I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3480

To require the construction at Arlington National Cemetery of a memorial 

to noncitizens killed in the line of duty while serving in the Armed 

Forces of the United States of America. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 7, 2003

Mr. CUNNINGHAM (for himself and Ms. HARMAN) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

A BILL

To require the construction at Arlington National Cemetery 

of a memorial to noncitizens killed in the line of duty 

while serving in the Armed Forces of the United States 

of America.

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 ‘‘Memorial to Noncitizen 

5 Patriots Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS. 

7 (a) The Congress finds the following: 
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1 (1) There is a long history of noncitizens serv2 ing in the Armed Forces of the United States of 

3 America. 

4 (2) Noncitizens have been engaged in American 

5 battles since the Colonial period, both as volunteers 

6 and conscripts. 

7 (3) George Washington, a British subject, led 

8 our American Revolution and the Marquis de Lafay9 ette, a citizen of France, and hundreds of other non10 citizens helped win our independence. 

11 (4) In the War of 1812, some Irish nationals 

12 helped the United States fight British invaders. 

13 (5) Thousands of noncitizens fought for the 

14 Union Army in the Civil War. 

15 (6) Roughly one in five wartime draftees during 

16 World War I was foreign-born, and approximately 9 

17 percent were noncitizens. 

18 (7) According to one recent study, more than 

19 20 percent of the 3,400 members of the Armed 

20 Forces who have been awarded the Medal of Honor, 

21 the Nation’s highest military honor, were immi22 grants, though the precise number of noncitizens 

23 who received this award is not known. 

24 (8) Today, 36,177 members of the Armed 

25 Forces are noncitizens, making up about 5 percent 
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1 of active duty members, and 12,132 members of the 

2 Selected Reserve are noncitizens. 

3 (9) About a third of today’s noncitizen mem4 bers of the Armed Forces come from Mexico and 

5 other Spanish-speaking countries and the rest are 

6 from the Philippines, China, Vietnam, Canada, 

7 Korea, India, and other countries. 

8 (10) These men and women in uniform, born in 

9 other countries, now spend each day in honorable 

10 service to their adopted land. 

11 (11) These men and women love the United 

12 States and show it in their daily devotion to duty. 

13 (12) The role of noncitizen members of the 

14 Armed Forces recently received widespread attention 

15 when a noncitizen from Guatemala became the sec16 ond American member of the Armed Forces to die 

17 in Operation Iraqi Freedom. 

18 (13) Noncitizen members of the Armed Forces 

19 from Mexico, Colombia, the Republic of the Phil20 ippines, Scotland, Guyana, the Dominican Republic, 

21 Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Poland have also given 

22 their lives in the line of duty in Iraq. 

23 (14) The sacrifice that these and other nonciti24 zens have made for their adopted country deserves 

25 special recognition and appreciation. 
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1 (15) Among the special recognitions a grateful 

2 nation can confer is establishment of a memorial to 

3 those noncitizens killed in the line of duty while 

4 serving in the Armed Forces of the United States. 

5 SEC. 3. CONSTRUCTION OF MEMORIAL TO NONCITIZENS 

6 KILLED IN THE LINE OF DUTY WHILE SERV7 ING IN THE ARMED FORCES OF THE UNITED 

8 STATES. 

9 (a) CONSTRUCTION REQUIRED.—The Secretary of 

10 the Army shall, in consultation with the Secretary of Vet11 erans Affairs, construct at an appropriate place in Arling12 ton National Cemetery, Virginia, a memorial marker hon13 oring the service and sacrifice of noncitizens killed in the 

14 line of duty while serving in the Armed Forces of the 

15 United States. 

16 (b) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—There is authorized 

17 to be appropriated to the Secretary of the Army $500,000 

18 for the design and construction of the memorial marker 

19 required by subsection (a). 

20 SEC. 4. DONATIONS FOR MEMORIAL TO NONCITIZENS 

21 KILLED IN THE LINE OF DUTY WHILE SERV22 ING IN THE ARMED FORCES OF THE UNITED 

23 STATES. 

24 (a) AUTHORITY TO ACCEPT DONATIONS.—The Sec25 retary of Veterans Affairs may accept gifts and donations 
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1 of services, money, and property (including personal, tan2 gible, or intangible property) for the purpose of con3 structing an appropriate memorial or monument to non4 citizens killed in the line of duty while serving in the 

5 Armed Forces of the United States, whether such memo6 rial or monument is constructed by the Secretary or is 

7 the memorial marker required by section 3. 

8 (b) TRANSFER.—(1) The Secretary of Veterans Af9 fairs may transfer to the Secretary of the Army any serv10 ices, money, or property accepted by the Secretary under 

11 subsection (a) for the purpose of the construction of the 

12 memorial marker required by section 3. 

13 (2) Any moneys transferred to the Secretary of the 

14 Army under paragraph (1) shall be merged with amounts 

15 appropriated pursuant to the authorization provided in 

16 section 3(b), and shall be available for the purpose re17 ferred to in that section. 

18 (c) EXPIRATION OF AUTHORITY.—The authority of 

19 the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to accept gifts and dona20 tions under subsection (a) shall expire five years after the 

21 date of the enactment of this Act.

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