptroller Bob Hale also mentioned the lapse during a press briefing at the Pentagon before the government shut down. But it wasn't until troops were killed in Afghanistan that Congress and the White House acted to fix the problem.