Gold Star Families Equality Act

To amend title 10, United States Code, to provide appropriate recognition for the survivors of members of the Armed Forces who die while serving on certain active or reserve duty, to expand the availability of the Gold Star Installation Access Card for survivors of deceased members of the Armed Forces, and to extend commissary store and exchange store and other MWR retail facility benefits to the parents of such members. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Gold Star Families Equality Act 2. Lapel button for next of kin of deceased members of the Armed Forces (a) Service-Wide adoption of next of kin lapel button Section 1126 (1) by striking subsection (b); (2) by redesignating subsections (c) and (d) as subsections (d) and (e), respectively; and (3) by inserting after subsection (a) the following new subsections: (b) A lapel button, to be known as the lapel button for next of kin of deceased members of the armed forces, shall be designed, as approved by the Secretary of Defense, to identify widows, parents, and next of kin of members of the armed forces who die, under circumstances not prescribed by subsection (a), while serving on active duty or while assigned to a reserve component in a drill status. (c) Under regulations to be prescribed by the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary concerned, upon application to the Secretary, shall furnish— (1) one gold star lapel button without cost to the widow and to each parent and next of kin of a member who lost or loses his or her life under any circumstances prescribed in subsection (a); and (2) one lapel button for next of kin of deceased members to the widow and to each parent and next of kin of a member who lost or loses his or her life under the circumstances prescribed in subsection (b). . (b) Conforming amendments Subsection (d) of section 1126 or lapel button for next of kin of deceased members gold star lapel button (c) Use of existing design The design of the lapel button for the next of kin of deceased members of the Armed Forces required by subsection (b) of section 1126 (d) Retroactive availability The lapel button for the next of kin of deceased members of the Armed Forces required by subsection (b) of section 1126 3. Gold Star Installation Access Card (a) Service-Wide adoption of access card The Secretary of each military department and the Secretary of the Department in which the Coast Guard is operating (in this section referred to as the Secretary concerned (b) Service-Wide acceptance of access card The Secretaries concerned shall work jointly to ensure that a Gold Star Installation Access Card issued to a Gold Star family member by one Armed Force is accepted for access to military installations of another Armed Force. (c) Protection of installation security In developing, issuing, and accepting the Gold Star Installation Access Card, the Secretary concerned may take such measures as the Secretary concerned considers necessary— (1) to prevent fraud in the procurement or use of the Gold Star Installation Access Card; (2) to limit installation access to those areas that provide the services and benefits for which the Gold Star family member is entitled or eligible; and (3) to ensure that the availability and use of the Gold Star Installation Access Card does not adversely affect military installation security. (d) Implementation Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretaries concerned shall complete implementation of this section. (e) Gold Star family member defined In this section, the term Gold Star family member section 1126 4. Use of commissary stores and MWR retail facilities by parents of deceased members of the Armed Forces (a) Use authorized The Secretary of each military department and the Secretary of the Department in which the Coast Guard is operating shall prescribe such regulations as may be necessary to ensure that a parent of a deceased member of the Armed Forces who receives a Gold Star Lapel Button or a Lapel Button for the Next of Kin of Deceased Members of the Armed Forces under section 1126 (b) Definitions In this section: (1) The term MWR retail facilities (2) The term parent

Summary: Gold Star Families Equality Act - Requires a lapel button to be designed to identify widows, parents, and next of kin of members of the Armed Forces who die, under circumstances not already prescribed for under existing eligibility standards for a gold star lapel button, while serving on active duty or while assigned to a reserve component in a drill status. Makes such next of kin button available retroactively to survivors of members of the Armed Forces who have died since September 10, 2001. Directs the Secretary of each military department and the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating to provide for the issuance of a Gold Star Installation Access Card to family members with gold or next of kin buttons to expedite their ability to gain unescorted access to military installations for the purpose of obtaining on-base services and benefits. Requires regulations to be prescribed to permit parents (including stepparents, parents though adoption, or foster parents who stood in loco parentis) with such buttons to use commissary stores and other military retail facilities on the same basis as surviving spouses or children.