II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5006 

To provide for the repatriation to the United States for historical and educational purposes of military decorations, medals, and related items that 

are located outside the United States, to provide for the imposition 

of sanctions in connection with trade in military medals and decorations, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 10, 2020 

Mr. CRUZ introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to 

the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To provide for the repatriation to the United States for 

historical and educational purposes of military decorations, medals, and related items that are located outside 

the United States, to provide for the imposition of sanctions in connection with trade in military medals and 

decorations, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Limiting and Enabling 

5 Gathering Awards Commemorating Yesteryear Act’’ or 

6 ‘‘LEGACY Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REPATRIATION TO THE UNITED STATES FOR HIS2 TORICAL AND EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES OF 

3 MILITARY DECORATIONS, MEDALS, AND RE4 LATED ITEMS THAT ARE LOCATED OUTSIDE 

5 THE UNITED STATES. 

6 (a) PURCHASE AND IMPORTATION INTO UNITED

7 STATES AUTHORIZED.—Subject to subsection (b), any or8 ganization or individual may purchase outside the United 

9 States for importation in the United States, import into 

10 the United States, or both purchase outside the United 

11 States for importation into the United States and import 

12 into the United States any of the following: 

13 (1) Any decoration or medal authorized by Con14 gress for members of the Armed Forces of the 

15 United States. 

16 (2) Any service medal or badge awarded to 

17 members of the Armed Forces of the United States. 

18 (3) Any ribbon, button, or rosette of any deco19 ration, medal, or badge described in paragraph (1) 

20 or (2). 

21 (b) APPROVAL OF PURCHASE AND IMPORTATION.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—An organization or indi23 vidual may purchase, import, or both an item pursu24 ant to subsection (a) only if the Secretary of De25 fense approves in writing such purchase, importa26 tion, or both. 


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1 (2) CONDITIONS.—The Secretary may not ap2 prove the purchase, importation, or both of an item 

3 pursuant to paragraph (1) unless the Secretary de4 termines that— 

5 (A) the purchase, importation, or both of 

6 the item will be made for historical or edu7 cational purposes; 

8 (B) the importation of the item to the 

9 United States will to be permanent; and 

10 (C) upon importation, the item will be— 

11 (i) returned, without expectation of 

12 reimbursement, to the appropriate Armed 

13 Force; 

14 (ii) purchased by or donated to a mu15 seum or other entity in the United States 

16 that agrees to display the item for the edu17 cational benefit of the American public; or 

18 (iii) purchased by or donated to an 

19 educational institution in the United States 

20 for use for instructional purposes. 

21 (3) APPLICATION.—An organization or indi22 vidual seeking to purchase, import, or both an item 

23 pursuant to subsection (a) shall submit to the Sec24 retary an application for approval of such purchase, 

25 importation, or both in such form and manner, and 


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1 containing such information, as the Secretary con2 siders appropriate for purposes of this section. Any 

3 such application may be for approval with respect to 

4 a single item or multiple items to be purchased, im5 ported, or both over such period of time, not to ex6 ceed one year, as the organization or individual con7 cerned shall request in such application. 

8 (4) DURATION OF APPROVAL; RENEWAL.—An 

9 approval of purchase, importation, or both for an or10 ganization or individual under this subsection may 

11 be for activities so approved over such period, not to 

12 exceed one year, as the Secretary shall specify in 

13 such approval. Any such approval may be renewed in 

14 accordance with the provisions of this subsection. 

15 (c) CONSTRUCTION WITH STOLEN VALOR PROHIBI16 TION.—This section is intended to create an exception to 

17 the prohibition on the purchase and sale of military 

18 awards and decorations in section 704 of title 18, United 

19 States Code, as such exceptions are provided for in that 

20 section, and the purchase, importation, or both of such 

21 an item shall not be treated as an offense under that sec22 tion if the organization or individual making such pur23 chase, importation, or both— 

24 (1) acts in accordance with the requirements of 

25 this section; and 


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1 (2) is approved by the Secretary to do so pursu2 ant to subsection (b). 

3 (d) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary may prescribe 

4 regulations for purposes of carrying out this section. 

5 (e) UNITED STATES DEFINED.—In this section, the 

6 term ‘‘United States’’ means the United States and its 

7 Territories and possessions. 

8 SEC. 3. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO 

9 TRADE IN MILITARY MEDALS OR DECORA10 TIONS. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall impose the 

12 sanctions described in subsection (c) with respect to each 

13 person on the list required by subsection (b). 

14 (b) LIST REQUIRED.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year 

16 after the date of the enactment of this Act, and an17 nually thereafter, the Secretary of State shall submit 

18 to the appropriate congressional committees a list of 

19 foreign persons that have engaged in activities that, 

20 if engaged in the United States or by a United 

21 States person, would constitute an offense under 

22 section 704(a) of title 18, United States Code. 

23 (2) EXCEPTION.—The Secretary of State may 

24 not include a foreign person on the list required by 

25 paragraph (1) for— 


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1 (A) purchasing, importing, or both an item 

2 described in subsection (a) of section 1 with the 

3 approval of the Secretary of Defense under sub4 section (b) of that section; or 

5 (B) selling such an item to a person ap6 proved by the Secretary of Defense to purchase, 

7 import, or both, the item pursuant to section 1. 

8 (c) SANCTIONS DESCRIBED.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The sanctions described in 

10 this subsection are the following: 

11 (A) PROPERTY BLOCKING.—The President 

12 shall, pursuant to the International Emergency 

13 Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), 

14 block and prohibit all transactions in property 

15 and interests in property of a person on the list 

16 required by subsection (b) if such property and 

17 interests in property are in the United States, 

18 come within the United States, or are or come 

19 within the possession or control of a United 

20 States person. 

21 (B) ALIENS INELIGIBLE FOR VISAS, AD22 MISSION, OR PAROLE.— 

23 (i) EXCLUSION FROM THE UNITED

24 STATES.—The Secretary of State shall 

25 deny a visa to, and the Secretary of HomeVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:14 Dec 16, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5006.IS S5006

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1 land Security shall exclude from the 

2 United States, any alien on the list re3 quired by subsection (b). 

4 (ii) CURRENT VISAS REVOKED.— 

5 (I) IN GENERAL.—The issuing 

6 consular officer, the Secretary of 

7 State, or the Secretary of Homeland 

8 Security (or a designee of any such 

9 officer or Secretary) shall revoke any 

10 visa or other entry documentation 

11 issued to an alien on the list required 

12 by subsection (b), regardless of when 

13 the visa or other documentation was 

14 issued. 

15 (II) EFFECT OF REVOCATION.— 

16 A revocation under subclause (I) shall 

17 take effect immediately and shall 

18 automatically cancel any other valid 

19 visa or entry documentation that is in 

20 the alien’s possession. 

21 (2) INAPPLICABILITY OF NATIONAL EMER22 GENCY REQUIREMENT.—The requirements under 

23 section 202 of the International Emergency Eco24 nomic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701) shall not apply 

25 for purposes of paragraph (1)(A). 


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1 (d) EXCEPTIONS.— 

2 (1) INTELLIGENCE ACTIVITIES.—This section 

3 shall not apply with respect to activities subject to 

4 the reporting requirements under title V of the Na5 tional Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. 3091 et seq.) 

6 or any authorized intelligence activities of the United 

7 States. 

8 (2) COMPLIANCE WITH UNITED NATIONS HEAD9 QUARTERS AGREEMENT.—Subsection (c)(1)(B) shall 

10 not apply with respect to the admission of an alien 

11 to the United States if such admission is necessary 

12 to comply with United States obligations under the 

13 Agreement between the United Nations and the 

14 United States of America regarding the Head15 quarters of the United Nations, signed at Lake Suc16 cess June 26, 1947, and entered into force Novem17 ber 21, 1947, under the Convention on Consular Re18 lations, done at Vienna April 24, 1963, and entered 

19 into force March 19, 1967, or under other inter20 national obligations. 

21 (e) IMPLEMENTATION; PENALTIES.— 

22 (1) IMPLEMENTATION.—The President may ex23 ercise all authorities provided under sections 203 

24 and 205 of the International Emergency Economic 


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1 Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702 and 1704) to carry out 

2 this section. 

3 (2) PENALTIES.—A person that violates, at4 tempts to violate, conspires to violate, or causes a 

5 violation of subsection (c)(1)(A) or any regulation, 

6 license, or order issued to carry out that subsection 

7 shall be subject to the penalties set forth in sub8 sections (b) and (c) of section 206 of the Inter9 national Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 

10 U.S.C. 1705) to the same extent as a person that 

11 commits an unlawful act described in subsection (a) 

12 of that section. 

13 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

14 (1) ADMISSION; ADMITTED; ALIEN.—The terms 

15 ‘‘admission’’, ‘‘admitted’’, and ‘‘alien’’ have the 

16 meanings given those terms in section 101 of the 

17 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101). 

18 (2) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT19 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com20 mittees’’ means— 

21 (A) the Committee on Foreign Relations 

22 and the Committee on Armed Services of the 

23 Senate; and 


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1 (B) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and 

2 the Committee on Armed Services of the House 

3 of Representatives. 

4 (3) FOREIGN PERSON.—The term ‘‘foreign per5 son’’ means an individual or entity that is not a 

6 United States person. 

7 (4) UNITED STATES PERSON.—The term 

8 ‘‘United States person’’ means— 

9 (A) a United States citizen or an alien law10 fully admitted to the United States for perma11 nent residence; or 

12 (B) an entity organized under the laws of 

13 the United States or any jurisdiction within the 

14 United States. 

Æ 


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