I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3480
To require the construction at Arlington National Cemetery of a memorial 
to noncitizens killed in the line of duty while serving in the Armed 
Forces of the United States of America. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
NOVEMBER 7, 2003
Mr. CUNNINGHAM (for himself and Ms. HARMAN) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 
A BILL 
To require the construction at Arlington National Cemetery 
of a memorial to noncitizens killed in the line of duty 
while serving in the Armed Forces of the United States 
of America.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Memorial to Noncitizen 
Patriots Act’’. 
SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS. 
(a) The Congress finds the following:
(1) There is a long history of noncitizens serv-
ing in the Armed Forces of the United States of 
America. 
(2) Noncitizens have been engaged in American 
battles since the Colonial period, both as volunteers 
and conscripts. 
(3) George Washington, a British subject, led 
our American Revolution and the Marquis de Lafay-
ette, a citizen of France, and hundreds of other non-
citizens helped win our independence. 
(4) In the War of 1812, some Irish nationals 
helped the United States fight British invaders. 
(5) Thousands of noncitizens fought for the 
Union Army in the Civil War. 
(6) Roughly one in five wartime draftees during 
World War I was foreign-born, and approximately 9 
percent were noncitizens. 
(7) According to one recent study, more than 
20 percent of the 3,400 members of the Armed 
Forces who have been awarded the Medal of Honor, 
the Nation’s highest military honor, were immi-
grants, though the precise number of noncitizens 
who received this award is not known. 
(8) Today, 36,177 members of the Armed 
Forces are noncitizens, making up about 5 percent
of active duty members, and 12,132 members of the 
Selected Reserve are noncitizens. 
(9) About a third of today’s noncitizen mem-
bers of the Armed Forces come from Mexico and 
other Spanish-speaking countries and the rest are 
from the Philippines, China, Vietnam, Canada, 
Korea, India, and other countries. 
(10) These men and women in uniform, born in 
other countries, now spend each day in honorable 
service to their adopted land. 
(11) These men and women love the United 
States and show it in their daily devotion to duty. 
(12) The role of noncitizen members of the 
Armed Forces recently received widespread attention 
when a noncitizen from Guatemala became the sec-
ond American member of the Armed Forces to die 
in Operation Iraqi Freedom. 
(13) Noncitizen members of the Armed Forces 
from Mexico, Colombia, the Republic of the Phil-
ippines, Scotland, Guyana, the Dominican Republic, 
Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Poland have also given 
their lives in the line of duty in Iraq. 
(14) The sacrifice that these and other nonciti-
zens have made for their adopted country deserves 
special recognition and appreciation.
(15) Among the special recognitions a grateful 
nation can confer is establishment of a memorial to 
those noncitizens killed in the line of duty while 
serving in the Armed Forces of the United States. 
SEC. 3. CONSTRUCTION OF MEMORIAL TO NONCITIZENS 
KILLED IN THE LINE OF DUTY WHILE SERV-
ING IN THE ARMED FORCES OF THE UNITED 
STATES. 
(a) CONSTRUCTION REQUIRED.—The Secretary of 
the Army shall, in consultation with the Secretary of Vet-
erans Affairs, construct at an appropriate place in Arling-
ton National Cemetery, Virginia, a memorial marker hon-
oring the service and sacrifice of noncitizens killed in the 
line of duty while serving in the Armed Forces of the 
United States. 
(b) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—There is authorized 
to be appropriated to the Secretary of the Army $500,000 
for the design and construction of the memorial marker 
required by subsection (a). 
SEC. 4. DONATIONS FOR MEMORIAL TO NONCITIZENS 
KILLED IN THE LINE OF DUTY WHILE SERV-
ING IN THE ARMED FORCES OF THE UNITED 
STATES. 
(a) AUTHORITY TO ACCEPT DONATIONS.—The Sec-
retary of Veterans Affairs may accept gifts and donations
of services, money, and property (including personal, tan-
gible, or intangible property) for the purpose of con-
structing an appropriate memorial or monument to non-
citizens killed in the line of duty while serving in the 
Armed Forces of the United States, whether such memo-
rial or monument is constructed by the Secretary or is 
the memorial marker required by section 3. 
(b) TRANSFER.—(1) The Secretary of Veterans Af-
fairs may transfer to the Secretary of the Army any serv-
ices, money, or property accepted by the Secretary under 
subsection (a) for the purpose of the construction of the 
memorial marker required by section 3. 
(2) Any moneys transferred to the Secretary of the 
Army under paragraph (1) shall be merged with amounts 
appropriated pursuant to the authorization provided in 
section 3(b), and shall be available for the purpose re-
ferred to in that section. 
(c) EXPIRATION OF AUTHORITY.—The authority of 
the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to accept gifts and dona-
tions under subsection (a) shall expire five years after the 
date of the enactment of this Act.
Æ