[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5233 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5233

 To amend title 10, United States Code, to recognize the contributions 
made by the spouses of members of the Armed Forces who serve in combat 
  through the presentation of an official lapel button, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 6, 2010

Ms. Shea-Porter (for herself, Mr. Jones, Mr. Brady of Pennsylvania, Mr. 
  Forbes, Mrs. Christensen, Mr. Al Green of Texas, Mr. Hinojosa, Mr. 
     McGovern, Mr. Payne, Mr. Schiff, Mr. Grijalva, and Mr. Owens) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                             Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend title 10, United States Code, to recognize the contributions 
made by the spouses of members of the Armed Forces who serve in combat 
  through the presentation of an official lapel button, 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. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE RECOGNITION OF SPOUSES OF MEMBERS OF 
              THE ARMED FORCES.

    (a) Establishment and Presentation of Lapel Buttons.--Chapter 57 of 
title 10, United States Code, is amended by inserting after section 
1126 the following new section:
``Sec. 1126a. Spouse of combat veteran lapel button: eligibility and 
              presentation
    ``(a) Design and Eligibility.--A lapel button, to be known as the 
spouse-of-a-combat-veteran lapel button, shall be designed, as approved 
by the Secretary of Defense, to identify and recognize the spouse of a 
member of the armed forces who is serving or has served in a combat 
zone for a period of more than 30 days.
    ``(b) Presentation.--The Secretary concerned may authorize the use 
of appropriated funds to procure spouse-of-a-combat-veteran lapel 
buttons and to provide for their presentation to eligible spouses of 
members.
    ``(c) Exception to Time Period Requirement.--The 30-day periods 
specified in subsections (a) and (b) do not apply if the member is 
killed or wounded in the combat zone before the expiration the period.
    ``(d) License To Manufacture and Sell Lapel Buttons.--Section 
901(c) of title 36 shall apply with respect to the spouse-of-a-combat-
veteran lapel button authorized by this section.
    ``(e) Combat Zone Defined.--In this section, the term `combat zone' 
has the meaning given that term in section 112(c)(2) of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986.
    ``(f) Regulations.--The Secretary of Defense shall issue such 
regulations as may be necessary to carry out this section. The 
Secretary shall ensure that the regulations are uniform for each armed 
force to the extent practicable.''.
    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the beginning of 
such chapter is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 
1126 the following new item:

``1126a. Spouse-of-a-combat-veteran lapel button: eligibility and 
                            presentation.''.
    (c) Implementation.--It is the Sense of Congress that, as soon as 
practicable once the spouse-of-a-combat-veteran lapel button become 
available, the Secretary of Defense--
            (1) should widely announce the availability of spouse-of-a-
        combat-veteran lapel buttons through military and public 
        information channels; and
            (2) should encourage commanders at all levels to conduct 
        ceremonies recognizing the support provided by spouses of 
        members of the Armed Forces and to use the ceremonies as an 
        opportunity for members to present their spouses with a spouse-
        of-a-combat-veteran lapel button.
                                 <all>