| 1 | 1 | | II |
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| 2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
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| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
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| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION S. 214 |
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| 5 | 5 | | To amend title 38, United States Code, to increase the rate of the special |
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| 6 | 6 | | pension payable to Medal of Honor recipients, and for other purposes. |
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| 7 | 7 | | IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES |
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| 8 | 8 | | JANUARY23, 2025 |
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| 9 | 9 | | Mr. C |
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| 10 | 10 | | RUZ(for himself and Mr. COTTON) introduced the following bill; which |
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| 11 | 11 | | was read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs |
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| 12 | 12 | | A BILL |
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| 13 | 13 | | To amend title 38, United States Code, to increase the |
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| 14 | 14 | | rate of the special pension payable to Medal of Honor |
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| 15 | 15 | | recipients, and for other purposes. |
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| 16 | 16 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1 |
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| 17 | 17 | | tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 |
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| 18 | 18 | | SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 |
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| 19 | 19 | | This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Monetary Enhance-4 |
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| 20 | 20 | | ment for Distinguished Active Legends Act of 2025’’ or 5 |
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| 21 | 21 | | the ‘‘MEDAL Act of 2025’’. 6 |
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| 22 | 22 | | SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 7 |
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| 23 | 23 | | Congress finds the following: 8 |
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| 24 | 24 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:57 Feb 19, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S214.IS S214 |
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| 25 | 25 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2 |
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| 26 | 26 | | •S 214 IS |
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| 27 | 27 | | (1) The Medal of Honor is the highest and 1 |
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| 28 | 28 | | most prestigious military decoration of the United 2 |
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| 29 | 29 | | States. 3 |
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| 30 | 30 | | (2) To earn the Medal of Honor, ‘‘the deed of 4 |
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| 31 | 31 | | the person . . . must be so outstanding that it clear-5 |
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| 32 | 32 | | ly distinguishes his gallantry beyond the call of duty 6 |
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| 33 | 33 | | from lesser forms of bravery’’. 7 |
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| 34 | 34 | | (3) The actions of Medal of Honor recipients 8 |
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| 35 | 35 | | inspire bravery, and the willingness to give all, in 9 |
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| 36 | 36 | | those who serve in the Armed Forces and those who 10 |
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| 37 | 37 | | will serve in the future. 11 |
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| 38 | 38 | | (4) Those listed on the Medal of Honor Roll ex-12 |
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| 39 | 39 | | emplify the best traits of members of the Armed 13 |
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| 40 | 40 | | Forces, a long and proud lineage of those who went 14 |
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| 41 | 41 | | beyond the call of duty. 15 |
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| 42 | 42 | | (5) Pursuant to section 1562 of title 38, United 16 |
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| 43 | 43 | | States Code, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall 17 |
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| 44 | 44 | | pay monthly to each living person whose name has 18 |
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| 45 | 45 | | been entered on the Army, Navy, Air Force, and 19 |
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| 46 | 46 | | Coast Guard Medal of Honor Roll a special pension. 20 |
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| 47 | 47 | | (6) Recipients of the Medal of Honor have 21 |
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| 48 | 48 | | earned a substantial and historic increase to such 22 |
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| 49 | 49 | | special pension in recognition of their conspicuous 23 |
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| 50 | 50 | | gallantry, unwavering commitment, and heroic ac-24 |
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| 51 | 51 | | tions above and beyond the call of duty. 25 |
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| 53 | 53 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3 |
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| 54 | 54 | | •S 214 IS |
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| 55 | 55 | | SEC. 3. INCREASE IN DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS 1 |
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| 56 | 56 | | SPECIAL PENSION PAYABLE TO MEDAL OF 2 |
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| 57 | 57 | | HONOR RECIPIENTS. 3 |
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| 58 | 58 | | (a) I |
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| 59 | 59 | | NCREASE INSPECIALPENSIONPAYABLE TO 4 |
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| 60 | 60 | | L |
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| 61 | 61 | | IVINGMEDAL OFHONORRECIPIENTS.—Paragraph (1) 5 |
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| 62 | 62 | | of section 1562(a) of title 38, United States Code, is 6 |
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| 63 | 63 | | amended by striking ‘‘$1,406.73’’ and inserting 7 |
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| 64 | 64 | | ‘‘$8,333.33’’. 8 |
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| 65 | 65 | | (b) A |
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| 66 | 66 | | MOUNT OF SPECIALPENSIONPAYABLE TO 9 |
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| 67 | 67 | | S |
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| 68 | 68 | | URVIVINGSPOUSES.—Paragraph (2)(A) of such section 10 |
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| 69 | 69 | | is amended— 11 |
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| 70 | 70 | | (1) by striking ‘‘special pension under this sec-12 |
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| 71 | 71 | | tion’’ and inserting ‘‘monthly’’; and 13 |
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| 72 | 72 | | (2) by striking the period and adding at the end 14 |
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| 73 | 73 | | the following: ‘‘a special pension under this section 15 |
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| 74 | 74 | | at the rate of $1,406.73, as adjusted from time to 16 |
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| 75 | 75 | | time under subsection (e).’’. 17 |
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| 76 | 76 | | Æ |
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| 77 | 77 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:57 Feb 19, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S214.IS S214 |
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| 78 | 78 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB |
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