[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 8]
[Senate]
[Pages 9774-9778]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    ESTABLISHMENT OF CAMPAIGN MEDALS

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will 
proceed to the consideration of H.R. 3104, which the clerk will report.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (H.R. 3104) to provide for the establishment of 
     separate campaign medals to be awarded to members of the 
     uniformed services who participate in Operation Enduring 
     Freedom and to members of the uniformed services who 
     participate in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Debate is controlled. Who yields time?
  The Senator from New Mexico.

[[Page 9775]]


  Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, I yield myself 6 minutes off of the time 
on this side, and then the remaining 4 minutes will be reserved for the 
Senator from Arkansas who is in the Chamber to speak. I know Senator 
Warner intends to speak as well.
  First, I thank the majority leader, the Democratic leader, Senator 
Warner, and Senator Levin for their leadership in bringing this 
legislation to the Senate floor today for a vote.
  H.R. 3104 is a bill to honor our service men and women in Iraq and 
Afghanistan with campaign medals that recognize--appropriately 
recognize, in my view--their service and their sacrifice.
  A few days from now we will all honor those who have given their 
lives in defense of this great Nation. That is, of course, Memorial 
Day. This year it takes on special meaning since we clearly are engaged 
in two wars in which we have suffered many losses. Many fathers and 
mothers, sons and daughters will spend this Memorial Day not with 
family and friends but instead in Afghanistan or in Iraq. It is for 
them and their families that I believe we need to pass this 
legislation.
  Over the last 2 weeks, we have been flooded with horrific images of 
Iraqi prisoners mistreated at the hands of a few soldiers. This set of 
incidents has cast a dark shadow over the honorable and courageous 
service of over 2 million men and women in uniform. Today, we have an 
opportunity to send a strong, unequivocal message of support for our 
brave young men and women who have served and continue to serve both in 
Iraq and in Afghanistan.
  H.R. 3104 will provide the special recognition to these soldiers 
that, in my view, is long overdue.
  The administration made a decision to award a generic global war on 
terrorism expeditionary medal to all of the men and women who have 
served in those two theaters of war. In my view, that is an effort to 
essentially practice a one-size-fits-all solution. I think it missed 
the mark. I think we can do better. This legislation will do better.
  A campaign medal, such as is contemplated in this legislation, is 
different from an expeditionary medal. We can look back into the 
history of campaign medals and expeditionary medals awarded by our 
Department of Defense in previous campaigns and see that the campaign 
medals are reserved for those engaged in actual combat, or duty that is 
equally hazardous as combat duty, during the operation with armed 
opposition. That is what our men and women are facing today both in 
Iraq and Afghanistan. Clearly, service in those two locations warrants 
the authorization of campaign medals.
  I am very pleased to see many of my colleagues have chosen to 
cosponsor the Senate version of this bill. This bill now has 24 
cosponsors, including Senators Lugar, Lott, Landrieu, Inhofe, Gregg, 
Johnson, Rockefeller, Pryor, Reid, Daschle, Lincoln, Boxer, Durbin, 
Biden, Akaka, Edwards, Kerry, Clinton, Bayh, Feingold, Nelson, Conrad, 
Kennedy, Stabenow, Dole, and Byrd. And, of course, I wish to thank the 
chairman and the ranking member of the Armed Services Committee again 
for their important leadership in getting this legislation enacted.
  Also, I wish to acknowledge the very hard work and good work that was 
done by Representative Vic Snyder, who was the sponsor of this measure 
in the House.
  This measure we are going to vote on is identical to the bill we 
introduced in the Senate, and Representative Snyder deserves great 
credit for his hard work in getting it enacted there.
  Mr. President, I am informed there is some additional time. I have 
been informed we do not expect to start the vote until about 11:30 a.m.
  Let me continue for another minute and say that after a particularly 
dangerous and brutal April, America now mourns the deaths of nearly 800 
service men and women in Iraq, as well as 119 in Afghanistan. There 
have been nearly 3,000 Americans injured in those campaigns.
  More than a year after the initial Iraqi invasion, the administration 
has announced plans to maintain a force of at least 135,000 troops in 
Iraq through 2005. Despite the assurances we would be able to handle 
this with an $87 billion supplement through this fiscal year, we now 
see that is not going to be possible. This is a significant military 
occupation. It is a significant reconstruction effort. In fact, it is 
the most significant we have ventured into since World War II. We must 
not underestimate the importance of the sacrifice these men and women 
are making.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator has used his time.
  Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that I be 
allowed another 2 minutes.
  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I certainly will not object, but we should 
clarify that the vote will now go off at 11:30 a.m. Therefore, why 
don't we equally divide the time and the Senator from New Mexico take 
such time as he wishes, and our distinguished colleague from Arkansas 
wishes to speak. I do not think there is any rush. The Senator can take 
the time he wishes.
  Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, I concur with that assessment, and ask 
the additional time between now and 11:30 a.m. be split equally between 
the two sides.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The time will be divided equally, after 
subtracting the time that has already been consumed, I suspect.
  Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, I will conclude. This legislation and 
the establishment of these campaign medals will also serve to honor 
those who will not return home from these conflicts, including those 
who have fallen from my home State of New Mexico: Army SP James Prittle 
from Carlsbad, NM; Air Force Special Operations pilot, CPT Tamara 
Archuleta from Albuquerque, NM, a single mother whose helicopter 
crashed in Afghanistan; Marine PFC Christopher Ramos of Albuquerque, 
NM; and Marine Cpl Aaron Austin of Lovington, NM.
  These heroes gave their lives for this Nation. This medal will honor 
that sacrifice as well. The great men and women of our military forces 
are doing their jobs every day in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is 
appropriate that we honor them with an award that truly stands for 
their heroic service. The Iraq and Afghanistan campaign medals will do 
that.
  As I indicated before, I will now yield time to my colleague from 
Arkansas, and he can take as much time as he would like of that which 
remains on our side.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Arkansas.
  Mr. PRYOR. Mr. President, I rise to indicate my full support for the 
passage of this legislation, H.R. 3104, which requires the President to 
establish separate campaign medals for service members who participate 
in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi 
Freedom. My good friend and colleague, Congressman Vic Snyder of 
Arkansas, has worked tirelessly to pass this measure in the House. 
Congressman Snyder is a man of character and conviction, and he has 
worked to develop a bill that rightly recognizes the service of our men 
and women in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.
  This bill truly is a credit to his leadership and his ability, and 
once again he is demonstrating his effectiveness in the Congress.
  I am a cosponsor of S. 2262, the Senate companion measure offered by 
Senator Bingaman, who has also shown great leadership on this issue. I 
want to acknowledge that and thank him for championing this measure in 
this distinguished body.
  This is a solid measure. The Senate Armed Services Committee, whose 
chairman is in the Chamber today, Senator John Warner, my distinguished 
colleague from Virginia, has shown tremendous leadership over the last 
several months and even over the last years as chairman of the Senate 
Armed Services Committee. The committee has passed identical language 
in the Defense authorization during the committee markup. The committee 
also reported favorably H.R. 3104.
  This bill was not intended to replace the administration's Global War 
on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal and

[[Page 9776]]

the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal. Instead, it complements the 
Global War on Terrorism Medals by providing additional separate 
campaign medals that would be awarded to qualified service members.
  As we view and read about the difficulties that our troops are facing 
in Iraq, we see the camaraderie that exists between people who have 
served in the same war. There is definitely a unique bond. Separate 
campaign medals for Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring 
Freedom honor those two distinct and separate military campaigns.
  Separate campaign medals provide our men and women in uniform who 
serve in these operations with tangible acknowledgment of their duty to 
their country. I think this humble token of acknowledgment is the least 
we can do, and I urge my colleagues to support this very important 
bill.
  I yield the floor.
  Ms. LANDRIEU. Mr. President, I rise today to support this 
legislation, as it recognizes America's fighting men and women serving 
today in Iraq and Afghanistan. These soldiers, sailors, airmen, and 
marines are serving their country, in harms way, in two distinct 
theaters, and it is time that we recognize them appropriately.
  The armed forces of this country have defended us valiantly for the 
last two hundred and twenty nine years. When our Nation has been 
challenged, each generation has risen to the occasion. And I do need to 
inform anybody in this chamber that the current generation has done the 
same, and that they are fighting valiantly in Iraq and Afghanistan. 
America knows all too well that many of our troops have given what 
President Lincoln called the ``last full measure of devotion.''
  The generation that fought in Vietnam was given a medal for their 
service, as were the men and women who served in Korea. The generation 
that fought in World War II was awarded with a medal commemorating the 
victory, as well as service in the Pacific, European/African, and 
American theaters. And today we bestow the same honors upon the current 
generation that their fathers and grandfathers received.
  This legislation is the right thing to do, and I am proud to join my 
colleague, Senator Bingaman, in this effort.
  Mr. AKAKA. Mr. President, I rise today as a proud cosponsor to 
express my support of legislation introduced by Senators Bingaman, 
Inhofe, Landrieu, and Lugar which would establish separate campaign 
medals to be awarded to those members of the Armed Forces who 
participate in Operation Enduring Freedom, OEF, and Operation Iraqi 
Freedom, OIF.
  Campaign medals in the United States have a long history and date 
back to George Washington's time when he received a gold medal from 
Congress for the recovery of Boston on March 17, 1776. By 1907, members 
of the Army were wearing newly issued campaign medals, and by 1908, the 
Navy and Marine Corps began to recognize exemplary service with 
campaign medals.
  During World War II a series of area campaign medals were authorized 
for service in the American Theater, the Asiatic-Pacific Theater, and 
the European-African-Middle Eastern Theater of the war. These medals 
were the same for all services and inaugurated a trend that exists 
today by recognizing the valor and service of military members involved 
in specific difficult deployments.
  I had the privilege of traveling to Iraq and Afghanistan in March 
2004 where I met many of our men and women proudly serving our nation. 
It was an honor for me to witness their dedication to duty and country. 
While our Nation is engaged in a global war on terrorism, it is clear 
that our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines are engaged in distinct 
operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. Some of them have served in both 
operations and deserve separate medals.
  Campaign medals were specifically designed to recognize the service 
of military members in specific operations during a period of active 
hostilities. Service men and women deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan 
deserve this distinctive honor. I fully support this bill which would 
establish campaign medals for members of the Armed Forces who 
participate in Operation Enduring Freedom or Operation Iraqi Freedom.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Who yields time? The Senator from Virginia.
  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I express my appreciation to Senator 
Bingaman and Senator Pryor and acknowledge our colleague in the House, 
Mr. Snyder. I would like to add to that Congressman Ike Skelton. He 
talked to me about it. He feels very strongly. He is a marvelous man. 
He is the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee.
  So I think this is a splendid initiative. I strongly urge Members of 
this Senate to support it. It is H.R. 3104, the act to provide for the 
establishment of separate campaign medals for those uniformed services 
participating in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi 
Freedom.
  The bill before us passed the House in late March by a vote of 423 to 
0. During the markup of the Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 
2005 on May 6, the committee unanimously decided to include the text of 
this provision in the bill as section 542. At the same time, in order 
to expedite its enactment, the committee also voted favorably to report 
out this bill. So we covered it in both ways in the Armed Services 
Committee, again showing our strong support.
  I will touch on a little bit of history. Going back to World War II, 
we had a campaign medal called the Asiatic/Pacific Campaign Medal, and 
that covered all of the operations in the Pacific region. There was 
another separate medal for the Philippine campaign, to my recollection, 
but basically it was one to cover the many actions in the Pacific. 
Likewise, a second was the European/African/Middle Eastern Campaign 
Medal awarded to those who served between 1941 and 1946, which covered 
all of the operations in those three theaters.
  There was a third medal which was sort of a medal that covered those 
who saw service, but their training and other duties did not require 
them to go overseas. They were largely in the continental limits of the 
United States and participated in actions along the coastlines of 
America, the Atlantic side, and, of course, the Pacific side.
  Then when we came down to the campaigns in Korea, there was the 
Korean Service Medal given from 1950 to 1954. My distinguished 
colleague, Senator Bingaman, worked on a slight revision for the 
qualifications, which I supported, expanding the period of time, which 
I thought was a wise decision.
  Then when we came down to the question of the service in Vietnam, 
again, we had the Vietnam Service Medal. So there are many precedents 
for this type of action regarding the very important recognition of the 
individuals who participate.
  These particular categories of decorations indicate the geographic 
area where that individual saw service during the periods of conflict. 
Through experience I have found that the men and women of the Armed 
Forces--again, I say with the deepest humility I was entitled to the 
Korean Service Medal for very modest service--but I remember this 
weekend, as other Members do, where we traveled back to our States to 
seek out those who saw service in Iraq, and I met with six individuals 
in connection with a graduation speech. They had been reservists at 
this small college. They had been called back into active duty, and 
coincidentally with my visit they had just gotten home from their year 
obligation of service in Iraq.
  The first question they asked me was, What sort of recognition do we 
get for service over there? Now, two of them had been wounded and, of 
course, received the Purple Heart, but they were anxious to know was 
recognition forthcoming. That is why I have joined in total support of 
this effort to bring to the attention of those people in this country 
the remarkable service that has been performed in both these theaters 
of operation in the past year or so.

[[Page 9777]]

  So I strongly support this bill. The superb service rendered by our 
Nation's fighting forces since September 11 fully warrants the 
establishment of campaign medals for service in Operation Enduring 
Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. I urge all of my colleagues to 
vote for it.
  I again thank those who have taken a leadership role, our 
distinguished colleagues Senators Bingaman and Pryor, and the two 
individuals on the House side.
  I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, how much time remains?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. There remains 2 minutes 45 seconds.
  Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, let me take another minute to conclude 
the discussion. Again, I thank Senator Warner particularly for his 
leadership in getting this bill up for a vote today, and, of course, 
Senator Pryor, who was here a few minutes ago to speak; I appreciate 
his efforts. Of course, the majority leader and Senator Daschle on the 
Democratic side have both participated in helping do this.
  This is an important step for us to take, to honor the brave men and 
women who are serving our country in distant locations. I have had a 
similar experience to the one Senator Warner described, talking to 
service men and women who have returned--in the case of my State, from 
Afghanistan, the ones I spoke to, 2 weeks ago. They are very proud of 
what they have done. They have great reason to be proud of what they 
have done. This awarding of these campaign medals will help us to 
recognize that.
  Let me also indicate my appreciation to David Montotya of my staff 
for the consistent work he has done trying to move this legislation 
ahead, both last year and again this year. I think the dedicated 
efforts of our staffs often go unrecognized. He deserves credit. Trudy 
Vincent, my staff legislative director, also deserves credit.
  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that I can proceed 
for a minute or two in a colloquy with my distinguished friend from 
Nevada.
  Mr. REID. I agree we need 2 minutes on our side, also.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. REID. We do not need the time now.
  Mr. WARNER. If I could have a brief colloquy, the leadership needs to 
focus on working with Senator Levin and myself, as we always do each 
year on this bill. We are hopeful to finish this bill this week. I 
think that is shared by the other side of the aisle.
  Our Members are going back for the Memorial Day weekend, and the 
provisions in this bill are provisions that relate to so many of the 
men and women in the Armed Forces with whom they will undoubtedly be 
associating over the course of this weekend. It is definitely in the 
interest of Members to move forward on this bill.
  While we have a hearing in the Armed Services Committee tomorrow 
morning on the questions related to prison abuse, the bill is going 
forward. Members of our committee will be in the Senate intermittently 
as the hearing is going on. That will not in any way, I hope, be viewed 
as an impediment to forward progress.
  I, personally, am willing to stay here as long into the evenings as 
desired by our leadership to get this done. In years past, my 
distinguished colleague from Nevada has been most helpful in moving 
this piece of legislation.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, through you to the distinguished Senator, 
first, on behalf of the people of the State of Nevada, and I think I 
speak for the country, the way the Senator has handled this committee 
with Senator Levin during this very difficult time has been admirable. 
The Senator is my stereotype of the Senate. The Senator is a proud 
member of the Republican Party, yet the Senator has the wisdom and the 
experience to be able to set those partisan desires to one side. That 
is good for the country. The Senator has certainly indicated that 
during the past few days. We respect the Senator for that.
  Mr. President, we will be happy to cooperate with the distinguished 
chairman in attempting to finish this bill this week. It is a big 
``ask,'' because we have on our side, and the Senator has on their 
side, Members offering amendments. I see the distinguished junior 
Senator from Mississippi is shopping an amendment. We have a number of 
bipartisan amendments being talked about.
  We are in the mode of wanting to cooperate. We understand the 
importance of this legislation. It may be very difficult to finish. We 
have Tuesday, we have Wednesday, we have Thursday, and Friday.
  As the Senator knows, this is the Friday before the Memorial Day 
recess. The Senator is more experienced than I, but come Thursday 
night, Friday morning, Members will have parades and things to do so it 
will be very difficult to finish this bill. However, the Senator should 
understand that on this side we will cooperate in any way we can to 
finish the bill.
  Mr. WARNER. I thank my distinguished colleague. I emphasize tomorrow 
morning's hearings will not interfere with progress on the bill. We 
have three of our combatant commanders, coincidentally, in Washington 
for a variety of reasons.
  The letter Senator Levin and I sent to the Secretary of Defense 
scheduling additional witnesses offered the option of a teleconference 
hearing, thinking they would not be back, but we are fortunate they 
have returned for not only this hearing but a wide range of additional 
duties they are performing in Washington by way of consultation. That 
will not be an impediment. We will move forward tomorrow as scheduled 
with our work on the committee.
  Mr. President, we are prepared to move ahead.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. All time has expired. The question is on third 
reading and passage of the bill.
  The bill was ordered to a third reading and was read the third time.
  Mr. WARNER. I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There is a sufficient second.
  The bill having been read the third time, the question is, Shall the 
bill pass?
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. REID. I announce that the Senator from Hawaii (Mr. Inouye) and 
the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Kerry) are necessarily absent.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber 
desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 98, nays 0, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 96 Leg.]

                                YEAS--98

     Akaka
     Alexander
     Allard
     Allen
     Baucus
     Bayh
     Bennett
     Biden
     Bingaman
     Bond
     Boxer
     Breaux
     Brownback
     Bunning
     Burns
     Byrd
     Campbell
     Cantwell
     Carper
     Chafee
     Chambliss
     Clinton
     Cochran
     Coleman
     Collins
     Conrad
     Cornyn
     Corzine
     Craig
     Crapo
     Daschle
     Dayton
     DeWine
     Dodd
     Dole
     Domenici
     Dorgan
     Durbin
     Edwards
     Ensign
     Enzi
     Feingold
     Feinstein
     Fitzgerald
     Frist
     Graham (FL)
     Graham (SC)
     Grassley
     Gregg
     Hagel
     Harkin
     Hatch
     Hollings
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Jeffords
     Johnson
     Kennedy
     Kohl
     Kyl
     Landrieu
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     Levin
     Lieberman
     Lincoln
     Lott
     Lugar
     McCain
     McConnell
     Mikulski
     Miller
     Murkowski
     Murray
     Nelson (FL)
     Nelson (NE)
     Nickles
     Pryor
     Reed
     Reid
     Roberts
     Rockefeller
     Santorum
     Sarbanes
     Schumer
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Smith
     Snowe
     Specter
     Stabenow
     Stevens
     Sununu
     Talent
     Thomas
     Voinovich
     Warner
     Wyden

                             NOT VOTING--2

     Inouye
     Kerry
       
  The bill (H.R. 3104) was passed.
  Mr. LOTT. I move to reconsider the vote.

[[Page 9778]]


  Mr. REID. I move to lay that motion on the table.
  The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

                          ____________________