I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6151 

To charter an organization and establish a medal program to honor first 

responders in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 16, 2010 

Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania (for himself, Mr. FATTAH, Ms. SCHWARTZ, and 

Mr. PATRICK J. MURPHY of Pennsylvania) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To charter an organization and establish a medal program 

to honor first responders in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. DESIGNATION OF ORGANIZATION. 

4 (a) ORGANIZATION.—The Medal of Courage and 

5 Service Corporation, located in Philadelphia, Pennsyl6 vania, is a federally chartered organization. 

7 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Corporation is to 

8 honor first responders in the city of Philadelphia by, act9 ing through the Selection Committee convened under subVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:48 Sep 17, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6151.IH H6151

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1 section (c)(2), awarding the Medal of Courage and Service 

2 to first responders in that city. 

3 (c) FUNCTIONS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Corporation shall act as 

5 the administrator of the Medal program under sec6 tion 2. 

7 (2) SELECTION COMMITTEE.—The Corporation 

8 shall convene a Selection Committee to select first 

9 responders to receive the Medal, to be organized as 

10 follows: 

11 (A) The Selection Committee shall be com12 posed of— 

13 (i) the Police Commissioner of Phila14 delphia; 

15 (ii) the Fire Commissioner of Phila16 delphia; 

17 (iii) the president of the Philadelphia 

18 Fire Fighters’ Union Local #22; 

19 (iv) the president of the Philadelphia 

20 Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #5; and 

21 (v) 4 civilian representatives, one ap22 pointed by each of the members described 

23 in clauses (i) through (iv). 

24 (B) The chairmanship of the Selection 

25 Committee shall alternate annually between the 


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1 member described in subparagraph (A)(i) and 

2 the member described in subparagraph (A)(ii). 

3 (d) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Corporation shall submit 

4 to Congress an annual report on its activities under this 

5 Act. 

6 SEC. 2. MEDAL PROGRAM. 

7 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF MEDAL.—The Corporation 

8 may award, and present in the name of Congress, a Medal 

9 of Courage and Service of appropriate design to a first 

10 responder who is selected by the Selection Committee. 

11 (b) DUTIES OF SELECTION COMMITTEE.—The Selec12 tion Committee shall— 

13 (1) establish criteria for awarding the Medal; 

14 (2) accept nominations of first responders from 

15 the Police and Fire Departments of Philadelphia 

16 each calendar year; and 

17 (3) select no more than 3 first responders per 

18 year to receive a Medal, except that in any year in 

19 which the Selection Committee determines, by unan20 imous consent, that extraordinary or extenuating cir21 cumstances exist regarding an incident, the Selection 

22 Committee may select more than 3 first responders 

23 to receive a Medal. 

24 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

25 In this Act: 


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1 (1) CORPORATION.—The term ‘‘Corporation’’ 

2 means the Medal of Courage and Service Corpora3 tion chartered in section 1(a). 

4 (2) FIRST RESPONDER.—The term ‘‘first re5 sponder’’ means an individual who, in the early 

6 stages of an incident, is responsible for the protec7 tion and preservation of life, property, evidence, and 

8 the environment, including emergency response pro9 viders as defined in section 2 of the Homeland Secu10 rity Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 101), as well as emer11 gency management, public health, clinical care, pub12 lic works, and other skilled support personnel (such 

13 as equipment operators) that provide immediate sup14 port services during prevention, response, and recov15 ery operations. 

16 (3) MEDAL.—The term ‘‘Medal’’ means the 

17 Medal of Courage and Service authorized under sec18 tion 2(a). 

19 (4) SELECTION COMMITTEE.—The term ‘‘Selec20 tion Committee’’ means the Medal of Courage and 

21 Service Selection Committee convened under section 

22 1(c)(2). 

Æ 


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