I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2911 To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide for penalties for the sale of any Purple Heart awarded to a member of the Armed Forces. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 22, 2019 Mr. COOK (for himself, Mrs. MURPHY, Ms. NORTON, Mr. CASTRO of Texas, Mr. WILSON of South Carolina, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. KELLY of Mississippi, Mr. CALVERT, and Ms. STEFANIK) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide for pen- alties for the sale of any Purple Heart awarded to a member of the Armed Forces. 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 ‘‘Private Corrado Piccoli 4 Purple Heart Preservation Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:54 Jun 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2911.IH H2911 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 2911 IH (1) The Purple Heart medal solemnly recog- 1 nizes the great and sometimes ultimate sacrifice of 2 American servicemembers like Private Corrado 3 Piccoli. 4 (2) The Purple Heart medal holds a place of 5 honor as the national symbol of this sacrifice and 6 deserves special protections. 7 SEC. 3. PENALTY FOR SALE OF PURPLE HEARTS AWARDED 8 TO MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES. 9 Section 704 of title 18, United States Code, is 10 amended— 11 (1) in subsection (a), by striking ‘‘Whoever’’ 12 and inserting ‘‘Except as provided in subsection (e), 13 whoever’’; and 14 (2) by adding at the end the following: 15 ‘‘(e) PURPLE HEART.— 16 ‘‘(1) PENALTY.—Whoever willfully purchases, 17 attempts to purchase, solicits for purchase, mails, 18 ships, imports, exports, produces blank certificates 19 of receipt for, manufactures, sells, attempts to sell, 20 advertises for sale, trades, barters, or exchanges for 21 anything of value any Purple Heart awarded to a 22 member of the armed forces or former member of 23 the armed forces by the Secretary of the military de- 24 partment concerned, except when authorized under 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:54 Jun 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2911.IH H2911 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 2911 IH regulations made pursuant to law, shall be fined 1 under this title, imprisoned not more than 6 months, 2 or both. 3 ‘‘(2) LIMITATION ON REGULATIONS.—Regula- 4 tions described in paragraph (1) may not authorize 5 the sale of any Purple Heart awarded to a member 6 of the armed forces or former member of the armed 7 forces by the Secretary of the military department 8 concerned, unless the sale is conducted by the mem- 9 ber or former member to whom the Purple Heart 10 was awarded. 11 ‘‘(3) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 12 ‘willfully’ means the voluntary, intentional violation 13 of a known legal duty.’’. 14 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:54 Jun 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2911.IH H2911 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS