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To amend title 10, United States Code, to provide for the award of a military service medal to members of the Armed Forces who served honorably during the Cold War, and for other purposes.
Summary
This bill authorizes a new military service medal called the Cold War Service Medal to recognize members of the Armed Forces who served honorably during the Cold War period from September 2, 1945 to December 26, 1991. Service members are eligible for the medal if they served on active duty for at least 24 consecutive months during the Cold War, were deployed outside the continental United States for at least 30 days, were called to active duty as reserve members for Cold War-related exercises or operations, or performed other Cold War service as determined by the Secretary of Defense. For those already discharged or released from service, the medal is only available if the discharge was under honorable conditions and service was characterized as honorable. The medal may be issued posthumously to the next-of-kin of deceased service members, and may be replaced without charge if lost or damaged. The bill directs the Secretary of Defense to expedite the design of the medal and establish mechanisms to facilitate its issuance to eligible service members.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
18 cosponsors
- Rep. Axne, Cynthia [D-IA-3] (D-IA)
- Rep. Banks, Jim [R-IN-3] (R-IN)
- Rep. Cline, Ben [R-VA-6] (R-VA)
- Rep. Costa, Jim [D-CA-16] (D-CA)
- Rep. Cox, TJ [D-CA-21] (D-CA)
- Rep. Fortenberry, Jeff [R-NE-1] (R-NE)
- Rep. Hayes, Jahana [D-CT-5] (D-CT)
- Rep. Higgins, Brian [D-NY-26] (D-NY)
- Rep. Kim, Andy [D-NJ-3] (D-NJ)
- Rep. McKinley, David B. [R-WV-1] (R-WV)
- Rep. Rice, Kathleen M. [D-NY-4] (D-NY)
- Rep. Rutherford, John H. [R-FL-4] (R-FL)
- Rep. Smith, Christopher H. [R-NJ-4] (R-NJ)
- Rep. Taylor, Van [R-TX-3] (R-TX)
- Rep. Thompson, Glenn [R-PA-15] (R-PA)
- Rep. Upton, Fred [R-MI-6] (R-MI)
- Rep. Weber, Randy K., Sr. [R-TX-14] (R-TX)
- Rep. Zeldin, Lee M. [R-NY-1] (R-NY)
Money behind the sponsor
Top reported contributors to Chellie Pingree’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.
- NULL $31,950
- HIGH TIDE FOUNDATION $6,600
- TISHMAN HOTEL & REALTY $6,600
- COOL EFFECT, INC. $6,600
- HONOR NYC $6,600
Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for Chellie Pingree → · Outside spending →
Actions (3)
- Oct 24, 2019 Referred to the Subcommittee on Military Personnel. · house
- Oct 23, 2019 Referred to the House Committee on Armed Services. · house
- Oct 23, 2019 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
October 23, 2019
Ms. Pingree (for herself, Mr. McKinley, Mr. Higgins of New York, and Miss Rice of New York) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services
A BILL
To amend title 10, United States Code, to provide for the award of a military service medal to members of the Armed Forces who served honorably during the Cold War, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Cold War Service Medal Act”.
SEC. 2. COLD WAR SERVICE MEDAL.
(a) Medal Authorized.—
(1) In general.—Chapter 57 of title 10, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new section: “Sec. 1136. Cold War Service Medal
“(a) Medal Authorized.—The Secretary concerned may issue a service medal, to be known as the ‘Cold War Service Medal’, to persons eligible to receive the medal under subsection (c).
“(b) Design.—The Cold War Service Medal shall be of an appropriate design approved by the Secretary of Defense, with ribbons, lapel pins, and other appurtenances.
“(c) Eligible Persons.—Subject to subsection (d), a person eligible to be issued the Cold War Service Medal is any person who—
“(1) served on active duty in the armed forces for not less than 24 consecutive months during the Cold War;
“(2) was deployed as a member of the armed forces outside the continental United States for a period of at least 30 days during the Cold War;
“(3) was a member of a reserve component of the armed forces and called or ordered to active duty to participate in exercises or operations directly related to the Cold War, as determined by the Secretary of Defense; or
“(4) performed such other service in the armed forces during the Cold War as the Secretary of Defense may prescribe for purposes of this section.
“(d) Required Characterization of Service.—In the case of a person described in subsection (c) who is already discharged or released from the armed forces, the person is eligible for the Cold War Service Medal only if the discharge or release was under honorable conditions after service in the armed forces characterized as honorable.
“(e) One Medal Authorized.—Not more than one Cold War Service Medal may be issued to any person.
“(f) Issuance to Next-of-Kin.—If a person described in subsection
(c) is deceased, the Secretary concerned may provide for issuance of the Cold War Service Medal to the next-of-kin of the person.
“(g) Replacement.—Under regulations prescribed by the Secretary concerned, a Cold War Service Medal may be replaced without charge if lost, destroyed, or rendered unfit for use without fault or neglect on the part of the person to whom it was issued.
“(h) Regulations.—The issuance of a Cold War Service Medal shall be subject to such regulations as the Secretaries concerned shall prescribe for purposes of this section. The Secretary of Defense shall ensure that any regulations prescribed under this subsection are uniform to the extent practicable.
“(i) Cold War Defined.—In this section, the term ‘Cold War’ means the period beginning on September 2, 1945, and ending on December 26, 1991.”.
(2) Clerical amendment.—The table of sections at the beginning of chapter 57 of such title is amended by adding at the end the following new item:
“1136. Cold War Service Medal.”.
(b) Sense of Congress.—It is the sense of Congress that the Secretary of Defense should take appropriate actions to expedite—
(1) the design of the Cold War Service Medal provided for by section 1136 of title 10, United States Code (as added by subsection (a)); and
(2) the establishment and implementation of mechanisms to facilitate the issuance of the Cold War Service Medal to persons eligible for the issuance of the medal under such section. <all>
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