II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 504 

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. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 14, 2019 

Ms. SINEMA (for herself and Mr. TILLIS) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Let Everyone Get In5 volved in Opportunities for National Service Act’’ or the 

6 ‘‘LEGION Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

2 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find3 ings: 

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

5 Government has designated specific periods of war, 

6 the dates of which are important for qualification for 

7 certain benefits or membership in veterans organiza8 tions established by Congress. 

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

10 during so-called peacetime eras, the United States 

11 military has been involved in not fewer than 12 

12 known eras, which are unrecognized by the United 

13 States Government as periods of war, resulting in 

14 numerous United States personnel combat casual15 ties. 

16 (3) Those 12 unrecognized war eras occurred at 

17 the direction of the then President of the United 

18 States, with full knowledge and consent of the then 

19 Congress. 

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

21 involving active United States military personnel was 

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

23 1949 between the army of the Government of 

24 Greece, supported by active military personal of the 

25 United States and the United Kingdom, and the 


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1 Democratic Army of Greece, the military branch of 

2 the Communist Party of Greece. 

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

4 the Armed Forces of the United States sacrificed his 

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

6 suffered non-combat deaths. 

7 (6) The second of those unrecognized war eras 

8 involving active United States military personnel was 

9 the Chinese Civil War, which occurred during the 

10 aftermath of World War II. 

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

12 States military equipped, trained, transported, and 

13 supplied the Kuomintang-led Government of the Re14 public of China with approximately $4,430,000,000 

15 in its resistance to the Communist Party of China. 

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

17 of the Armed Forces of the United States sacrificed 

18 their lives in service to the United States, 150 non19 combatants of the United States lost their lives in 

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

21 United States military casualties. 

22 (9) The third unrecognized war era involving 

23 active United States military personnel is known as 

24 the Cold War. 


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

2 approximately 1947 until 1991 when the Soviet 

3 Union collapsed. 

4 (11) Although no direct large-scale military 

5 fighting occurred between the militaries of the 

6 United States and the Soviet Union, active United 

7 States military personnel served in multiple regional 

8 conflicts during the Cold War, resulting in the 

9 deaths of not fewer than 32 members of the Armed 

10 Forces who sacrificed their lives in service to the 

11 United States and not fewer than 12 additional cas12 ualties. 

13 (12) The fourth unrecognized war era involving 

14 active United States military personnel is known as 

15 the China Cold War. 

16 (13) The China Cold War started when the 

17 Kuomintang-led Government of the Republic of 

18 China retreated to the island of Taiwan and lasted 

19 until 1972, after President Richard Nixon conducted 

20 a landmark state visit to China. 

21 (14) During the military operations of the 

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

23 Armed Forces of the United States sacrificed their 

24 lives in service to the United States. 


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1 (15) The fifth unrecognized war era involving 

2 active United States military personnel was the Leb3 anon Crisis of 1958, which involved more than 

4 14,000 United States personnel and resulted in the 

5 death of one member of the Armed Forces who sac6 rificed his life in service to the United States and 

7 five non-combat deaths. 

8 (16) The sixth unrecognized war era involving 

9 active United States military personnel was the Bay 

10 of Pigs invasion in April 1961. 

11 (17) The Bay of Pigs invasion was a failed mili12 tary invasion of Cuba undertaken by a United 

13 States military group sponsored by the Central In14 telligence Agency that resulted in not fewer than one 

15 death of a member of the Armed Forces who sac16 rificed his life in service to the United States and 19 

17 non-combat deaths. 

18 (18) The seventh unrecognized war era involv19 ing active United States military personnel was the 

20 Cuban Missile Crisis, which took place between Oc21 tober 16 and October 28, 1962. 

22 (19) The Cuban Missile Crisis directly related 

23 to homeland protection against the deployment of a 

24 Soviet ballistic missile in Cuba. 


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1 (20) During the Cuban Missile Crisis, one 

2 member of the Armed Forces sacrificed his life in 

3 service to the United States and 19 others died as 

4 non-combatants. 

5 (21) The eighth unrecognized war era involving 

6 active United States military personnel was the Do7 minican Civil War in 1965. 

8 (22) Operations during the Dominican Civil 

9 War resulted in the deaths of 27 members of the 

10 Armed Forces who sacrificed their lives in service to 

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

12 and 283 wounded. 

13 (23) The ninth unrecognized war era involving 

14 active United States military personnel was the Iran 

15 Hostage Crisis, which lasted from November 4, 

16 1979, through January 20, 1981. 

17 (24) The Iran Hostage Crisis involved military 

18 intervention by the United States which resulted in 

19 the deaths of 8 members of the Armed Forces who 

20 sacrificed their lives in service to United States. 

21 (25) The tenth unrecognized war era involving 

22 active United States military personnel was the Sal23 vadoran Civil War. 

24 (26) The Salvadoran Civil War lasted more 

25 than 12 years, through the terms of two Presidential 


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1 administrations of the United States, and resulted in 

2 the deaths of 22 members of the Armed Forces who 

3 sacrificed their lives in service to the United States, 

4 15 non-combat deaths, and 35 other casualties. 

5 (27) The 11th unrecognized war era involving 

6 active United States military personnel started on 

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

8 West Berlin, Germany, was bombed, killing two 

9 United States soldiers and wounding 79 other mem10 bers of the Armed Forces, which triggered what be11 came known as the Libyan Conflict. 

12 (28) The military operations of the Libyan Con13 flict included numerous air strikes by United States 

14 military forces and resulted in the deaths of two 

15 members of the Armed Forces who sacrificed their 

16 lives in service to the United States. 

17 (29) The Libyan Conflict led to the 12th unrec18 ognized war era involving active United States mili19 tary personnel, known collectively as the Persian 

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

21 through September 26, 1988. 

22 (30) The Persian Gulf Conflicts involved United 

23 States military missions to protect Kuwaiti-owned oil 

24 tankers which represented the largest United States 

25 naval convoy operation since World War II. 


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1 (31) The Persian Gulf Conflicts resulted in nu2 merous military operations and the deaths of not 

3 fewer than 39 members of the Armed Forces who 

4 sacrificed their lives in service to the United States 

5 and 31 wounded. 

6 (32) Since the armistice that ended the hos7 tilities of the Korean War on January 31, 1955, 

8 nearly 100 active United States military personnel 

9 have sacrificed their lives in service to the United 

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

11 the United States have been wounded in-country. 

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

13 unrecognized war eras involving active United States 

14 military personnel, not fewer than 778 combat and 

15 non-combat members of the Armed Forces have sac16 rificed their lives in service to the United States and 

17 not fewer than 797 have been wounded. 

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

19 war eras involving active United States military per20 sonnel who were wounded and killed serving their 

21 country were administered under orders from the 

22 commander in chief and with the consent of Con23 gress, proving that the United States has been con24 ducting deadly wartime service to protect the coun25 try consistently since December 7, 1941. 


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1 (35) Eligibility for membership in The Amer2 ican Legion is determined by Congress through the 

3 establishment of specific dates of declared and offi4 cially recognized hostilities in which United States 

5 military personnel are on active service. 

6 (36) The American Legion provides invaluable 

7 services to its members and supports the community 

8 of veterans who sacrificed in service of the United 

9 States. 

10 (37) Membership in The American Legion al11 lows veterans to engage in public service activities, 

12 such as supporting Boys and Girls State and Na13 tion, youth mentorship programs, and benefit assist14 ance, career fairs, and employment assistance for 

15 veterans. 

16 (38) The American Legion has gone on record 

17 as supporting the 12 unrecognized war eras involv18 ing active United States military personnel since the 

19 beginning of World War II. 

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

21 and comforted the families of the men and women 

22 who were called to serve or volunteered to serve dur23 ing all of the unrecognized war eras and continues 

24 to provide support to veterans of those eras. 


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1 (40) The American Legion has commended the 

2 heroic actions of all military personnel who risked 

3 their lives in defense of freedom during each of the 

4 unrecognized war eras involving active United States 

5 military personnel. 

6 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con7 gress that, in accordance with the history, tradition, and 

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

9 reasonable that the privilege of membership in The Amer10 ican Legion should be extended to all military personnel 

11 who served on active military duty during all of the unrec12 ognized war eras involving active United States military 

13 personnel. 

14 SEC. 3. ELIGIBILITY FOR MEMBERSHIP IN THE AMERICAN 

15 LEGION. 

16 Section 21703(1)(A) of title 36, United States Code, 

17 is amended— 

18 (1) in clause (vi), by striking ‘‘or’’; and 

19 (2) by adding at the end the following new 

20 clause: 

21 ‘‘(viii) such other beginning dates 

22 through such other ending dates as are 

23 provided in the constitution and bylaws of 

24 the corporation; or’’. 

Æ 


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