Title: Let Everyone Get Involved in Opportunities for National Service Act
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security

Summary:
Let Everyone Get Involved in Opportunities for National Service Act or the LEGION Act
This bill authorizes The American Legion to expand membership eligibility to include veterans and servicemembers who served during times that were not designated periods of war. Currently, only veterans and servicemembers who served during periods of time specified by Congress are eligible to join The American Legion.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 504 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 504

To amend title 36, United States Code, to authorize The American Legion 
 to determine the requirements for membership in The American Legion, 
                        and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 14, 2019

Ms. Sinema (for herself and Mr. Tillis) introduced the following bill; 
  which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend title 36, United States Code, to authorize The American Legion 
 to determine the requirements for membership in The American Legion, 
                        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. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Let Everyone Get Involved in 
Opportunities for National Service Act'' or the ``LEGION Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) Since the end of World War II, the Federal Government 
        has designated specific periods of war, the dates of which are 
        important for qualification for certain benefits or membership 
        in veterans organizations established by Congress.
            (2) In between those recognized periods of war, during so-
        called peacetime eras, the United States military has been 
        involved in not fewer than 12 known eras, which are 
        unrecognized by the United States Government as periods of war, 
        resulting in numerous United States personnel combat 
        casualties.
            (3) Those 12 unrecognized war eras occurred at the 
        direction of the then President of the United States, with full 
        knowledge and consent of the then Congress.
            (4) The first of those 12 unrecognized war eras involving 
        active United States military personnel was the Greek Civil 
        War, fought in Greece from 1946 to 1949 between the army of the 
        Government of Greece, supported by active military personal of 
        the United States and the United Kingdom, and the Democratic 
        Army of Greece, the military branch of the Communist Party of 
        Greece.
            (5) During the Greek Civil War, one member of the Armed 
        Forces of the United States sacrificed his life in service to 
        the United States, and five others suffered non-combat deaths.
            (6) The second of those unrecognized war eras involving 
        active United States military personnel was the Chinese Civil 
        War, which occurred during the aftermath of World War II.
            (7) During the Chinese Civil War, the United States 
        military equipped, trained, transported, and supplied the 
        Kuomintang-led Government of the Republic of China with 
        approximately $4,430,000,000 in its resistance to the Communist 
        Party of China.
            (8) During the Chinese Civil War, 14 members of the Armed 
        Forces of the United States sacrificed their lives in service 
        to the United States, 150 non-combatants of the United States 
        lost their lives in the war, and 51 were wounded, resulting in 
        215 United States military casualties.
            (9) The third unrecognized war era involving active United 
        States military personnel is known as the Cold War.
            (10) The Cold War was a period spanning from approximately 
        1947 until 1991 when the Soviet Union collapsed.
            (11) Although no direct large-scale military fighting 
        occurred between the militaries of the United States and the 
        Soviet Union, active United States military personnel served in 
        multiple regional conflicts during the Cold War, resulting in 
        the deaths of not fewer than 32 members of the Armed Forces who 
        sacrificed their lives in service to the United States and not 
        fewer than 12 additional casualties.
            (12) The fourth unrecognized war era involving active 
        United States military personnel is known as the China Cold 
        War.
            (13) The China Cold War started when the Kuomintang-led 
        Government of the Republic of China retreated to the island of 
        Taiwan and lasted until 1972, after President Richard Nixon 
        conducted a landmark state visit to China.
            (14) During the military operations of the China Cold War, 
        not fewer than 16 members of the Armed Forces of the United 
        States sacrificed their lives in service to the United States.
            (15) The fifth unrecognized war era involving active United 
        States military personnel was the Lebanon Crisis of 1958, which 
        involved more than 14,000 United States personnel and resulted 
        in the death of one member of the Armed Forces who sacrificed 
        his life in service to the United States and five non-combat 
        deaths.
            (16) The sixth unrecognized war era involving active United 
        States military personnel was the Bay of Pigs invasion in April 
        1961.
            (17) The Bay of Pigs invasion was a failed military 
        invasion of Cuba undertaken by a United States military group 
        sponsored by the Central Intelligence Agency that resulted in 
        not fewer than one death of a member of the Armed Forces who 
        sacrificed his life in service to the United States and 19 non-
        combat deaths.
            (18) The seventh unrecognized war era involving active 
        United States military personnel was the Cuban Missile Crisis, 
        which took place between October 16 and October 28, 1962.
            (19) The Cuban Missile Crisis directly related to homeland 
        protection against the deployment of a Soviet ballistic missile 
        in Cuba.
            (20) During the Cuban Missile Crisis, one member of the 
        Armed Forces sacrificed his life in service to the United 
        States and 19 others died as non-combatants.
            (21) The eighth unrecognized war era involving active 
        United States military personnel was the Dominican Civil War in 
        1965.
            (22) Operations during the Dominican Civil War resulted in 
        the deaths of 27 members of the Armed Forces who sacrificed 
        their lives in service to the United States, 20 non-combat-
        related deaths, and 283 wounded.
            (23) The ninth unrecognized war era involving active United 
        States military personnel was the Iran Hostage Crisis, which 
        lasted from November 4, 1979, through January 20, 1981.
            (24) The Iran Hostage Crisis involved military intervention 
        by the United States which resulted in the deaths of 8 members 
        of the Armed Forces who sacrificed their lives in service to 
        United States.
            (25) The tenth unrecognized war era involving active United 
        States military personnel was the Salvadoran Civil War.
            (26) The Salvadoran Civil War lasted more than 12 years, 
        through the terms of two Presidential administrations of the 
        United States, and resulted in the deaths of 22 members of the 
        Armed Forces who sacrificed their lives in service to the 
        United States, 15 non-combat deaths, and 35 other casualties.
            (27) The 11th unrecognized war era involving active United 
        States military personnel started on April 5, 1986, when the La 
        Belle discotheque in West Berlin, Germany, was bombed, killing 
        two United States soldiers and wounding 79 other members of the 
        Armed Forces, which triggered what became known as the Libyan 
        Conflict.
            (28) The military operations of the Libyan Conflict 
        included numerous air strikes by United States military forces 
        and resulted in the deaths of two members of the Armed Forces 
        who sacrificed their lives in service to the United States.
            (29) The Libyan Conflict led to the 12th unrecognized war 
        era involving active United States military personnel, known 
        collectively as the Persian Gulf Conflicts, which lasted from 
        July 24, 1987, through September 26, 1988.
            (30) The Persian Gulf Conflicts involved United States 
        military missions to protect Kuwaiti-owned oil tankers which 
        represented the largest United States naval convoy operation 
        since World War II.
            (31) The Persian Gulf Conflicts resulted in numerous 
        military operations and the deaths of not fewer than 39 members 
        of the Armed Forces who sacrificed their lives in service to 
        the United States and 31 wounded.
            (32) Since the armistice that ended the hostilities of the 
        Korean War on January 31, 1955, nearly 100 active United States 
        military personnel have sacrificed their lives in service to 
        the United States in South Korea, and more than 132 people of 
        the United States have been wounded in-country.
            (33) Since January 1, 1947, through all of the unrecognized 
        war eras involving active United States military personnel, not 
        fewer than 778 combat and non-combat members of the Armed 
        Forces have sacrificed their lives in service to the United 
        States and not fewer than 797 have been wounded.
            (34) Since January 1, 1947, the unrecognized war eras 
        involving active United States military personnel who were 
        wounded and killed serving their country were administered 
        under orders from the commander in chief and with the consent 
        of Congress, proving that the United States has been conducting 
        deadly wartime service to protect the country consistently 
        since December 7, 1941.
            (35) Eligibility for membership in The American Legion is 
        determined by Congress through the establishment of specific 
        dates of declared and officially recognized hostilities in 
        which United States military personnel are on active service.
            (36) The American Legion provides invaluable services to 
        its members and supports the community of veterans who 
        sacrificed in service of the United States.
            (37) Membership in The American Legion allows veterans to 
        engage in public service activities, such as supporting Boys 
        and Girls State and Nation, youth mentorship programs, and 
        benefit assistance, career fairs, and employment assistance for 
        veterans.
            (38) The American Legion has gone on record as supporting 
        the 12 unrecognized war eras involving active United States 
        military personnel since the beginning of World War II.
            (39) The American Legion has aided, assisted, and comforted 
        the families of the men and women who were called to serve or 
        volunteered to serve during all of the unrecognized war eras 
        and continues to provide support to veterans of those eras.
            (40) The American Legion has commended the heroic actions 
        of all military personnel who risked their lives in defense of 
        freedom during each of the unrecognized war eras involving 
        active United States military personnel.
    (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that, in 
accordance with the history, tradition, and purposes of The American 
Legion, it is fair, proper, and reasonable that the privilege of 
membership in The American Legion should be extended to all military 
personnel who served on active military duty during all of the 
unrecognized war eras involving active United States military 
personnel.

SEC. 3. ELIGIBILITY FOR MEMBERSHIP IN THE AMERICAN LEGION.

    Section 21703(1)(A) of title 36, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in clause (vi), by striking ``or''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following new clause:
                            ``(viii) such other beginning dates through 
                        such other ending dates as are provided in the 
                        constitution and bylaws of the corporation; 
                        or''.
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