Let Everyone Get Involved in Opportunities for National Service Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1641 To amend title 36, United States Code, to authorize The American Legion to determine the requirements for membership in The American Legion, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 8, 2019 Mr. CORREA (for himself, Mr. CLINE, and Mr. CISNEROS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend title 36, United States Code, to authorize The American Legion to determine the requirements for membership in The American Legion, and for other pur- poses. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Let Everyone Get In- 4 volved in Opportunities for National Service Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND SENSE OF CONGRESS. 6 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find- 7 ings: 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:21 Mar 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1641.IH H1641 khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1641 IH (1) Since the end of World War II, the Federal 1 Government has designated specific periods of war, 2 the dates of which are important for qualification for 3 certain benefits or membership in veterans organiza- 4 tions established by Congress. 5 (2) In between those recognized periods of war, 6 during so-called peacetime eras, the United States 7 military has been involved in not fewer than 12 8 known eras, which are unrecognized by the United 9 States Government as periods of war, resulting in 10 numerous United States personnel combat casual- 11 ties. 12 (3) Those 12 unrecognized war eras occurred at 13 the direction of the then President of the United 14 States, with full knowledge and consent of the then 15 Congress. 16 (4) The first of those 12 unrecognized war eras 17 involving active United States military personnel was 18 the Greek Civil War, fought in Greece from 1946 to 19 1949 between the army of the Government of 20 Greece, supported by active military personal of the 21 United States and the United Kingdom, and the 22 Democratic Army of Greece, the military branch of 23 the Communist Party of Greece. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:21 Mar 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1641.IH H1641 khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1641 IH (5) During the Greek Civil War, one member of 1 the Armed Forces of the United States sacrificed his 2 life in service to the United States, and five others 3 suffered non-combat deaths. 4 (6) The second of those unrecognized war eras 5 involving active United States military personnel was 6 the Chinese Civil War, which occurred during the 7 aftermath of World War II. 8 (7) During the Chinese Civil War, the United 9 States military equipped, trained, transported, and 10 supplied the Kuomintang-led Government of the Re- 11 public of China with approximately $4,430,000,000 12 in its resistance to the Communist Party of China. 13 (8) During the Chinese Civil War, 14 members 14 of the Armed Forces of the United States sacrificed 15 their lives in service to the United States, 150 non- 16 combatants of the United States lost their lives in 17 the war, and 51 were wounded, resulting in 215 18 United States military casualties. 19 (9) The third unrecognized war era involving 20 active United States military personnel is known as 21 the Cold War. 22 (10) The Cold War was a period spanning from 23 approximately 1947 until 1991 when the Soviet 24 Union collapsed. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:21 Mar 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1641.IH H1641 khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1641 IH (11) Although no direct large-scale military 1 fighting occurred between the militaries of the 2 United States and the Soviet Union, active United 3 States military personnel served in multiple regional 4 conflicts during the Cold War, resulting in the 5 deaths of not fewer than 32 members of the Armed 6 Forces who sacrificed their lives in service to the 7 United States and not fewer than 12 additional cas- 8 ualties. 9 (12) The fourth unrecognized war era involving 10 active United States military personnel is known as 11 the China Cold War. 12 (13) The China Cold War started when the 13 Kuomintang-led Government of the Republic of 14 China retreated to the island of Taiwan and lasted 15 until 1972, after President Richard Nixon conducted 16 a landmark state visit to China. 17 (14) During the military operations of the 18 China Cold War, not fewer than 16 members of the 19 Armed Forces of the United States sacrificed their 20 lives in service to the United States. 21 (15) The fifth unrecognized war era involving 22 active United States military personnel was the Leb- 23 anon Crisis of 1958, which involved more than 24 14,000 United States personnel and resulted in the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:21 Mar 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1641.IH H1641 khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1641 IH death of one member of the Armed Forces who sac- 1 rificed his life in service to the United States and 2 five non-combat deaths. 3 (16) The sixth unrecognized war era involving 4 active United States military personnel was the Bay 5 of Pigs invasion in April 1961. 6 (17) The Bay of Pigs invasion was a failed mili- 7 tary invasion of Cuba undertaken by a United 8 States military group sponsored by the Central In- 9 telligence Agency that resulted in not fewer than one 10 death of a member of the Armed Forces who sac- 11 rificed his life in service to the United States and 19 12 non-combat deaths. 13 (18) The seventh unrecognized war era involv- 14 ing active United States military personnel was the 15 Cuban Missile Crisis, which took place between Oc- 16 tober 16 and October 28, 1962. 17 (19) The Cuban Missile Crisis directly related 18 to homeland protection against the deployment of a 19 Soviet ballistic missile in Cuba. 20 (20) During the Cuban Missile Crisis, one 21 member of the Armed Forces sacrificed his life in 22 service to the United States and 19 others died as 23 non-combatants. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:21 Mar 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1641.IH H1641 khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1641 IH (21) The eighth unrecognized war era involving 1 active United States military personnel was the Do- 2 minican Civil War in 1965. 3 (22) Operations during the Dominican Civil 4 War resulted in the deaths of 27 members of the 5 Armed Forces who sacrificed their lives in service to 6 the United States, 20 non-combat-related deaths, 7 and 283 wounded. 8 (23) The ninth unrecognized war era involving 9 active United States military personnel was the Iran 10 Hostage Crisis, which lasted from November 4, 11 1979, through January 20, 1981. 12 (24) The Iran Hostage Crisis involved military 13 intervention by the United States which resulted in 14 the deaths of 8 members of the Armed Forces who 15 sacrificed their lives in service to United States. 16 (25) The tenth unrecognized war era involving 17 active United States military personnel was the Sal- 18 vadoran Civil War. 19 (26) The Salvadoran Civil War lasted more 20 than 12 years, through the terms of two Presidential 21 administrations of the United States, and resulted in 22 the deaths of 22 members of the Armed Forces who 23 sacrificed their lives in service to the United States, 24 15 non-combat deaths, and 35 other casualties. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:21 Mar 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1641.IH H1641 khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 1641 IH (27) The 11th unrecognized war era involving 1 active United States military personnel started on 2 April 5, 1986, when the La Belle discotheque in 3 West Berlin, Germany, was bombed, killing two 4 United States soldiers and wounding 79 other mem- 5 bers of the Armed Forces, which triggered what be- 6 came known as the Libyan Conflict. 7 (28) The military operations of the Libyan Con- 8 flict included numerous air strikes by United States 9 military forces and resulted in the deaths of two 10 members of the Armed Forces who sacrificed their 11 lives in service to the United States. 12 (29) The Libyan Conflict led to the 12th unrec- 13 ognized war era involving active United States mili- 14 tary personnel, known collectively as the Persian 15 Gulf Conflicts, which lasted from July 24, 1987, 16 through September 26, 1988. 17 (30) The Persian Gulf Conflicts resulted in nu- 18 merous military operations and the deaths of not 19 fewer than 39 members of the Armed Forces who 20 sacrificed their lives in service to the United States 21 and 31 wounded. 22 (31) Since the armistice that ended the hos- 23 tilities of the Korean War on January 31, 1955, 24 nearly 100 active United States military personnel 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:21 Mar 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1641.IH H1641 khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 1641 IH have sacrificed their lives in service to the United 1 States in South Korea, and more than 132 people of 2 the United States have been wounded in-country. 3 (32) Since January 1, 1947, through all of the 4 unrecognized war eras involving active United States 5 military personnel, not fewer than 778 combat and 6 non-combat members of the Armed Forces have sac- 7 rificed their lives in service to the United States and 8 not fewer than 797 have been wounded. 9 (33) Since January 1, 1947, the unrecognized 10 war eras involving active United States military per- 11 sonnel who were wounded and killed serving their 12 country were administered under orders from the 13 commander in chief and with the consent of Con- 14 gress, proving that the United States has been con- 15 ducting deadly wartime service to protect the coun- 16 try consistently since December 7, 1941. 17 (34) Eligibility for membership in The Amer- 18 ican Legion is determined by Congress through the 19 establishment of specific dates of declared and offi- 20 cially recognized hostilities in which United States 21 military personnel are on active service. 22 (35) The American Legion provides invaluable 23 services to its members and supports the community 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:21 Mar 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1641.IH H1641 khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 1641 IH of veterans who sacrificed in service of the United 1 States. 2 (36) Membership in The American Legion al- 3 lows veterans to engage in public service activities, 4 such as supporting Boys and Girls State and Na- 5 tion, youth mentorship programs, and benefit assist- 6 ance, career fairs, and employment assistance for 7 veterans. 8 (37) The American Legion has gone on record 9 as supporting the 12 unrecognized war eras involv- 10 ing active United States military personnel since the 11 beginning of World War II. 12 (38) The American Legion has aided, assisted, 13 and comforted the families of the men and women 14 who were called to serve or volunteered to serve dur- 15 ing all of the unrecognized war eras and continues 16 to provide support to veterans of those eras. 17 (39) The American Legion has commended the 18 heroic actions of all military personnel who risked 19 their lives in defense of freedom during each of the 20 unrecognized war eras involving active United States 21 military personnel. 22 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con- 23 gress that, in accordance with the history, tradition, and 24 purposes of The American Legion, it is fair, proper, and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:21 Mar 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1641.IH H1641 khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 1641 IH reasonable that the privilege of membership in The Amer- 1 ican Legion should be extended to all military personnel 2 who served on active military duty during all of the unrec- 3 ognized war eras involving active United States military 4 personnel. 5 SEC. 3. ELIGIBILITY FOR MEMBERSHIP IN THE AMERICAN 6 LEGION. 7 Section 21703(1)(A) of title 36, United States Code, 8 is amended— 9 (1) in clause (vi), by striking ‘‘or’’; and 10 (2) by adding at the end the following new 11 clause: 12 ‘‘(viii) such other beginning dates 13 through such other ending dates as are 14 provided in the constitution and bylaws of 15 the corporation; or’’. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:21 Mar 25, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1641.IH H1641 khammond on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with BILLS