National Medal of Honor Highway

Floor Speech

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Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (S. 1478) to designate United States Route 20 in the States of Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Massachusetts as the ``National Medal of Honor Highway'', and for other purposes.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

The text of the bill is as follows: S. 1478

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. NATIONAL MEDAL OF HONOR HIGHWAY.

(a) Purpose.--The purposes of this Act are--

(1) to honor all current and future Medal of Honor recipients; and

(2) to recognize the valor and service of those Medal of Honor recipients.

(b) Designation.--United States Route 20 in each of the States of Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Massachusetts shall be known and designated as the ``National Medal of Honor Highway''.

(c) References.--Any reference in a law, map, regulation, document, paper, or other record of the United States to the highway referred to in subsection (b) shall be deemed to be a reference to the ``National Medal of Honor Highway''.

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Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. 1478.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of S. 1478, a bill which designates U.S. Route 20 as the ``National Medal of Honor Highway.''

I also thank my colleague from Pennsylvania (Mr. Kelly) for sponsoring the House companion bill which is H.R. 3149.

The Medal of Honor is an award presented to servicemembers who go above and beyond the call of duty and risk their own lives to protect the United States.

Formally designating U.S. Route 20 as the ``National Medal of Honor Highway'' honors all 3,519 recipients of the Medal of Honor and all future recipients.

U.S. Route 20 is the longest continuous highway in our Nation, spanning 3,365 miles across 12 States. As people travel along U.S. Route 20, through Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Massachusetts, they will be reminded of the recipients and their exemplary service to the United States.

This bill is supported by The American Legion, Congressional Medal of Honor Society, Legion of Valor, Medal of Honor Historical Society of the United States, Military Officers Association of America, Military Order of the Purple Heart, and the Vietnam Veterans of America.

Mr. Speaker, I urge support of this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.
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Mr. GRAVES of Missouri. Mr. Speaker, this bill honors the brave men and women who go above and beyond to protect the United States. I commend Representative Mike Kelly for leading the House effort to honor our servicemembers. The Transportation and Infrastructure Committee favorably reported the House companion legislation for this bill, and I urge my colleagues to support this bill so we can send it to the President's desk and get it signed into law.

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