I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5467 

To amend title 10, United States Code, to extend certain morale, welfare, 

and recreation privileges to certain veterans and their caregivers, to 

authorize the appropriation of funds for the purpose of improving the 

electronic physical access control system used by military commissaries 

and exchanges, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 11, 2018 

Mr. LIPINSKI (for himself, Mr. JONES, Ms. BORDALLO, Mr. BOST, Ms. 

BROWNLEY of California, Mr. CAPUANO, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. 

COHEN, Mr. CORREA, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Mr. DEFAZIO, Ms. 

BARRAGA ́N, Mrs. DINGELL, Mr. DONOVAN, Mr. FORTENBERRY, Mr. 

GAETZ, Mr. GALLEGO, Mr. GONZALEZ of Texas, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. 

NORTON, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. KAPTUR, 

Mr. KILMER, Mr. KINZINGER, Ms. KUSTER of New Hampshire, Mr. 

LYNCH, Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York, Mr. MCGOVERN, 

Mr. MOOLENAAR, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. NEAL, Mr. NORMAN, Mr. 

O’HALLERAN, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. PETERSON, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. POLIQUIN, 

Mr. RASKIN, Mrs. RADEWAGEN, Ms. ROSEN, Mr. RUSH, Mr. RYAN of 

Ohio, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Ms. SHEA-PORTER, Ms. SINEMA, Mr. 

SUOZZI, Mr. SOTO, Mr. THOMPSON of California, Mr. VELA, Ms. 

VELA ́ZQUEZ, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, and Ms. WILSON of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed 

Services 

A BILL 

To amend title 10, United States Code, to extend certain 

morale, welfare, and recreation privileges to certain veterans and their caregivers, to authorize the appropriation 

of funds for the purpose of improving the electronic 


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physical access control system used by military commissaries and exchanges, 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 ‘‘Purple Heart and Dis5 abled Veterans Equal Access Act of 2018’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) In 2017, the Secretary of Defense deter9 mined that the addition of new patron categories to 

10 the commissary and exchange systems would support 

11 the growth of a robust customer base and help en12 sure the ability of both systems to provide benefits 

13 to members of the Armed Forces and their families. 

14 (2) The Secretary previously opposed extending 

15 commissary and exchange privileges to large patron 

16 groups such as disabled veterans. 

17 (3) In January 2017, the Secretary of Defense 

18 approved limited online exchange shopping privileges 

19 for all veterans, effective November 11, 2017. 

20 (4) The Secretary determined that current pa21 trons of exchanges did not perceive the extension of 

22 such privileges as diluting the benefit for members 

23 of the Armed Forces. 


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1 (5) The Purple Heart is the oldest military 

2 decoration, awarded to members of the Armed 

3 Forces who have been wounded or died in combat, 

4 fighting for the United States. Since the modern in5 carnation of the award was established in 1932, ap6 proximately 1,800,000 members of the Armed 

7 Forces have been awarded the Purple Heart. 

8 SEC. 3. COMMISSARY STORES AND MWR FACILITIES PRIVI9 LEGES FOR CERTAIN VETERANS AND VET10 ERAN CAREGIVERS. 

11 (a) EXTENSION OF PRIVILEGES.—Chapter 54 of title 

12 10, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 

13 the following new section: 

14 ‘‘§ 1065. Use of commissary stores and MWR facilities: 

15 certain veterans and caregivers for vet16 erans 

17 ‘‘(a) ELIGIBILITY OF VETERANS AWARDED THE

18 PURPLE HEART.—A veteran who was awarded the Purple 

19 Heart shall be permitted to use commissary stores and 

20 MWR facilities on the same basis as a member of the 

21 armed forces entitled to retired or retainer pay. 

22 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBILITY OF VETERANS WHO ARE MEDAL

23 OF HONOR RECIPIENTS.—A veteran who is a Medal of 

24 Honor recipient shall be permitted to use commissary 


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1 stores and MWR facilities on the same basis as a member 

2 of the armed forces entitled to retired or retainer pay. 

3 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBILITY OF VETERANS WHO ARE FORMER

4 PRISONERS OF WAR.—A veteran who is a former prisoner 

5 of war shall be permitted to use commissary stores and 

6 MWR facilities on the same basis as a member of the 

7 armed forces entitled to retired or retainer pay. 

8 ‘‘(d) ELIGIBILITY OF VETERANS WITH SERVICE9 CONNECTED DISABILITIES.—A veteran with a service10 connected disability shall be permitted to use commissary 

11 stores and MWR facilities on the same basis as a member 

12 of the armed forces entitled to retired or retainer pay. 

13 ‘‘(e) ELIGIBILITY OF CAREGIVERS FOR VETERANS.— 

14 A caregiver or family caregiver shall be permitted to use 

15 commissary stores and MWR facilities on the same basis 

16 as a member of the armed forces entitled to retired or 

17 retainer pay. 

18 ‘‘(f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

19 ‘‘(1) The term ‘MWR facilities’ includes— 

20 ‘‘(A) MWR retail facilities, as that term is 

21 defined in section 1063(e) of this title; and 

22 ‘‘(B) military lodging operated by the De23 partment of Defense for the morale, welfare, 

24 and recreation of members of the armed forces. 


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1 ‘‘(2) The term ‘Medal of Honor recipient’ has 

2 the meaning given that term in section 1074h(c) of 

3 this title. 

4 ‘‘(3) The terms ‘veteran’, ‘former prisoner of 

5 war’, and ‘service-connected’ have the meanings 

6 given those terms in section 101 of title 38. 

7 ‘‘(4) The terms ‘caregiver’ and ‘family care8 giver’ have the meanings given those terms in sec9 tion in section 1720G(d) of title 38.’’. 

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

11 at the beginning of chapter 54 of title 10, United States 

12 Code, is amended by adding at the end the following new 

13 item: 

‘‘1065. Use of commissary stores and MWR facilities: certain veterans and caregivers for veterans.’’. 

14 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Section 1065 of title 10, 

15 United States Code, as added by subsection (a), shall take 

16 effect at the end of the 90-day period beginning on the 

17 date of the enactment of this Act. 

18 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATION FOR UPDAT19 ING EPACS FOR MILITARY COMMISSARIES. 

20 There is hereby authorized to be appropriated, out 

21 of any funds in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, 

22 $500,000 to the Secretary of Defense for the purpose of 

23 updating the electronic physical access control system used 

24 by military commissaries and exchanges so that the sysVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:11 Apr 13, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5467.IH H5467

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1 tem may recognize and accept veteran health identification 

2 cards. 

3 SEC. 5. SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING INDIVIDUALS 

4 AWARDED THE PURPLE HEART. 

5 It is the sense of Congress that the Secretary of De6 fense, in coordination with the Secretary of Veterans Af7 fairs, should maintain a list of all individuals awarded the 

8 Purple Heart. 

Æ 


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