World War I Valor Medals Review Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2249 To require the review of the service of certain members of the Armed Forces during World War I to determine if such members should be awarded the Medal of Honor, to authorize the award of the Medal of Honor based on the results of the review, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES APRIL 10, 2019 Mr. HILL of Arkansas (for himself, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. GRAVES of Missouri, and Ms. HOULAHAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services A BILL To require the review of the service of certain members of the Armed Forces during World War I to determine if such members should be awarded the Medal of Honor, to authorize the award of the Medal of Honor based on the results of the review, and for other purposes. 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 ‘‘World War I Valor 4 Medals Review Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:50 Apr 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2249.IH H2249 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 2249 IH SEC. 2. REVIEW ON AWARD OF THE MEDAL OF HONOR TO 1 CERTAIN WORLD WAR I VETERANS. 2 (a) REVIEW REQUIRED.—Each Secretary concerned 3 shall review the service records of each World War I vet- 4 eran described in subsection (b) under the jurisdiction of 5 such Secretary who is recommended for such review by 6 the Valor Medals Review Task Force referred to in sub- 7 section (c), or another veterans service organization, in 8 order to determine whether such veteran should be award- 9 ed the Medal of Honor for valor during World War I. 10 (b) COVERED WORLD WAR I VETERANS.—The 11 World War I veterans whose service records are to be re- 12 viewed under subsection (a) are the following: 13 (1) Any African American war veteran, Asian 14 American war veteran, Hispanic American war vet- 15 eran, Jewish American war veteran, or Native Amer- 16 ican war veteran who was awarded the Distinguished 17 Service Cross or the Navy Cross for an action that 18 occurred between April 6, 1917, and November 11, 19 1918. 20 (2) Any African American war veteran, Asian 21 American war veteran, Hispanic American war vet- 22 eran, Jewish American war veteran, or Native Amer- 23 ican war veteran who was awarded the Croix de 24 Guerre with Palm (that is, awarded at the Army 25 level or above) by the Government of France for an 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:50 Apr 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2249.IH H2249 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 2249 IH action that occurred between April 6, 1917, and No- 1 vember 11, 1918. 2 (3) Any African American war veteran, Asian 3 American war veteran, Hispanic American war vet- 4 eran, Jewish American war veteran, or Native Amer- 5 ican war veteran who was recommended for a Medal 6 of Honor for an action that occurred from April 6, 7 1917, to November 11, 1918. 8 (c) CONSULTATIONS.—In carrying out the review 9 under subsection (a), each Secretary concerned shall con- 10 sult at least once each fiscal year quarter with the Valor 11 Medals Review Task Force, jointly established by the 12 United States Foundation for the Commemoration of the 13 World Wars (in consultation with the United States World 14 War One Centennial Commission) and the George S. Robb 15 Centre for the Study of the Great War, and with such 16 other veterans service organizations as such Secretary 17 considers appropriate, until the conclusion of the review. 18 (d) RECOMMENDATION BASED ON REVIEW.—If a 19 Secretary concerned determines, based upon the review 20 under subsection (a), that the award of the Medal of 21 Honor to a covered World War I veteran is warranted, 22 such Secretary shall submit to the President a rec- 23 ommendation that the President award the Medal of 24 Honor to that veteran. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:50 Apr 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2249.IH H2249 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 2249 IH (e) AUTHORITY TO AWARD MEDAL OF HONOR.—The 1 Medal of Honor may be awarded to a World War I veteran 2 in accordance with a recommendation of a Secretary con- 3 cerned under subsection (d). 4 (f) WAIVER OF TIME LIMITATIONS.—An award of 5 the Medal of Honor may be made under subsection (e) 6 without regard to— 7 (1) section 7274 or 8298 of title 10, United 8 States Code, as applicable; and 9 (2) any regulation or other administrative re- 10 striction on— 11 (A) the time for awarding the Medal of 12 Honor; or 13 (B) the awarding of the Medal of Honor 14 for service for which a Distinguished Service 15 Cross or Navy Cross has been awarded. 16 (g) DEFINITIONS.— 17 (1) IN GENERAL.—In this section: 18 (A) The term ‘‘Secretary concerned’’ 19 means— 20 (i) the Secretary of the Army, in the 21 case of members of the Armed Forces who 22 served in the Army between April 6, 1917, 23 and November 11, 1918; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:50 Apr 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2249.IH H2249 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 2249 IH (ii) the Secretary of the Navy, in the 1 case of members of the Armed Forces who 2 served in the Navy or the Marine Corps 3 between April 6, 1917, and November 11, 4 1918. 5 (B) The term ‘‘African American war vet- 6 eran’’ means any person who served in the 7 United States Armed Forces between April 6, 8 1917, and November 11, 1918, and who identi- 9 fied himself as of African descent on his mili- 10 tary personnel records. 11 (C) The term ‘‘Asian American war vet- 12 eran’’ means any person who served in the 13 United States Armed Forces between April 6, 14 1917, and November 11, 1918, and who identi- 15 fied himself racially, nationally, or ethnically as 16 originating from a country in Asia on his mili- 17 tary personnel records. 18 (D) The term ‘‘Hispanic American war 19 veteran’’ means any person who served in the 20 United States Armed Forces between April 6, 21 1917, and November 11, 1918, and who identi- 22 fied himself racially, nationally, or ethnically as 23 originating from a country where Spanish is an 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:50 Apr 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2249.IH H2249 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 2249 IH official language on his military personnel 1 records. 2 (E) The term ‘‘Jewish American war vet- 3 eran’’ means any person who served in the 4 United States Armed Forces between April 6, 5 1917, and November 11, 1918, and who identi- 6 fied himself as Jewish on his military personnel 7 records. 8 (F) The term ‘‘Native American war vet- 9 eran’’ means any person who served in the 10 United States Armed Forces between April 6, 11 1917, and November 11, 1918, and who identi- 12 fied himself as a member of a federally recog- 13 nized tribe within the modern territory of the 14 United States on his military personnel records. 15 (2) APPLICATION OF DEFINITIONS OF ORI- 16 GIN.—If the military personnel records of a person 17 do not reflect the person’s membership in one of the 18 groups identified in subparagraphs (B) through (F) 19 of paragraph (1) but historical evidence exists that 20 demonstrates the person’s Jewish faith held at the 21 time of service, or that the person identified himself 22 as of African, Asian, Hispanic, or Native American 23 descent, the person may be treated as being a mem- 24 ber of the applicable group by the Secretary con- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:50 Apr 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2249.IH H2249 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 2249 IH cerned (in consultation with the organizations re- 1 ferred to in subsection (c)) for purposes of this sec- 2 tion. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:50 Apr 22, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2249.IH H2249 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS