I 
113TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 4688 
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. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 20, 2014 
Mr. KEATING introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Armed Services 
A BILL 
To amend title 10, United States Code, to provide appro-
priate 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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Gold Star Families 
Equality Act’’. 
SEC. 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 of title 10, United States 
Code, is amended— 
(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 fol-
lowing 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 De-
fense, to identify widows, parents, and next of kin of mem-
bers 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 Sec-
retary of Defense, the Secretary concerned, upon applica-
tion 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 
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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 de-
ceased 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 of title 10, United States Code, as redesig-
nated by subsection (a)(2), is amended by inserting ‘‘or 
lapel button for next of kin of deceased members’’ after 
‘‘gold star lapel button’’ both places it appears. 
(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 of title 10, United States Code, as added by sub-
section (a)(3), shall be based on the design of such a lapel 
button provided by the Secretary of the Army to certain 
survivors of deceased members of the Army, including the 
Army Reserve and the Army National Guard, pursuant 
to Army regulation 600–6–18, as in effect on the date of 
the enactment of this Act. 
(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 of title 
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10, United States Code, as added by subsection (a)(3), 
shall be available to provide appropriate recognition for 
the survivors of members of the Armed Forces who have 
died since September 10, 2001. 
SEC. 3. GOLD STAR INSTALLATION ACCESS CARD. 
(a) SERVICE-WIDE ADOPTION OF ACCESS CARD.— 
The Secretary of each military department and the Sec-
retary of the Department in which the Coast Guard is op-
erating (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Secretary con-
cerned’’) shall provide for the issuance of a Gold Star In-
stallation Access Card to Gold Star family members who 
are the survivors of deceased members of the Armed 
Forces under the jurisdiction of the Secretary concerned 
to expedite the ability of a Gold Star family member to 
gain unescorted access to military installations for the 
purpose of obtaining the on-base services and benefits for 
which the Gold Star family member is entitled or eligible. 
(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 ac-
cepted for access to military installations of another 
Armed Force. 
(c) PROTECTION OF INSTALLATION SECURITY.—In 
developing, issuing, and accepting the Gold Star Installa-
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tion Access Card, the Secretary concerned may take such 
measures as the Secretary concerned considers nec-
essary— 
(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 ad-
versely 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’’ means a 
person who has received a Gold Star Lapel Button or a 
Lapel Button for the Next of Kin of Deceased Members 
of the Armed Forces under section 1126 of title 10, 
United States Code. 
SEC. 4. USE OF COMMISSARY STORES AND MWR RETAIL FA-
CILITIES BY PARENTS OF DECEASED MEM-
BERS OF THE ARMED FORCES. 
(a) USE AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary of each mili-
tary department and the Secretary of the Department in 
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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 of title 10, United States Code, is permitted 
to use commissary stores and MWR retail facilities on the 
same basis as any surviving spouse or child of the member. 
(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) The term ‘‘MWR retail facilities’’ means ex-
change stores and other revenue generating facilities 
operated by nonappropriated fund activities of the 
Department of Defense or the department in which 
the Coast Guard is operating for the morale, wel-
fare, and recreation of members of the Armed 
Forces. 
(2) The term ‘‘parent’’ includes mother, father, 
stepmother, stepfather, mother through adoption, fa-
ther through adoption, or foster parent who stood in 
loco parentis. 
Æ 
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