IIB
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2561
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
DECEMBER 20 (legislative day, DECEMBER 18) 2001
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs
AN ACT
To amend title 38, United States Code, to increase the
rate of special pension for recipients of the Medal of
Honor and to make that special pension effective from
the date of the act for which the recipient is awarded
the Medal of Honor and to amend title 18, United States
Code, to increase the criminal penalties associated with
misuse or fraud relating to the Medal of Honor.
HR 2561 RFS
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 ‘‘Living American Hero
Appreciation Act’’.
SEC. 2. INCREASE IN RATE OF SPECIAL PENSION FOR
MEDAL OF HONOR RECIPIENTS AND RETRO-
ACTIVITY OF PAYMENTS TO DATE OF ACTION.
(a) INCREASE
IN
SPECIAL
PENSION.—Section
1562(a) of title 38, United States Code, is amended by
striking ‘‘a special pension at the rate of’’ and all that
follows through the period at the end and inserting ‘‘a spe-
cial pension, beginning as of the first day of the first
month that begins after the date of the act for which that
person was awarded the Medal of Honor. The special pen-
sion shall be at the rate of $1000, as increased from time
to time under section 5312(a) of this title.’’.
(b) COST OF LIVING ADJUSTMENT.—Section 5312(a)
of such title is amended by inserting after ‘‘children,’’ the
following: ‘‘the rate of special pension paid under section
1562 of this title,’’.
(c) LUMP SUM PAYMENT FOR EXISTING MEDAL OF
HONOR RECIPIENTS.—The Secretary of Veterans Affairs
shall, within 60 days after the date of the enactment of
this Act, make a lump sum payment to each person who
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is, immediately before the date of the enactment of this
Act, in receipt of the pension payable under section 1562
of title 38, United States Code (as amended by subsection
(a)). Such payment shall be in the amount equal to the
total amount of special pension that the person would have
received had the person received special pension during the
period beginning as of the first day of the first month that
began after the date of the act for which that person was
awarded the Medal of Honor and ending with the last day
of the month preceding the month that such person’s spe-
cial pension in fact commenced. For each month of such
period, the amount of special pension shall be determined
using the rate of special pension that was in effect for
that month.
SEC. 3. CRIMINAL PENALTY FOR UNAUTHORIZED PUR-
CHASE OR POSSESSION OF MEDAL OF HONOR
OR FOR FALSE PERSONATION AS A RECIPI-
ENT OF MEDAL OF HONOR.
(a) UNAUTHORIZED PURCHASE OR POSSESSION.—
Section 704 of title 18, United States Code, is amended—
(1) in subsection (a) by striking ‘‘IN
GEN-
ERAL.—Whoever’’ and inserting ‘‘IN GENERAL.—
Except as provided in subsection (b), whoever’’; and
(2) by amending subsection (b) to read as fol-
lows:
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‘‘(b) MEDAL OF HONOR.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Whoever knowingly wears,
possesses, manufactures, purchases, or sells a Medal
of Honor, or the ribbon, button, or rosette of a
Medal of Honor, or any colorable imitation thereof,
except when authorized under regulations made pur-
suant to law, shall be fined under this title or im-
prisoned not more than one year, or both.
‘‘(2) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this subsection:
‘‘(A) The term ‘Medal of Honor’ means—
‘‘(i) a medal of honor awarded under
section 3741, 6241, or 8741 of title 10 or
under section 491 of title 14;
‘‘(ii) a duplicate medal of honor issued
under section 3754, 6256, or 8753 of title
10 or under section 504 of title 14; or
‘‘(iii) a replacement of a medal of
honor provided under section 3747, 6253,
or 8751 of title 10 or under section 501 of
title 14.
‘‘(B) The term ‘sells’ includes trades, bar-
ters, or exchanges for anything of value.’’.
(b) FALSE PERSONATION.—(1) Chapter 43 of such
title is amended by adding at the end the following new
section:
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‘‘§ 918. Medal of honor recipient
‘‘(a) Whoever falsely or fraudulently holds himself out
as having been, or represents or pretends himself to have
been, awarded a medal of honor shall be fined under this
title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.
‘‘(b) As used in this section, the term ‘medal of
honor’ means a medal awarded under section 3741, 6241,
or 8741 of title 10 or under section 491 of title 14.’’.
(2) The table of sections at the beginning of such
chapter is amended by adding at the end the following
new item:
‘‘918. Medal of honor recipient.’’.
Passed the House of Representatives December 20,
2001.
Attest:
JEFF TRANDAHL,
Clerk.