[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 864 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 864

  To designate a Distinguished Flying Cross National Memorial at the 
            March Field Air Museum in Riverside, California.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 2, 2011

  Mrs. Boxer (for herself, Mrs. Feinstein, and Mr. Nelson of Florida) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
               Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To designate a Distinguished Flying Cross National Memorial at the 
            March Field Air Museum in Riverside, California.

    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 ``Distinguished Flying Cross National 
Memorial Act''.

SEC. 2. DESIGNATION OF DISTINGUISHED FLYING CROSS NATIONAL MEMORIAL IN 
              RIVERSIDE, CALIFORNIA.

    (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Distinguished Flying Cross, which was created by 
        Congress in 1926, is the oldest military award in the United 
        States for achievements in aviation.
            (2) The most reliable statistics regarding the number of 
        members of the Armed Forces who have been awarded the 
        Distinguished Flying Cross indicate that 126,318 members of the 
        Armed Forces received the medal during World War II, 
        approximately 21,000 members received the medal during the 
        Korean conflict, and 21,647 members received the medal during 
        the Vietnam War.
            (3) Since the end of the Vietnam War, more than 203 Armed 
        Forces members have received the medal in times of conflict.
            (4) Since the National Personnel Records Center in St. 
        Louis, Missouri, burned down in 1973, many more recipients of 
        the Distinguished Flying Cross may be undocumented.
            (5) Currently, the Department of Defense continues to 
        locate and identify members of the Armed Forces whose award of 
        the medal has not been documented.
            (6) The United States currently lacks a national memorial 
        dedicated to the bravery and sacrifice of those members of the 
        Armed Forces who have distinguished themselves by heroic deeds 
        performed in aerial flight.
            (7) An appropriate memorial to current and former members 
        of the Armed Forces has been constructed at March Field Air 
        Museum in Riverside, California.
            (8) The Distinguished Flying Cross National Memorial would 
        honor all those members of the Armed Forces who have 
        distinguished themselves in aerial flight, whether 
        documentation of such members who earned the Distinguished 
        Flying Cross exists or not.
    (b) Designation.--The memorial to members of the Armed Forces who 
have been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross at March Field Air 
Museum in Riverside, California, is designated as the ``Distinguished 
Flying Cross National Memorial''.
    (c) Effect of Designation.--The national memorial designated by 
this section is not a unit of the National Park System, and the 
designation of the national memorial shall not be construed to require 
or permit Federal funds to be expended for any purpose related to the 
national memorial.
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