[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 9]
[House]
[Pages 12816-12817]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     AMERICAN LEGION AMENDMENTS ACT

  Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass 
the bill (H.R. 3988) to amend title 36, United States Code, to clarify 
the requirements for eligibility in the American Legion.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 3988

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. CLARIFICATION OF REQUIREMENTS FOR ELIGIBILITY IN 
                   THE AMERICAN LEGION.

       Section 21703(2) of title 36, United States Code, is 
     amended by inserting ``during or'' after ``continues to serve 
     honorably''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Wisconsin (Mr. Sensenbrenner) and the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. 
Jackson-Lee) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. 
Sensenbrenner).


                             General Leave

  Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all 
Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend 
their remarks and to include extraneous material on H.R. 3988 under 
consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Wisconsin?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, H.R. 3988 would amend the Federal charter of the 
American Legion.

                              {time}  1430

  Current law makes a veteran eligible to become a member of the legion 
if that veteran has served since ``August 2, 1990 through the date of 
cessation of hostilities as decided by the United States Government'' 
and was ``honorably discharged or separated from that service or 
continues to serve honorably after that period.''
  The United States Government has never issued a cessation of 
hostilities declaration for the Persian Gulf War. For those who are no 
longer serving, they have discharge papers stating that they honorably 
served during that period. Servicemen who have served since August 2, 
1990, and are still on active duty, have no discharge papers for the 
period, and are not serving after the cessation of hostilities, but 
during that period.
  The amendment would simply change the standard for qualification for 
membership in the legion by adding the words ``during or'' so that it 
states ``continues to serve during or after that period'' to make it 
clear that legion membership is open to active duty personnel who 
served during Operations Desert Shield, Desert Storm, and all of the 
operations that followed in Iraq, Bosnia, Kosovo, and Afghanistan.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge the House to pass H.R. 3988 to make this change 
in the Federal charter of the American Legion.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, it is always important to respect our veterans and to 
provide additional assistance to them.
  This bill makes a technical amendment to the membership 
qualifications language of the Federal charter of the American Legion. 
Currently, under the statute, veterans who get out of service are 
eligible to become members of the American Legion if they served since 
``August 2, 1990 through the date of cessation of hostilities, as 
decided by the United States Government'' and ``was honorably 
discharged or separated from that service or continues to serve 
honorably after that period.''
  Under the charter, however, the U.S. Government has never issued a 
cessation of hostilities decision signifying the end to a conflict. 
Those who are no longer serving have discharge papers stating they 
served honorably during that period, so they are unaffected. However, 
servicemen who served since August 2, 1990, and are still on active 
duty have no discharge papers for the period, and serve without the 
benefit of a U.S. Government-issued cessation of hostilities decision.
  The amendment would simply change the standard for qualification to 
say a veteran that ``continues to serve during or after that period'' 
will qualify for membership. This makes it clear that membership is 
open to thousands of active duty personnel who served during Operations 
Desert Shield, Desert Storm, and all of the operations that followed in 
Iraq, Bosnia, Kosovo and Afghanistan, thereby respecting these 
particular service personnel and veterans and allowing them to 
participate in a very important and certainly honorable organization, 
the American Legion.
  ``The American Legion was chartered by Congress in 1919 as a 
patriotic, mutual-help, wartime veterans organization.'' The 2.8 
million-member American Legion is the Nation's largest veterans 
organization with nearly 15,000 American Legion posts worldwide. The 
Legion assists our Nation's communities through ``fundraising programs, 
educational activities, library, and museum services, and many 
others.''
  As has been stated, this is a technical amendment that allows 
thousands upon thousands of veterans and service personnel and others 
to join the American Legion, and I believe this will add vitality to 
the American Legion.
  This bill makes a technical amendment to the membership 
qualifications language of the federal charter of the American Legion. 
Currently, under the statute, veterans who get out of service are 
eligible to become members of the American Legion if they served since: 
``August 2, 1990 through the date of cessation of hostilities, as 
decided by the United States Government'' and ``was honorably 
discharged or separated from that service or continues to serve 
honorably after that period.''
  Under the Charter, however, the U.S. Government has never issued a 
cessation of hostilities decision signifying the end to a conflict. 
Those who are no longer serving have discharge papers stating they 
served honorably during that period so they are unaffected. However, 
servicemen who served since August 2, 1990 and are still on active duty 
have no discharge papers for the period, and serve without the benefit 
of a U.S. government issued cessation of hostilities decision.
  The amendment would simply change the standard for qualification to 
say a veteran that ``continues to serve during or after that period'' 
will qualify for membership. This makes it clear that membership is 
open to the thousands of active duty personnel who served during 
operations Desert Shield, Desert Storm, and all the operations that 
followed in Iraq, Bosnia, Kosovo, and Afghanistan.
  ``The American Legion was chartered by Congress in 1919 as a 
patriotic, mutual-help, war-time veterans organization.'' The 2.8-
million member American Legion is the nation's largest veterans 
organization with nearly 15,000 American Legion Posts worldwide. The 
Legion assists our nations communities through ``fund-raising program, 
educational activities, library and museum services, and many others.''
  As has been stated, this Amendment simply allow more veterans to join 
in the good works of the American Legion. This will provide additional 
vitality to the Legion and I urge my colleagues to support this Act.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman 
from Pennsylvania (Mr. Gekas).
  Mr. GEKAS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding me this 
time.

[[Page 12817]]

  This is an opportunity for us to pay tribute to the American Legion 
that goes beyond the purpose of the bill, which is laudable, and that 
is to allow the legion to expand its membership by inclusion of certain 
categories of veterans who heretofore have not been able to qualify.
  But I want to bring into the Congressional Record remembrances of the 
American Legion as a young boy growing up in central Pennsylvania. Most 
of the parades and most of the patriotic functions of that era were 
either sponsored by or joined in by the American Legion, but that was 
not all. They also sponsored teenage baseball organizational sports, 
they also sponsored essay and oratorical contests in the high schools, 
and in a variety of ways went beyond their chief function of honoring 
the veteran, because they were part of the actual life of the community 
in so many different ways.
  Then the other portion of the American Legion that sticks hard to my 
memory is that during the time I served in the Armed Forces myself, 
there were two refuges for us in the various bases in which we served, 
and in particular, I remember in Fort Knox, Kentucky, the USO was 
always there on the weekends for the purpose of providing extra 
services and relaxation for the veterans who were serving or the 
members of the Armed Forces who were serving at Fort Knox, and also the 
American Legion always had some kind of hostmanship-type of function to 
welcome the soldiers who were stationed at Fort Knox.
  So for a whole series of remembrances for this Member, we support the 
bill and hope that many more veterans will be joining the ranks of the 
American Legion in the next several years.
  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 3988, 
the American Legion Amendments Act. I urge my colleagues to support 
this timely measure.
  This legislation amends the charter of the American Legion to revise 
eligibility for the organization to those individuals who have served 
honorably in the Armed Forces during or after specific periods. 
Presently, service members are only eligible if they have served during 
specific periods, including designated windows for World War I, World 
War II, Korea, Vietnam, Lebanon/Grenada, Panama, and Desert Storm. 
Because the window governing Desert Storm has not closed, under current 
law, Desert Storm veterans are not eligible to join the American 
Legion. This measure corrects this problem.
  The American Legion was founded and chartered by Congress in 1919. 
Its first major accomplishment was the creation of the U.S. Veterans 
Bureau, which was the precursor to the Veterans' Administration. 
Significant accomplishments of the Legion include the enactment of the 
G.I. bill, and the establishment of the cabinet-level department of 
Veterans Affairs.
  The Legion also led the fight for an investigation into the use of 
Agent Orange in Vietnam, the investigations into gulf-war illnesses 
among Desert Storm veterans, and for the constitutional amendment to 
prohibit physical desecration of the American flag.
  Like its fellow veterans service organizations, the American Legion 
offers valuable service to its membership, including, but not limited 
to: seeking discharge upgrades, record corrections, education benefits, 
disability compensation matters and pension eligibility. The Legion 
also has a long and distinguished history of community service.
  Given our current war on terrorism, I believe it is appropriate for 
Congress to recognize, expand and promote the efforts of our veterans 
service organizations. For this reason, I urge my colleagues to support 
this bill.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, 
and I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. SENSENBRENNER. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Culberson). The question is on the 
motion offered by the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Sensenbrenner) that 
the House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 3988.
  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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