[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2540 Introduced in House (IH)]







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 Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Fairness to All Vietnam Veterans 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds as follows:
            (1) Public Law 96-297 (94 Stat. 827) authorized 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 Vietnam war would be to 
        permanently inscribe the names of the members of the Armed 
        Forces who died during the Vietnam war, or who remained missing 
        at the conclusion of the war, on a memorial wall.
            (3) The Memorial Fund relied on the Department 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 inscription of names on the 
        memorial wall could be corrected.
            (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 inscribed 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 memorial 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 providing 
                direct support to, a combat mission immediately en 
                route to or returning from such combat zone.
            (8) Public Law 106-214 (114 Stat. 335) authorizes the 
        American Battle Monuments Commission 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 inscription 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 recognition for such 
        veterans, including any such alternatives 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 conducted 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 memorial wall under current 
        eligibility requirements, and the number of veterans affected 
        in each category;
            (2) a list of the alternative eligibility requirements 
        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 Commission;
            (5) the Vietnam Women's Memorial, Inc.; and
            (6) the National Capital Planning Commission.
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