IC 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 504 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 12, 2019 

Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

AN ACT 

To amend title 36, United States Code, to authorize The 

American Legion to determine the requirements for 

membership in The American Legion, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Let Everyone Get In3 volved in Opportunities for National Service Act’’ or the 

4 ‘‘LEGION Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

6 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find7 ings: 

8 (1) Since the end of World War II, the Federal 

9 Government has designated specific periods of war, 

10 the dates of which are important for qualification for 

11 certain benefits or membership in veterans organiza12 tions established by Congress. 

13 (2) In between those recognized periods of war, 

14 during so-called peacetime eras, the United States 

15 military has been involved in not fewer than 12 

16 known eras, which are unrecognized by the United 

17 States Government as periods of war, resulting in 

18 numerous United States personnel combat casual19 ties. 

20 (3) Those 12 unrecognized war eras occurred at 

21 the direction of the then President of the United 

22 States, with full knowledge and consent of the then 

23 Congress. 

24 (4) The first of those 12 unrecognized war eras 

25 involving active United States military personnel was 

26 the Greek Civil War, fought in Greece from 1946 to 


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1 1949 between the army of the Government of 

2 Greece, supported by active military personal of the 

3 United States and the United Kingdom, and the 

4 Democratic Army of Greece, the military branch of 

5 the Communist Party of Greece. 

6 (5) During the Greek Civil War, one member of 

7 the Armed Forces of the United States sacrificed his 

8 life in service to the United States, and five others 

9 suffered non-combat deaths. 

10 (6) The second of those unrecognized war eras 

11 involving active United States military personnel was 

12 the Chinese Civil War, which occurred during the 

13 aftermath of World War II. 

14 (7) During the Chinese Civil War, the United 

15 States military equipped, trained, transported, and 

16 supplied the Kuomintang-led Government of the Re17 public of China with approximately $4,430,000,000 

18 in its resistance to the Communist Party of China. 

19 (8) During the Chinese Civil War, 14 members 

20 of the Armed Forces of the United States sacrificed 

21 their lives in service to the United States, 150 non22 combatants of the United States lost their lives in 

23 the war, and 51 were wounded, resulting in 215 

24 United States military casualties. 


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1 (9) The third unrecognized war era involving 

2 active United States military personnel is known as 

3 the Cold War. 

4 (10) The Cold War was a period spanning from 

5 approximately 1947 until 1991 when the Soviet 

6 Union collapsed. 

7 (11) Although no direct large-scale military 

8 fighting occurred between the militaries of the 

9 United States and the Soviet Union, active United 

10 States military personnel served in multiple regional 

11 conflicts during the Cold War, resulting in the 

12 deaths of not fewer than 32 members of the Armed 

13 Forces who sacrificed their lives in service to the 

14 United States and not fewer than 12 additional cas15 ualties. 

16 (12) The fourth unrecognized war era involving 

17 active United States military personnel is known as 

18 the China Cold War. 

19 (13) The China Cold War started when the 

20 Kuomintang-led Government of the Republic of 

21 China retreated to the island of Taiwan and lasted 

22 until 1972, after President Richard Nixon conducted 

23 a landmark state visit to China. 

24 (14) During the military operations of the 

25 China Cold War, not fewer than 16 members of the 


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1 Armed Forces of the United States sacrificed their 

2 lives in service to the United States. 

3 (15) The fifth unrecognized war era involving 

4 active United States military personnel was the Leb5 anon Crisis of 1958, which involved more than 

6 14,000 United States personnel and resulted in the 

7 death of one member of the Armed Forces who sac8 rificed his life in service to the United States and 

9 five non-combat deaths. 

10 (16) The sixth unrecognized war era involving 

11 active United States military personnel was the Bay 

12 of Pigs invasion in April 1961. 

13 (17) The Bay of Pigs invasion was a failed mili14 tary invasion of Cuba undertaken by a United 

15 States military group sponsored by the Central In16 telligence Agency that resulted in not fewer than one 

17 death of a member of the Armed Forces who sac18 rificed his life in service to the United States and 19 

19 non-combat deaths. 

20 (18) The seventh unrecognized war era involv21 ing active United States military personnel was the 

22 Cuban Missile Crisis, which took place between Oc23 tober 16 and October 28, 1962. 


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1 (19) The Cuban Missile Crisis directly related 

2 to homeland protection against the deployment of a 

3 Soviet ballistic missile in Cuba. 

4 (20) During the Cuban Missile Crisis, one 

5 member of the Armed Forces sacrificed his life in 

6 service to the United States and 19 others died as 

7 non-combatants. 

8 (21) The eighth unrecognized war era involving 

9 active United States military personnel was the Do10 minican Civil War in 1965. 

11 (22) Operations during the Dominican Civil 

12 War resulted in the deaths of 27 members of the 

13 Armed Forces who sacrificed their lives in service to 

14 the United States, 20 non-combat-related deaths, 

15 and 283 wounded. 

16 (23) The ninth unrecognized war era involving 

17 active United States military personnel was the Iran 

18 Hostage Crisis, which lasted from November 4, 

19 1979, through January 20, 1981. 

20 (24) The Iran Hostage Crisis involved military 

21 intervention by the United States which resulted in 

22 the deaths of 8 members of the Armed Forces who 

23 sacrificed their lives in service to United States. 


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1 (25) The tenth unrecognized war era involving 

2 active United States military personnel was the Sal3 vadoran Civil War. 

4 (26) The Salvadoran Civil War lasted more 

5 than 12 years, through the terms of two Presidential 

6 administrations of the United States, and resulted in 

7 the deaths of 22 members of the Armed Forces who 

8 sacrificed their lives in service to the United States, 

9 15 non-combat deaths, and 35 other casualties. 

10 (27) The 11th unrecognized war era involving 

11 active United States military personnel started on 

12 April 5, 1986, when the La Belle discotheque in 

13 West Berlin, Germany, was bombed, killing two 

14 United States soldiers and wounding 79 other mem15 bers of the Armed Forces, which triggered what be16 came known as the Libyan Conflict. 

17 (28) The military operations of the Libyan Con18 flict included numerous air strikes by United States 

19 military forces and resulted in the deaths of two 

20 members of the Armed Forces who sacrificed their 

21 lives in service to the United States. 

22 (29) The Libyan Conflict led to the 12th unrec23 ognized war era involving active United States mili24 tary personnel, known collectively as the Persian 


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1 Gulf Conflicts, which lasted from July 24, 1987, 

2 through September 26, 1988. 

3 (30) The Persian Gulf Conflicts involved United 

4 States military missions to protect Kuwaiti-owned oil 

5 tankers which represented the largest United States 

6 naval convoy operation since World War II. 

7 (31) The Persian Gulf Conflicts resulted in nu8 merous military operations and the deaths of not 

9 fewer than 39 members of the Armed Forces who 

10 sacrificed their lives in service to the United States 

11 and 31 wounded. 

12 (32) Since the armistice that ended the hos13 tilities of the Korean War on January 31, 1955, 

14 nearly 100 active United States military personnel 

15 have sacrificed their lives in service to the United 

16 States in South Korea, and more than 132 people of 

17 the United States have been wounded in-country. 

18 (33) Since January 1, 1947, through all of the 

19 unrecognized war eras involving active United States 

20 military personnel, not fewer than 778 combat and 

21 non-combat members of the Armed Forces have sac22 rificed their lives in service to the United States and 

23 not fewer than 797 have been wounded. 

24 (34) Since January 1, 1947, the unrecognized 

25 war eras involving active United States military perVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:31 Jun 13, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S504.RFH S504

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1 sonnel who were wounded and killed serving their 

2 country were administered under orders from the 

3 commander in chief and with the consent of Con4 gress, proving that the United States has been con5 ducting deadly wartime service to protect the coun6 try consistently since December 7, 1941. 

7 (35) Eligibility for membership in The Amer8 ican Legion is determined by Congress through the 

9 establishment of specific dates of declared and offi10 cially recognized hostilities in which United States 

11 military personnel are on active service. 

12 (36) The American Legion provides invaluable 

13 services to its members and supports the community 

14 of veterans who sacrificed in service of the United 

15 States. 

16 (37) Membership in The American Legion al17 lows veterans to engage in public service activities, 

18 such as supporting Boys and Girls State and Na19 tion, youth mentorship programs, and benefit assist20 ance, career fairs, and employment assistance for 

21 veterans. 

22 (38) The American Legion has gone on record 

23 as supporting the 12 unrecognized war eras involv24 ing active United States military personnel since the 

25 beginning of World War II. 


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1 (39) The American Legion has aided, assisted, 

2 and comforted the families of the men and women 

3 who were called to serve or volunteered to serve dur4 ing all of the unrecognized war eras and continues 

5 to provide support to veterans of those eras. 

6 (40) The American Legion has commended the 

7 heroic actions of all military personnel who risked 

8 their lives in defense of freedom during each of the 

9 unrecognized war eras involving active United States 

10 military personnel. 

11 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con12 gress that, in accordance with the history, tradition, and 

13 purposes of The American Legion, it is fair, proper, and 

14 reasonable that the privilege of membership in The Amer15 ican Legion should be extended to all military personnel 

16 who served on active military duty during all of the unrec17 ognized war eras involving active United States military 

18 personnel. 

19 SEC. 3. ELIGIBILITY FOR MEMBERSHIP IN THE AMERICAN 

20 LEGION. 

21 Section 21703 of title 36, United States Code, is 

22 amended— 

23 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

24 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘dur25 ing any period from—’’ and all that follows 


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1 through the end of clause (vii) and inserting the 

2 following: ‘‘during— 

3 ‘‘(i) the period from April 6, 1917, 

4 through November 11, 1918; or 

5 ‘‘(ii) any time after December 7, 

6 1941; or’’; and 

7 (B) in subparagraph (B), by inserting ‘‘or 

8 time’’ after ‘‘a period’’; and 

9 (2) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘or time’’ 

10 after ‘‘that period’’. 

11 SEC. 4. NONDISCRIMINATION WITH RESPECT TO THE RE12 QUIREMENTS FOR HOLDING A STAFF POSI13 TION IN THE AMERICAN LEGION. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 217 of title 36, United 

15 States Code, is amended by inserting after section 21704 

16 the following new section: 

17 ‘‘§ 21704A. Nondiscrimination 

18 ‘‘The requirements for holding a staff position in the 

19 corporation may not discriminate on the basis of race, 

20 color, religion, sex, or national origin.’’. 

21 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

22 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting 


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1 after the item relating to section 21704 the following new 

2 item: 

‘‘21704A. Nondiscrimination.’’. 

Passed the Senate June 11, 2019. 

Attest: JULIE E. ADAMS, 

Secretary. 


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