Medal of Honor Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. NEHLS. Mr. Speaker, I thank my distinguished colleague, Chairman Bost, for yielding. First and foremost, it has been a sincere pleasure to work with the chairman and his staff to advance this important legislation to the House floor. It is an honor to stand with him today. I also extend my gratitude and thanks to my colleague, Mr. Pappas, for co-leading this bipartisan legislation with me for the last two Congresses.

Mr. Speaker, today, I rise in strong support of H.R. 695, the Medal of Honor Act.

The Medal of Honor is our Nation's highest and most prestigious military decoration that can be awarded.

Under current law, the President may award a Medal of Honor to a member of the Armed Forces who has distinguished himself conspicuously by ``gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty while engaged in action against an enemy of the United States; while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing foreign force; or while serving with friendly foreign forces engaged in an armed conflict against an opposing armed force in which the United States is not a belligerent party.''

Since the Medal of Honor was established by Congress in 1862, it has been awarded 3,528 times. Today, as the chairman stated, there are only 63 living Medal of Honor recipients.

Throughout my time in Congress, I have had the privilege of getting to know some of these heroes and hearing their stories firsthand. In my humble opinion, these heroes are our Nation's most sacred treasure, and it is our obligation, as Congress, to do everything in our capacity to support them and their families.

Currently, each Medal of Honor recipient receives a special pension that totals roughly $1,500 per month, or $18,000 annually. The last update to the special pension for Medal of Honor recipients was back in 2002, when Congress passed the Medal of Honor pension act.

This legislation increased the Medal of Honor recipients' special pension from $600 per month to $1,000 per month. However, since 2002, for more than 20 years, the Medal of Honor special pension has not been updated by Congress. It is long overdue that Congress acts.

My legislation would raise the Medal of Honor special pension to roughly $5,600 per month, or $67,500 annually, and is fully offset.

When I hear stories about how a Medal of Honor recipient's family requested to set up a GoFundMe to pay for surgery and extensive care, or how Medal of Honor recipients are not being reimbursed for travel expenses to speak at several military recruiting events, I knew something had to be done.

Our Medal of Honor heroes deserve better, which is exactly why this critical legislation is needed. While this bill is a small step forward, it is the very least that Congress can do to recognize and show support for these selfless, courageous heroes.

Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support our Medal of Honor recipients by passing this bipartisan legislation.

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Mr. NEHLS. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

The yeas and nays were ordered.

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