[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 572 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 572

    To provide for the issuance of a ``forever stamp'' to honor the 
sacrifices of the brave men and women of the Armed Forces who have been 
                       awarded the Purple Heart.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 11, 2009

 Mr. Webb (for himself, Mr. Brown, Mr. Vitter, Mr. Wicker, Mrs. Boxer, 
  Mr. Nelson of Nebraska, and Mrs. Lincoln) introduced the following 
 bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland 
                   Security and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To provide for the issuance of a ``forever stamp'' to honor the 
sacrifices of the brave men and women of the Armed Forces who have been 
                       awarded the Purple Heart.

    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 ``Perpetual Purple Heart Stamp Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) the Purple Heart is the oldest military decoration in 
        the world still in use;
            (2) the Purple Heart was first established by General 
        George Washington on August 7, 1782, as the Honorary Badge of 
        Distinction, otherwise known as the Badge of Military Merit or 
        Decoration of the Purple Heart;
            (3) the Purple Heart is awarded in the name of the 
        President of the United States and may, among others, be 
        awarded--
                    (A) to any member of the Armed Forces who is 
                wounded in an action against or held prisoner of war by 
                an enemy of the United States; or
                    (B) posthumously to the next of kin of any person 
                who is a member of the Armed Forces at the time the 
                person is killed or wounded under circumstances 
                otherwise qualifying that person for award of the 
                Purple Heart;
            (4) more than 1,700,000 Americans have been awarded the 
        Purple Heart; and
            (5) the Purple Heart postage stamp, first issued by the 
        United States Postal Service on May 30, 2003, honors the 
        sacrifices of the brave men and women of the Armed Forces who 
        have been awarded the Purple Heart.

SEC. 3. PERPETUAL PURPLE HEART STAMP.

    (a) In General.--In order to continue to honor the sacrifices of 
the brave men and women of the Armed Forces who have been awarded the 
Purple Heart, the Postmaster General shall provide for the issuance of 
a forever stamp suitable for that purpose.
    (b) Definition.--For purposes of this Act, the term ``forever 
stamp'' means a definitive stamp which meets the postage required for 
first-class mail up to one ounce in weight, and which retains full 
validity for that purpose even if the rate of that postage is later 
increased.
    (c) Effective Date.--The stamp described in subsection (a) shall be 
issued beginning as soon as practicable after the date of the enactment 
of this Act and shall not thereafter be discontinued.
                                 <all>