Title: To amend titles 10 and 38, United States Code, to authorize a person awarded the Medal of Honor to designate an individual to receive the special pension after death, and for other purposes.
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security

Summary:
This bill authorizes a Medal of Honor recipient to designate an individual to receive the special pension associated with such honor after their death. If a Medal of Honor is awarded posthumously, the individual authorized to direct disposition of the remains of the recipient shall be treated as the designee.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1779 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1779

 To amend titles 10 and 38, United States Code, to authorize a person 
 awarded the Medal of Honor to designate an individual to receive the 
          special pension after death, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 14, 2019

  Ms. Brownley of California introduced the following bill; which was 
referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, and in addition to the 
Committee on Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined 
 by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as 
        fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend titles 10 and 38, United States Code, to authorize a person 
 awarded the Medal of Honor to designate an individual to receive the 
          special pension after death, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. AUTHORIZING A PERSON AWARDED THE MEDAL OF HONOR TO DESIGNATE 
              AN INDIVIDUAL TO RECEIVE THE SPECIAL PENSION AFTER DEATH.

    (a) In General.--Section 1562 of title 38, United States Code, is 
amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) by striking ``The Secretary'' and inserting 
                ``(1) Subject to paragraph (2), the Secretary''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following new 
                paragraph:
    ``(2) A person described in paragraph (1) may designate an 
individual to receive the special pension under this section after the 
death of that person by notifying the Secretary of such designation in 
writing. In the case of a Medal of Honor that is awarded posthumously, 
the individual authorized under section 1482(c) of title 10 to direct 
disposition of the remains of the person shall be treated as such a 
designee.'';
            (2) in subsection (d), by inserting ``(or the designee of 
        such person under subsection (a)(2))'' before ``shall not''; 
        and
            (3) in subsection (f)(1), by striking ``person who is in 
        receipt of special pension payable under this section'' and 
        inserting ``person described in paragraph (1) of subsection (a) 
        (or the designee of such a person under paragraph (2) of that 
        subsection)''.
    (b) Conforming Amendments.--Section 1134a of title 10, United 
States Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (c), by striking ``living''; and
            (2) in subsection (d), in the second sentence, by inserting 
        ``(or the designee of that person under subsection (a)(2) of 
        that section)'' before the period.
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