1.Award of Purple Heart to
members of the Armed Forces killed or wounded in terrorist attacks within the
United States
(a)Congress makes the following
findings:
(1)The Final Report of the National Commission
on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (commonly known as the 9/11
Commission Report
) recognizes that there is a certain ideology that
gives rise to terrorism.
(2)This ideology,
which gives rise to terrorism, can even influence citizens and residents of the
United States to perpetrate attacks within the United States against members of
the Armed Forces.
(3)Two such attacks
have already occurred within the United States, one at a recruiting station in
Little Rock, Arkansas, on June 1, 2009, and one at Fort Hood, Texas, on
November 5, 2009.
(4)According to
investigative reports released by the Committee on Homeland Security of the
House of Representatives and the Committee on Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs of the Senate at least 34 threats, plots and strikes
related to domestic terrorism against United States military communities have
been uncovered since September 11, 2001.
(5)These threats,
plots and attacks demonstrate that members of the Armed Forces are at risk of
terrorist attack not only when deployed overseas but also while stationed
within the United States.
(6)The Department of Defense has recognized
the threat posed by terrorist attacks, including those perpetrated by a member
of the Armed Forces, by issuing revised regulations, including Army Regulation
381–12 regarding the Military Intelligence Threat Awareness and Reporting
Program, to require reporting of potential terrorist insider threat activity,
to include if a member of the Armed Forces is advocating the use of
unlawful violence or force to achieve goals that are political, religious, or
ideological in nature
.
(b)It is the sense of
Congress that the Secretary of Defense (and the Secretary of Homeland Security
with respect to the Coast Guard) should duly honor those members of the Armed
Forces who are killed or wounded in terrorist attacks within the United States
that are inspired by the ideology that gives rise to terrorism, as defined by
the Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the
United States (commonly known as the 9/11 Commission
Report
).
(c)
(1)Chapter 57 of title
10, United States Code, is amended by inserting after section 1129 the
following new section:
1129a.Purple Heart:
members killed or wounded by terrorist attacks perpetrated within the United
States
(a)For purposes of the award of the Purple
Heart, the Secretary concerned shall treat a member of the armed forces
described in subsection (b) in the same manner as a member who is killed or
wounded in action as the result of an act of the enemy of the United
States.
(b)(1)A member of the armed forces described in
this subsection is a member who the Secretary concerned determines was killed
or wounded in a terrorist attack within the United States perpetrated by an
individual or individuals expressing a political, religious or ideological
obligation to engage in unlawful violence directed against United States
military operations or foreign policy, as described in Army Regulation 318–12
of October 2010 regarding the Military Intelligence Threat Awareness and
Reporting Program.
(2)In this subsection, the term
terrorist attack
means the calculated use of unlawful violence
or the threat of unlawful violence to inculcate fear and coerce or intimidate
governments or societies in the pursuit of goals that are generally political,
religious or ideological.
(3)If a terrorist attack referred to in
paragraph (1) includes, as victims, members of more than one armed force, the
determination required by such paragraph shall be made jointly by the
Secretaries of the armed forces concerned.
(c)In implementing this section, the Secretary
concerned shall make no distinction between international
terrorism
and domestic terrorism
, as those terms are
defined in section 2331 of title 18.
(d)Subsection (a) shall not apply to a member
of the armed forces whose death or wounding is the result of the willful
misconduct of the member.
(e)Nothing in this section shall be
interpreted—
(1)to affect the
designation of any individual alleged to have perpetrated an attack referred to
in subsection (b)(1) as an enemy combatant for any purposes under law;
or
(2)to preempt or
otherwise affect any legal proceedings relating to such an
attack.
.
(2)The table of
sections at the beginning of such chapter is amended by inserting after the
item relating to section 1129 the following new item:
1129a. Purple Heart: members killed or
wounded by terrorist attacks perpetrated within the United
States.
.
(3)Retroactive
effective date and application
(A)The amendments made by
this subsection shall take effect as of January 1, 2009.
(B)Review of
certain previous incidentsThe Secretaries of the military departments
(and the Secretary of Homeland Security with respect to the Coast Guard) shall
undertake a review of each death or wounding of a member of the Armed Forces
that occurred within the United States between January 1, 2009, and the date of
the enactment of this Act under circumstances that could qualify the death or
wounding as being the result of a terrorist attack within the United States to
determine whether the death or wounding does qualify as a death or wounding
resulting from a terrorist attack within the United States for purposes of
section 1129a of title 10, United States Code, as added by this
subsection.
(C)If the death
or wounding of a member of the Armed Forces reviewed under subparagraph (B) is
determined to qualify as a death or wounding resulting from a terrorist attack
within the United States for purposes of such section 1129a, the Secretary of
the military department concerned (or the Secretary of Homeland Security with
respect to a member of the Coast Guard) shall take appropriate action under
such section to award the Purple Heart to the member.