I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1641 

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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 8, 2019 

Mr. CORREA (for himself, Mr. CLINE, and Mr. CISNEROS) introduced the 

following bill; which was 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’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find8 ings: 


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

2 Government has designated specific periods of war, 

3 the dates of which are important for qualification for 

4 certain benefits or membership in veterans organiza5 tions established by Congress. 

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

7 during so-called peacetime eras, the United States 

8 military has been involved in not fewer than 12 

9 known eras, which are unrecognized by the United 

10 States Government as periods of war, resulting in 

11 numerous United States personnel combat casual12 ties. 

13 (3) Those 12 unrecognized war eras occurred at 

14 the direction of the then President of the United 

15 States, with full knowledge and consent of the then 

16 Congress. 

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

18 involving active United States military personnel was 

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

20 1949 between the army of the Government of 

21 Greece, supported by active military personal of the 

22 United States and the United Kingdom, and the 

23 Democratic Army of Greece, the military branch of 

24 the Communist Party of Greece. 


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

2 the Armed Forces of the United States sacrificed his 

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

4 suffered non-combat deaths. 

5 (6) The second of those unrecognized war eras 

6 involving active United States military personnel was 

7 the Chinese Civil War, which occurred during the 

8 aftermath of World War II. 

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

10 States military equipped, trained, transported, and 

11 supplied the Kuomintang-led Government of the Re12 public of China with approximately $4,430,000,000 

13 in its resistance to the Communist Party of China. 

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

15 of the Armed Forces of the United States sacrificed 

16 their lives in service to the United States, 150 non17 combatants of the United States lost their lives in 

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

19 United States military casualties. 

20 (9) The third unrecognized war era involving 

21 active United States military personnel is known as 

22 the Cold War. 

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

24 approximately 1947 until 1991 when the Soviet 

25 Union collapsed. 


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1 (11) Although no direct large-scale military 

2 fighting occurred between the militaries of the 

3 United States and the Soviet Union, active United 

4 States military personnel served in multiple regional 

5 conflicts during the Cold War, resulting in the 

6 deaths of not fewer than 32 members of the Armed 

7 Forces who sacrificed their lives in service to the 

8 United States and not fewer than 12 additional cas9 ualties. 

10 (12) The fourth unrecognized war era involving 

11 active United States military personnel is known as 

12 the China Cold War. 

13 (13) The China Cold War started when the 

14 Kuomintang-led Government of the Republic of 

15 China retreated to the island of Taiwan and lasted 

16 until 1972, after President Richard Nixon conducted 

17 a landmark state visit to China. 

18 (14) During the military operations of the 

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

20 Armed Forces of the United States sacrificed their 

21 lives in service to the United States. 

22 (15) The fifth unrecognized war era involving 

23 active United States military personnel was the Leb24 anon Crisis of 1958, which involved more than 

25 14,000 United States personnel and resulted in the 


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1 death of one member of the Armed Forces who sac2 rificed his life in service to the United States and 

3 five non-combat deaths. 

4 (16) The sixth unrecognized war era involving 

5 active United States military personnel was the Bay 

6 of Pigs invasion in April 1961. 

7 (17) The Bay of Pigs invasion was a failed mili8 tary invasion of Cuba undertaken by a United 

9 States military group sponsored by the Central In10 telligence Agency that resulted in not fewer than one 

11 death of a member of the Armed Forces who sac12 rificed his life in service to the United States and 19 

13 non-combat deaths. 

14 (18) The seventh unrecognized war era involv15 ing active United States military personnel was the 

16 Cuban Missile Crisis, which took place between Oc17 tober 16 and October 28, 1962. 

18 (19) The Cuban Missile Crisis directly related 

19 to homeland protection against the deployment of a 

20 Soviet ballistic missile in Cuba. 

21 (20) During the Cuban Missile Crisis, one 

22 member of the Armed Forces sacrificed his life in 

23 service to the United States and 19 others died as 

24 non-combatants. 


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1 (21) The eighth unrecognized war era involving 

2 active United States military personnel was the Do3 minican Civil War in 1965. 

4 (22) Operations during the Dominican Civil 

5 War resulted in the deaths of 27 members of the 

6 Armed Forces who sacrificed their lives in service to 

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

8 and 283 wounded. 

9 (23) The ninth unrecognized war era involving 

10 active United States military personnel was the Iran 

11 Hostage Crisis, which lasted from November 4, 

12 1979, through January 20, 1981. 

13 (24) The Iran Hostage Crisis involved military 

14 intervention by the United States which resulted in 

15 the deaths of 8 members of the Armed Forces who 

16 sacrificed their lives in service to United States. 

17 (25) The tenth unrecognized war era involving 

18 active United States military personnel was the Sal19 vadoran Civil War. 

20 (26) The Salvadoran Civil War lasted more 

21 than 12 years, through the terms of two Presidential 

22 administrations of the United States, and resulted in 

23 the deaths of 22 members of the Armed Forces who 

24 sacrificed their lives in service to the United States, 

25 15 non-combat deaths, and 35 other casualties. 


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1 (27) The 11th unrecognized war era involving 

2 active United States military personnel started on 

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

4 West Berlin, Germany, was bombed, killing two 

5 United States soldiers and wounding 79 other mem6 bers of the Armed Forces, which triggered what be7 came known as the Libyan Conflict. 

8 (28) The military operations of the Libyan Con9 flict included numerous air strikes by United States 

10 military forces and resulted in the deaths of two 

11 members of the Armed Forces who sacrificed their 

12 lives in service to the United States. 

13 (29) The Libyan Conflict led to the 12th unrec14 ognized war era involving active United States mili15 tary personnel, known collectively as the Persian 

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

17 through September 26, 1988. 

18 (30) The Persian Gulf Conflicts resulted in nu19 merous military operations and the deaths of not 

20 fewer than 39 members of the Armed Forces who 

21 sacrificed their lives in service to the United States 

22 and 31 wounded. 

23 (31) Since the armistice that ended the hos24 tilities of the Korean War on January 31, 1955, 

25 nearly 100 active United States military personnel 


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1 have sacrificed their lives in service to the United 

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

3 the United States have been wounded in-country. 

4 (32) Since January 1, 1947, through all of the 

5 unrecognized war eras involving active United States 

6 military personnel, not fewer than 778 combat and 

7 non-combat members of the Armed Forces have sac8 rificed their lives in service to the United States and 

9 not fewer than 797 have been wounded. 

10 (33) Since January 1, 1947, the unrecognized 

11 war eras involving active United States military per12 sonnel who were wounded and killed serving their 

13 country were administered under orders from the 

14 commander in chief and with the consent of Con15 gress, proving that the United States has been con16 ducting deadly wartime service to protect the coun17 try consistently since December 7, 1941. 

18 (34) Eligibility for membership in The Amer19 ican Legion is determined by Congress through the 

20 establishment of specific dates of declared and offi21 cially recognized hostilities in which United States 

22 military personnel are on active service. 

23 (35) The American Legion provides invaluable 

24 services to its members and supports the community 


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1 of veterans who sacrificed in service of the United 

2 States. 

3 (36) Membership in The American Legion al4 lows veterans to engage in public service activities, 

5 such as supporting Boys and Girls State and Na6 tion, youth mentorship programs, and benefit assist7 ance, career fairs, and employment assistance for 

8 veterans. 

9 (37) The American Legion has gone on record 

10 as supporting the 12 unrecognized war eras involv11 ing active United States military personnel since the 

12 beginning of World War II. 

13 (38) The American Legion has aided, assisted, 

14 and comforted the families of the men and women 

15 who were called to serve or volunteered to serve dur16 ing all of the unrecognized war eras and continues 

17 to provide support to veterans of those eras. 

18 (39) The American Legion has commended the 

19 heroic actions of all military personnel who risked 

20 their lives in defense of freedom during each of the 

21 unrecognized war eras involving active United States 

22 military personnel. 

23 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con24 gress that, in accordance with the history, tradition, and 

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


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1 reasonable that the privilege of membership in The Amer2 ican Legion should be extended to all military personnel 

3 who served on active military duty during all of the unrec4 ognized war eras involving active United States military 

5 personnel. 

6 SEC. 3. ELIGIBILITY FOR MEMBERSHIP IN THE AMERICAN 

7 LEGION. 

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

9 is amended— 

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

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

12 clause: 

13 ‘‘(viii) such other beginning dates 

14 through such other ending dates as are 

15 provided in the constitution and bylaws of 

16 the corporation; or’’. 

Æ 


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