[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 46 (Tuesday, March 23, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E515-E516]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


       INTRODUCTION OF THE VETERANS EXPEDITED MILITARY MEDALS ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. LANE EVANS

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 23, 1999

  Mr. EVANS. Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing the Veterans Expedited 
Military Medals Act, legislation that will address an inexcusable 
situation--the growing backlog at the Department of Defense in 
providing replacement military medals and unawarded decorations to our 
nation's veterans.
  Unfortunately it can now take years for veterans to receive medals 
that they earned through their service to our nation. I know from 
personal experience. In my own congressional district there are several 
veterans, some who have waited over two years, to receive medals they 
earned, but were never awarded. One veteran from the town of Milan, 
Illinois has waited almost two years to receive his Good Conduct Medal. 
Another vet from Princeton has tried to get his American Campaign 
Medal, but has now waited almost a year with no results. My district 
office has pursued these cases aggressively, but the reality is that no 
amount of pressure the follow-through can overcome what is essentially 
a resource problem.
  The issue revolves around back-up cases. The personnel centers who 
process applications for the separate services for never-issued awards 
and replacement medals have accumulated unconscionable backlogs in 
requests by veterans. In one personnel center alone, around 40,000 
requests have been allowed to back up. The resulting time delays have 
denied veterans across the nation the medals and honors they have 
rightfully earned.
  DOD claims that it doesn't have the people or resources to speed up 
the process. But it wouldn't take much to make a dent in the problem. 
For example, the Navy Liaison Office was averaging a relatively quick 
turnaround time of only four to five months when it had only five 
personnel working cases. Now that it has only three people in the 
office, it is having a hard time keeping up with the crush of requests. 
DOD must make putting more resources towards this problem a priority. 
However, it seems like the same old story--our government forgets the 
sacrifices servicemen and women have made as soon as they leave 
military duty. We can do better.
  My legislation, which is the companion bill to Senator Harkin's 
legislation in the Senate, would direct the Secretary of Defense to 
establish and carry out a plan to make available the funds and 
resources necessary to eliminate the backlog in decoration requests. 
The bill would also direct that funding and resources should not come 
at the expense of other personnel service and support activities within 
DOD. It is a common sense approach which will allow DOD to be involved 
in solving the situation while structuring a quick and direct solution 
to the problem.
  I am proud that the legislation enjoys the support of the Veterans of 
Foreign Wars (VFW). I hope that it is something Congress can quickly 
act on in the near future. I urge all of my colleagues to join me in 
sponsoring this legislation which would follow through on our

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commitment to ensure that the service of our fighting men and women is 
properly honored and not forgotten.

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