II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 59 

To designate a Distinguished Flying Cross National Memorial at the March 

Field Air Museum in Riverside, California. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 22 (legislative day, JANUARY 3), 2013 

Mrs. BOXER (for herself, Mr. NELSON, and Mrs. FEINSTEIN) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To designate a Distinguished Flying Cross National Memorial at the March Field Air Museum in Riverside, California. 

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 ‘‘Distinguished Flying 

5 Cross National Memorial Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DESIGNATION OF DISTINGUISHED FLYING CROSS 

7 NATIONAL MEMORIAL IN RIVERSIDE, CALI8 FORNIA. 

9 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) The Distinguished Flying Cross, which was 

2 created by Congress in 1926, is the oldest military 

3 award in the United States for achievements in avia4 tion. 

5 (2) The most reliable statistics regarding the 

6 number of members of the Armed Forces who have 

7 been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross indi8 cate that 126,318 members of the Armed Forces re9 ceived the medal during World War II, approxi10 mately 21,000 members received the medal during 

11 the Korean conflict, and 21,647 members received 

12 the medal during the Vietnam War. 

13 (3) Since the end of the Vietnam War, more 

14 than 203 Armed Forces members have received the 

15 medal in times of conflict. 

16 (4) Since the National Personnel Records Cen17 ter in St. Louis, Missouri, burned down in 1973, 

18 many more recipients of the Distinguished Flying 

19 Cross may be undocumented. 

20 (5) Currently, the Department of Defense con21 tinues to locate and identify members of the Armed 

22 Forces whose award of the medal has not been docu23 mented. 

24 (6) The United States currently lacks a na25 tional memorial dedicated to the bravery and sacVerDate Mar 15 2010 16:22 Jan 28, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S59.IS S59

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1 rifice of those members of the Armed Forces who 

2 have distinguished themselves by heroic deeds per3 formed in aerial flight. 

4 (7) An appropriate memorial to current and 

5 former members of the Armed Forces has been con6 structed at March Field Air Museum in Riverside, 

7 California. 

8 (8) The Distinguished Flying Cross National 

9 Memorial would honor all those members of the 

10 Armed Forces who have distinguished themselves in 

11 aerial flight, whether documentation of such mem12 bers who earned the Distinguished Flying Cross ex13 ists or not. 

14 (b) DESIGNATION.—The memorial to members of the 

15 Armed Forces who have been awarded the Distinguished 

16 Flying Cross at March Field Air Museum in Riverside, 

17 California, is designated as the ‘‘Distinguished Flying 

18 Cross National Memorial’’. 

19 (c) EFFECT OF DESIGNATION.—The national memo20 rial designated by this section is not a unit of the National 

21 Park System, and the designation of the national memo22 rial shall not be construed to require or permit Federal 

23 funds to be expended for any purpose related to the na24 tional memorial. 

Æ 


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