I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2540
To require the Secretary of Defense to report to Congress regarding the 
requirements applicable to the inscription of veterans’ names on the 
memorial wall of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 19, 2003
Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD (for herself and Mr. SIMMONS) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services 
A BILL 
To require the Secretary of Defense to report to Congress 
regarding the requirements applicable to the inscription 
of veterans’ names on the memorial wall of the Vietnam 
Veterans Memorial.
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 ‘‘Fairness to All Viet-
nam Veterans Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds as follows:
(1) Public Law 96–297 (94 Stat. 827) author-
ized the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, Inc., 
(the ‘‘Memorial Fund’’) to construct a memorial ‘‘in 
honor and recognition of the men and women of the 
Armed Forces of the United States who served in 
the Vietnam war’’. 
(2) The Memorial Fund determined that the 
most fitting tribute to those who served in the Viet-
nam war would be to permanently inscribe the 
names of the members of the Armed Forces who 
died during the Vietnam war, or who remained miss-
ing at the conclusion of the war, on a memorial wall. 
(3) The Memorial Fund relied on the Depart-
ment of Defense to compile the list of individuals 
whose names would be inscribed on the memorial 
wall and the criteria for inclusion on such list. 
(4) The Memorial Fund established procedures 
under which mistakes and omissions in the inscrip-
tion of names on the memorial wall could be cor-
rected. 
(5) Under such procedures, the Department of 
Defense established eligibility requirements that 
must be met before the Memorial Fund will make 
arrangements for the name of a veteran to be in-
scribed on the memorial wall.
(6) The Department of Defense determines the 
eligibility requirements and has periodically modified 
such requirements. 
(7) As of February 1981, in order for the name 
of a veteran to be eligible for inscription on the me-
morial wall, the veteran must have— 
(A) died in Vietnam between November 1, 
1955, and December 31, 1960; 
(B) died in a specified geographic combat 
zone on or after January 1, 1961; 
(C) died as a result of physical wounds 
sustained in such combat zone; or 
(D) died while participating in, or pro-
viding direct support to, a combat mission im-
mediately en route to or returning from such 
combat zone. 
(8) Public Law 106–214 (114 Stat. 335) au-
thorizes the American Battle Monuments Commis-
sion to provide for the placement of a plaque within 
the Vietnam Veterans Memorial ‘‘to honor those 
Vietnam veterans who died after their service in the 
Vietnam war, but as a direct result of that service, 
and whose names are not otherwise eligible for 
placement on the memorial wall’’.
(9) The names of a number of veterans who 
died during the Vietnam war are not eligible for in-
scription on the memorial wall or the plaque. 
(10) Examples of such names include the 
names of the 74 servicemembers who died aboard 
the USS Frank E. Evans (DD–174) on June 3, 
1969, while the ship was briefly outside the combat 
zone participating in a training exercise. 
SEC. 3. STUDY AND REPORT. 
(a) STUDY.—The Secretary of Defense shall conduct 
a study that—
(1) identifies the veterans (as defined in section 
101(2) of title 38, United States Code) who died on 
or after November 1, 1955, as a direct or indirect 
result of military operations in southeast Asia and 
whose names are not eligible for inscription on the 
memorial wall of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial; 
(2) evaluates the feasibility and equitability of 
revising the eligibility requirements applicable to the 
inscription of names on the memorial wall to be 
more inclusive of such veterans; and 
(3) evaluates the feasibility and equitability of 
creating an appropriate alternative means of rec-
ognition for such veterans, including any such alter-
natives involving an education center at the Vietnam 
Veterans Memorial. 
(b) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 
of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense 
shall submit to Congress a report based on the study con-
ducted under subsection (a). Such report shall include—
(1) the reasons (organized by category) that the 
names of the veterans identified under subsection 
(a)(1) are not eligible for inscription on the memo-
rial wall under current eligibility requirements, and 
the number of veterans affected in each category; 
(2) a list of the alternative eligibility require-
ments considered under subsection (a)(2); 
(3) a list of the alternative means of recognition 
considered under subsection (a)(3); and 
(4) the conclusions and recommendations of the 
Secretary of Defense with regard to the feasibility 
and equitability of each alternative considered. 
(c) CONSULTATIONS.—In conducting the study under 
subsection (a) and preparing the report under subsection 
(b), the Secretary of Defense shall consult with—
(1) the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; 
(2) the Secretary of the Interior; 
(3) the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, Inc.;
(4) the American Battle Monuments Commis-
sion; 
(5) the Vietnam Women’s Memorial, Inc.; and 
(6) the National Capital Planning Commission.
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