[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 141 (Monday, October 3, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: October 3, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
 CRIME BILL TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS RELATING TO CONGRESSIONAL MEDALS OF 
                                 HONOR

  Mr. BROOKS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 5102) to amend title 18, United States Code, with respect to 
certain crimes relating to Congressional Medals of Honor.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 5102

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled, That 
     section 704(b)(2)(B) of title 18, United States Code, is 
     amended by inserting ``, 6241, or 8741'' after ``3741''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Texas [Mr. Brooks] will be recognized for 20 minutes, and the gentleman 
from New York [Mr. Fish] will be recognized for 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas [Mr. Brooks].
  Mr. BROOKS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  (Mr. BROOKS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. BROOKS. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5102, with respect 
to certain crimes relating to Congressional Medals of Honor.
  The conference report on H.R. 3355, the omnibus crime bill recently 
signed into law, included language offered by our colleague from 
California, Mr. McCandless, to create a separate category in existing 
law to increase the penalties for the illegal sale of Congressional 
Medals of Honor in order to prevent further fraud and theft relating to 
these medals.
  Mr. McCandless' original intent was to cover all Medals of Honor; 
however, the effect of the language was to cover only those medals 
awarded by the Department of the Army. This bill expands the existing 
law to achieve Mr. McCandless' original goal of covering the Medals of 
Honor awarded by all of the armed services.
  I urge an ``aye'' vote on H.R. 5102.

                              {time}  1330

  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. FISH. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  (Mr. FISH asked and was given permission to revise and extend his 
remarks.)
  Mr. FISH. Mr. Speaker, 4 years ago our colleague, Congressman Al 
McCandless, introduced legislation to increase penalties for the 
illegal sale of Congressional Medals of Honor. This initiative was 
directed at preventing further medal fraud and theft. This McCandless 
language was included in the 1990 crime bill; however, that bill was 
not enacted in the 102d Congress.
  This year, language was included in section 320109 of the Violent 
Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 which, of course, has 
become law (Public Law 103-322). Unfortunately, the section mistakenly 
defined the Congressional Medal of Honor as only that awarded by the 
Army. As a result, the Navy and Air Force Congressional Medals of Honor 
were inadvertently omitted. The purpose of H.R. 5102 is to make a 
technical correction in the crime bill to rectify this oversight. So, 
there will be an increase in the penalties for the illegal sale of 
Congressional Medals of Honor that are awarded by all of the armed 
services--Army, Navy, and Air Force. The gentleman from California [Mr. 
McCandless] is to be commended for his efforts regarding this 
legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman 
from California [Mr. McCandless].
  Mr. McCANDLESS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New York for 
yielding me the time.
  We, Mr. Speaker, have a situation here that has been very beautifully 
described by both the committee chairman and ranking minority member as 
to the history of this process. I think it would be appropriate at this 
time, in view of the subject matter, that I share with my colleagues 
some thoughts relative to how this came about.
  A very close friend of mine and constituent, Mitchell Paige, is a 
recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor for his action on 
Guadalcanal. I also have another constituent by the name of Lewis 
Millett who is a Congressional Medal of Honor winner from the Korean 
period of our history. Both of these gentlemen have been very active 
over the years in the Medal of Honor Society, and Mitchell Paige has 
acted as a member of its board of directors and spends a great deal of 
time on the road.
  Mitch, as we call him, has been subjected to some situations where he 
has attended a swap meet, and could buy a Medal of Honor for $650. When 
asked where this Medal of Honor came from, a lot of obvious dialog on 
his part took place without response from the seller.
  We also found that in a number of cases, Medals of Honor have been 
stolen from exhibits, both public and private, and ultimately end up 
being sold on the market.
  To further complicate the situation, a number of Medals of Honor were 
actually stolen from a depository of the United States in Louisville, 
KY.
  The penalty prior to this legislation was a $350 fine maximum and a 
misdemeanor. It is not fitting that this practice continue, and I am 
appreciative that we were able to include that upgrade in the bill.
  As has been said before, a technical error is the reason we are here. 
The current legislation as it was written refers only to the Army, 
through an oversight of the Government codes section and, therefore, 
this bill simply addresses the entire armed services, including the 
Army, obviously, and changes nothing else in the bill or the language 
of the bill in which it appears.
  I thank the gentlemen very much.
  Mr. BROOKS. Mr. Speaker, will the gentleman yield?
  Mr. McCANDLESS. I am happy to yield to the gentleman from Texas.
  Mr. BROOKS. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from California [Mr. 
McCandless] has been dedicated to getting this done, and he is due 
considerable credit. He worked on it in the last session and introduced 
the amendment on the floor. His heart has been in the right place, and 
now it is going to be just exactly like he wants it.
  Mr. McCANDLESS. I appreciate that and appreciate the work of the 
chairman and the ranking minority's work, and also the fine staff that 
was so able in putting this together so we could bring it to the floor.
  Mr. FISH. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I 
yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. BROOKS. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Montgomery). The question is on the 
motion offered by the gentleman from Texas [Mr. BROOKS] that the House 
suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 5102.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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