Cold War Service Medal Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4807 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. 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 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 ‘‘Cold War Service 4 Medal Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. COLD WAR SERVICE MEDAL. 6 (a) MEDAL AUTHORIZED.— 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:45 Oct 28, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4807.IH H4807 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 4807 IH (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 57 of title 10, 1 United States Code, is amended by adding at the 2 end the following new section: 3 ‘‘§ 1136. Cold War Service Medal 4 ‘‘(a) MEDAL AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary con- 5 cerned may issue a service medal, to be known as the ‘Cold 6 War Service Medal’, to persons eligible to receive the 7 medal under subsection (c). 8 ‘‘(b) DESIGN.—The Cold War Service Medal shall be 9 of an appropriate design approved by the Secretary of De- 10 fense, with ribbons, lapel pins, and other appurtenances. 11 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE PERSONS.—Subject to subsection (d), 12 a person eligible to be issued the Cold War Service Medal 13 is any person who— 14 ‘‘(1) served on active duty in the armed forces 15 for not less than 24 consecutive months during the 16 Cold War; 17 ‘‘(2) was deployed as a member of the armed 18 forces outside the continental United States for a 19 period of at least 30 days during the Cold War; 20 ‘‘(3) was a member of a reserve component of 21 the armed forces and called or ordered to active duty 22 to participate in exercises or operations directly re- 23 lated to the Cold War, as determined by the Sec- 24 retary of Defense; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:45 Oct 28, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4807.IH H4807 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 4807 IH ‘‘(4) performed such other service in the armed 1 forces during the Cold War as the Secretary of De- 2 fense may prescribe for purposes of this section. 3 ‘‘(d) REQUIRED CHARACTERIZATION OF SERVICE.— 4 In the case of a person described in subsection (c) who 5 is already discharged or released from the armed forces, 6 the person is eligible for the Cold War Service Medal only 7 if the discharge or release was under honorable conditions 8 after service in the armed forces characterized as honor- 9 able. 10 ‘‘(e) ONE MEDAL AUTHORIZED.—Not more than one 11 Cold War Service Medal may be issued to any person. 12 ‘‘(f) ISSUANCE TO NEXT-OF-KIN.—If a person de- 13 scribed in subsection (c) is deceased, the Secretary con- 14 cerned may provide for issuance of the Cold War Service 15 Medal to the next-of-kin of the person. 16 ‘‘(g) REPLACEMENT.—Under regulations prescribed 17 by the Secretary concerned, a Cold War Service Medal 18 may be replaced without charge if lost, destroyed, or ren- 19 dered unfit for use without fault or neglect on the part 20 of the person to whom it was issued. 21 ‘‘(h) REGULATIONS.—The issuance of a Cold War 22 Service Medal shall be subject to such regulations as the 23 Secretaries concerned shall prescribe for purposes of this 24 section. The Secretary of Defense shall ensure that any 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:45 Oct 28, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4807.IH H4807 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 4807 IH regulations prescribed under this subsection are uniform 1 to the extent practicable. 2 ‘‘(i) COLD WAR DEFINED.—In this section, the term 3 ‘Cold War’ means the period beginning on September 2, 4 1945, and ending on December 26, 1991.’’. 5 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec- 6 tions at the beginning of chapter 57 of such title is 7 amended by adding at the end the following new 8 item: 9 ‘‘1136. Cold War Service Medal.’’. (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con- 10 gress that the Secretary of Defense should take appro- 11 priate actions to expedite— 12 (1) the design of the Cold War Service Medal 13 provided for by section 1136 of title 10, United 14 States Code (as added by subsection (a)); and 15 (2) the establishment and implementation of 16 mechanisms to facilitate the issuance of the Cold 17 War Service Medal to persons eligible for the 18 issuance of the medal under such section. 19 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:45 Oct 28, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4807.IH H4807 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS