The family of a CIA contractor from Winchester who was killed in the Benghazi terror attack in 2012 is still waiting on a $400,000 death benefit payment from the federal government amid bureaucratic wrangling in Washington, his sister said on Wednesday.
"It's just really misleading to these men who put their lives on the line and ultimately give up their lives," said Kate Quigley, 42, the sister of Glen Doherty, a former Navy SEAL who was working as a security contractor when he was killed in the September 2012 attack on the US diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya.
Initially, Quigley said, Doherty had taken out an insurance policy required for contractors. However, after he was killed the family learned that under federal law his relatives would not be eligible for death benefits from the policy since he had no surviving spouse or children. The policy had made no mention of the exemption, Quigley said.
Doherty's family settled a civil claim against the insurer, the Rutherfoord insurance company, and the terms of the settlement are confidential, Quigley said. A Rutherfoord spokeswoman could not be reached for comment.
After the insurance dispute, Quigley said, her family was told in December 2014 that the CIA would change its protocols to pay out death benefits from its budget in cases like Doherty's. She said they were told the change would apply retroactively to her brother and dozens of other families whose relatives were killed in attacks dating to the 1980s.
But several congressional committees must approve the CIA proposal before the agency can begin making payments. All but one committee, the House defense appropriations subcommittee, signed off on the plan this year, Quigley said.
"It's frustrating," she said. "It's just the right thing to do, not only for Glen but for all of these other contractors. We feel like it's kind of dishonored his memory and his name, and it's something we'll keep working on and fighting for.
"There's some much-needed closure for my own family that we would love to have. And we're not going to get it until this is resolved."
Quigley said the CIA must now present a new plan to the various congressional committees for funding the death benefits.
A spokesman for US Representative Rodney P. Frelinghuysen, a New Jersey Republican who chairs the House defense appropriations subcommittee, said in an e-mail that the panel "concurred with the other committees and approved the policy change in July but, at that time, directed the [CIA] to identify a permanent funding source for pending and future benefits. [Frelinghuysen] has spoken personally to the Director of Central Intelligence about this matter and has been assured that the Agency will have a resolution soon."
Doherty, 42, was one of four Americans killed on Sept. 11, 2012, when Islamic militants attacked the US diplomatic mission in the war-torn north African nation. Also among the dead was US Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens.
The attack has been the subject of contentious hearings in Congress, where Republicans have criticized Hillary Clinton, a Democratic candidate for president, for her handling of the episode when she was secretary of state.
"We really hope that at the end of the day, [the benefit change] is going to help a lot of people, but we just don't know," Quigley said.
The family has an ally in US Representative Stephen F. Lynch, a South Boston Democrat who in January filed the Glen Anthony Doherty Overseas Security Personnel Fairness Act, which would remove barriers to benefit payments to families of contractors who are killed overseas but do not have surviving spouses or children.
Lynch, whose bill is pending, could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.
He said in January that it "is unacceptable that [federal law] requires federal workers to take out an insurance policy ... but fails to provide death benefits to their families or estate solely based on marital and child status."
Astead W. Herndon of the Globe Staff contributed to this report. Travis Andersen can be reached at travis.andersen @globe.com.