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<BillSummaries>
<item congress="113" measure-type="hr" measure-number="4688" measure-id="id113hr4688" originChamber="HOUSE" orig-publish-date="2014-05-20" update-date="2014-07-14">
<title>Gold Star Families Equality Act</title>
<summary summary-id="id113hr4688v00" currentChamber="HOUSE" update-date="2014-07-14">
<action-date>2014-05-20</action-date>
<action-desc>Introduced in House</action-desc>
<summary-text><![CDATA[<p>Gold Star Families Equality Act - Requires a lapel button to be designed to identify widows, parents, and next of kin of members of the Armed Forces who die, under circumstances not already prescribed for under existing eligibility standards for a gold star lapel button, while serving on active duty or while assigned to a reserve component in a drill status.</p> <p>Makes such next of kin button available retroactively to survivors of members of the Armed Forces who have died since September 10, 2001.</p> <p>Directs the Secretary of each military department and the Secretary of the department in which the Coast Guard is operating to provide for the issuance of a Gold Star Installation Access Card to family members with gold or next of kin buttons to expedite their ability to gain unescorted access to military installations for the purpose of obtaining on-base services and benefits.</p> <p>Requires regulations to be prescribed to permit parents (including stepparents, parents though adoption, or foster parents who stood in loco parentis) with such buttons to use commissary stores and other military retail facilities on the same basis as surviving spouses or children.</p>]]></summary-text>
</summary>
</item>
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<dc:language>EN</dc:language>
<dc:rights>Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.</dc:rights>
<dc:contributor>Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress</dc:contributor>
<dc:description>This file contains bill summaries for federal legislation. A bill summary describes the most significant provisions of a piece of legislation and details the effects the legislative text may have on current law and federal programs. Bill summaries are authored by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) of the Library of Congress. As stated in Public Law 91-510 (2 USC 166 (d)(6)), one of the duties of CRS is "to prepare summaries and digests of bills and resolutions of a public general nature introduced in the Senate or House of Representatives". For more information, refer to the User Guide that accompanies this file.</dc:description>
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