I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 991 

To amend title 10, United States Code, to recognize the dependent children 

of members of the Armed Forces who are serving on active duty or 

who have served on active duty through the presentation of an official 

lapel button. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 13, 2015 

Mr. LATTA (for himself, Mr. MCKINLEY, and Mr. WITTMAN) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To amend title 10, United States Code, to recognize the 

dependent children of members of the Armed Forces 

who are serving on active duty or who have served on 

active duty through the presentation of an official lapel 

button. 

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 ‘‘Children of Military 

5 Service Members Commemorative Lapel Pin Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE RECOGNITION OF DE2 PENDENT CHILDREN OF MEMBERS OF THE 

3 ARMED FORCES. 

4 (a) ESTABLISHMENT AND PRESENTATION OF LAPEL

5 BUTTON.—Chapter 57 of title 10, United States Code, is 

6 amended by inserting after section 1126 the following new 

7 section: 

8 ‘‘§ 1126a. Children of military service members com9 memorative lapel button: eligibility and 

10 presentation 

11 ‘‘(a) DESIGN AND ELIGIBILITY.—A lapel button, to 

12 be known as the children of military service members com13 memorative lapel button, shall be designed, as approved 

14 by the Secretary of Defense, to identify and recognize an 

15 eligible child dependent of a member of the armed forces 

16 who serves on active duty for a period of more than 30 

17 days. 

18 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION AND PRESENTATION.—The Sec19 retary of Defense shall establish an application process by 

20 which a member referred to in subsection (a) can request 

21 a children of military service members commemorative 

22 lapel button for the member’s eligible child dependents. 

23 Upon processing of the application and payment of the 

24 fee required by subsection (c), the Secretary concerned 

25 shall present a children of military service members comVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:40 Feb 26, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H991.IH H991

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1 memorative lapel button to eligible child dependents of a 

2 member. 

3 ‘‘(c) COST.—Presentation of a children of military 

4 service members commemorative lapel button is condi5 tioned upon the payment of an amount sufficient to cover 

6 the cost of manufacture and distribution of the lapel but7 ton. 

8 ‘‘(d) LIMITATION ON NUMBER OF BUTTONS.—(1) 

9 Not more than one children of military service members 

10 commemorative lapel button may be presented to an eligi11 ble child dependent of a member, regardless of the number 

12 of times the member serves on active duty. 

13 ‘‘(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), if a person is 

14 an eligible child dependent of more than one member, the 

15 eligible child dependent may receive a children of military 

16 service members commemorative lapel button on behalf of 

17 each member of whom the person is a dependent. 

18 ‘‘(3) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), if a children of 

19 military service members commemorative lapel button pre20 sented under this section has been lost, destroyed, or ren21 dered unfit for use without fault or neglect on the part 

22 of the eligible child dependent to whom it was furnished, 

23 the Secretary concerned may replace the lapel button upon 

24 application and payment of an amount sufficient to cover 

25 the cost of manufacture and presentation. 


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1 ‘‘(e) ELIGIBLE CHILD DEPENDENT DEFINED.—The 

2 term ‘eligible child dependent’ means a dependent of a 

3 member of the armed forces described in subparagraph 

4 (D) or (I) of section 1072(2) of this title. 

5 ‘‘(f) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of Defense shall 

6 issue such regulations as may be necessary to carry out 

7 this section. The Secretary shall ensure that the regula8 tions are uniform for each armed force to the extent prac9 ticable.’’. 

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

11 at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting 

12 after the item relating to section 1126 the following new 

13 item: 

‘‘1126a. Children of military service members commemorative lapel button: eligibility and presentation.’’. 

14 (c) SENSE OF CONGRESS ON EXPEDITED IMPLEMEN15 TATION.—It is the sense of Congress that the Secretary 

16 of Defense should take appropriate actions to expedite— 

17 (1) the design and manufacture of the children 

18 of military service members commemorative lapel 

19 button authorized by section 1126a of title 10, 

20 United States Code, as added by subsection (a); and 

21 (2) the establishment and implementation of 

22 mechanisms to facilitate the issuance of the children 

23 of military service members commemorative lapel 

24 button. 


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1 (d) RETROACTIVE AVAILABILITY OF CHILDREN OF

2 MILITARY SERVICE MEMBERS COMMEMORATIVE LAPEL

3 BUTTON.— 

4 (1) AVAILABILITY.—The Secretary of Defense 

5 shall make the children of military service members 

6 commemorative lapel button authorized by section 

7 1126a of title 10, United States Code, as added by 

8 subsection (a), available to any person who can 

9 prove to the satisfaction of the Secretary that the 

10 person satisfied, at any time before the date of the 

11 enactment of this Act, the definition contained in 

12 subsection (e) of such section 1126a of eligible child 

13 dependent of a member of the Armed Forces who 

14 served on active duty for a period of more than 30 

15 days. 

16 (2) APPLICATION PROCESS.—The Secretary of 

17 Defense shall provide a mechanism by which a per18 son eligible under paragraph (1), or a person acting 

19 on behalf of the person, may apply to the Secretary 

20 of Defense for a children of military service mem21 bers commemorative lapel button. 

22 (3) NOTIFICATION OF CERTAIN MEMBERS.— 

23 The Secretary of Defense shall notify members of 

24 the Armed Forces who served on active duty for a 

25 period of more than 30 days since September 11, 


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1 2001, of the availability of the children of military 

2 service members commemorative lapel button under 

3 this subsection. To the extent practicable, such no4 tice shall be provided not later than 60 days after 

5 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

6 (4) DEADLINE FOR APPLICATION.—Applica7 tions for a children of military service members com8 memorative lapel button under this subsection must 

9 be submitted to the Secretary of Defense not later 

10 than one year after the date on which the Secretary 

11 first announces, in the Federal Register and by such 

12 other means as the Secretary considers appropriate, 

13 the availability of the lapel button. 

14 (5) COSTS, LIMITATIONS, AND EXCEPTIONS.— 

15 Subsections (c) and (d) of section 1126a of title 10, 

16 United States Code, shall apply with respect to the 

17 presentation of a children of military service mem18 bers commemorative lapel button under this sub19 section. 

Æ 


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