Stolen Valor Act clears hurdle

December 6, 2006

News & Links

America's Veterans
Homepage

 

By John Hoellwarth - jhoellworth@airforcetimes.com Navy Times, Staff writer

The House of Representatives passed a Senate-approved bill Wednesday that would make it a felony to claim unearned military decorations. The bill would close a loophole in current law that allows phony recipients to escape prosecution as long as they don't physically wear the awards they claim.

If signed into law by the president, the Stolen Valor Act of 2005 would impose up to six months imprisonment and a maximum $5,000 fine for any false verbal, written or physical claim to an award or decoration authorized for military members. Penalties would be doubled for fraudulent claims to decorations specifically awarded for combat valor, such as the Navy Cross, Silver Star and Medal of Honor.

During floor debate on the bill, which was passed unanimously by the Senate Sept. 7, House Judiciary Committee chairman Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., referenced recent cases in Illinois and Missouri of men who have never served a day in uniform each claiming to beMarine officers and recipients of the Navy Cross, the nation's second highest award for valor. Rep. John Salazar, D-Colo., who introduced the House version of the legislation in the summer of 2005, said the bill re-introduces a precedent set by George Washington in 1782.

When he established the Badge of Military Merit, the nation's only military award at the time, Washington wrote, "should anyone who is not entitled to these honors have the insolence to assume the badges of them, they shall be severely punished," Salazar said.

The House's approval of the Senate bill, introduced by Sen. KentConrad, D-N.D., on Nov. 10, 2005, was the result of a last-minute bi-partisan effort to put the legislation to a vote before the end of the current session. Salazar agreed on Sunday to set aside his own bill, which has been hung up in the judiciary committee since he introduced it, in order to support Conrad's nearly identical legislation on the Senate side.

"We don't care if our name is on it. We don't care if we're 30th on the list of co-sponsors. We just want something done," Salazar spokesman Tate Rosenbusch said Monday.