Cold War Veterans Blog

Cold War Medal Legislative Update

CWVM / CWSM status

COLD WAR VICTORY MEDAL (SEC.556, H.R.1585, passed by House) COLD WAR SERVICE MEDAL (S.1763, The Cold War Medal Act of 2007, introduced in Senate)

H.R.1585, the National Defense Authorization Act for 2008, passed the House and was sent to the Senate in April. SEC 556 of this act calls for a Cold War Victory Medal. Thus, the Cold War Medal must be considered in the House-Senate Conference after S.1097, The Cold War Medal Act of 2007, was introduced in April by Senators Clinton and Collins (both members of the Armed Services Committee). However, the medal language was not included in the Committee's mark up of the NDAA. The bill was reintroduced as S.1763, below.

S.1763 - The Cold War Medal Act was reintroduced in July as S.1763 -- same bill, new number -- and referred to the Armed Services Committee, to get it on the legislative calendar again.

SA.2163 - Cold War Medal amendment. Sen. Clinton (and Sen. Collins) also introduced Senate Amendment SA.2163, to add a Cold War service medal to the National Defense Authorization Act for 2008 (NDAA). SA.2163 was never entered into the Thomas web site because the bill it was to amend -- the National Defense Authorization Act -- was pulled from the floor debate by Senator Reid, when the Webb Amendment (requiring a break between combat tours) did not get the required 60 votes to cut off debate, and pass the amendment; then the Reid amendment (to set a timetable to begin withdrawal from Iraq) also failed to get the required 60 votes (it got 53 votes, but not the 60 required by current Senate rules to prevent filibusters). SA.2163 was part of a package of amendments, all of which died when debate on NDAA was stopped so the Senate could get other business done.

The NDAA will be brought up for debate again in September, at which time we expect the amendment will be reintroduced by Senator Clinton (we don't yet know what the bill number will be). If it goes into the floor manager's package of "non-controversial" amendments, it should pass, but we need to provide the necessary support in the Senate to get the amendment passed. Call, fax, and e-mail your two senators, asking them to support inclusion of a Cold War Service Medal in the NDAA. When the amendment is re-introduced, we need to really get active with communications to our senators.

Our task after that will be to protect it from being stripped out or weakened in the House-Senate Conference that decides the final bill to be reported out. I stay in touch with her office, and sent her campaign a reminder that VFW has a Cold War Medal resolution -- and she mentioned the Cold War Medal in her speech at VFW. That puts her on record as being strongly for it, and thus she will not back down. I doubt that she would have come out publicly like that unless she already had some understanding with the Senate leadership.

So we cannot relax our vigilance, but be glad we have support in the Senate. Let's increase that support. If you live in Missouri, Virginia, or Michigan, the key players are Ike Skelton (MO) (Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee), Senators Warner and Webb (Virginia -- on the Armed Services Committee and both Marine combat vets), and Senator Carl Levin (Michigan), Chairman of the Armed Services Committee. We need to get their support to include the Cold War Medal included in this year's NDAA.

I will post-regular updates and guidance here, and let's get ready for battle. This will be our year, but only if we work for it.

Excerpt - Senator Clinton's speech to VFW on August 21, 2007 -

"And let's not forget that the war on terror, like the Cold War, is fundamentally a battle over ideas and values. I'm fighting for a Cold War medal for everyone who served our country during the Cold War, because you were on the front lines of battling communism."

That statement shows the level of commitment to getting a Cold War Medal into the National Defense Authorization Act for 2008.

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Report from Frank M. Tims, Ph.D.
Legislative Director
American Cold War Veterans, Inc.

OCTOBER 17, 2007

In the 110th Congress, a Cold War Medal in the National Defense Authorization Act is again up for passage.

Background:
Several versions of a Cold War Medal have been introduced sine 1997, when the Senate passed a National Defense Authorization Act for 1998 containing such a medal. The Medal did not survive the House-Senate Conference on the final authorization for 1998.

In 1998, the Secretary of Defense authorized a certificate of recognition for all who served in the US Government (military or civilian). The certificate program is scheduled to run for 10 years, ending in 2008.


Currently:
The House-Senate Conference to reconcile differences in the House and Senate versions of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for 2008 is going on-- as this report is being written. The House version (S.1585, SEC 556) calls for a Cold War Victory Medal – there is no such provision in the bill passed by the Senate.

Because the medal is in the bill passed by the House, it must be considered in the Conference on the NDAA for 2008.


URGENT:
Please contact your senators immediately and ask them to keep the Cold War Victory Medal in the final NDAA. Call, fax, and write your senators – those in the conference include:

Akaka (HI), Bayh (IN), Byrd (WV), Chambliss (GA), Clinton (NY), Collins (ME), Corker (TN), Cornyn (TX), Dole (NC), Graham (SC), Inhofe (OK), Levin (MI), Lieberman (CT), Kennedy (MA), Martinez (FL), McCain (AZ), McCaskill (MO), Nelson (FL), Nelson (NE), Pryor (AR), Reed (RI), Sessions (AL), Thune (SD), Warner (VA), and Webb (VA).

www.senate.gov
E-mail your senators today.
Call and fax them too!!!
Time is short!


Resolutions and pledges of support:
Resolutions supporting a Cold War Medal have been passed by the American Legion, AMVETS, Europe Defense Veterans of America, Korea Defense Veterans of America, Korean War Veterans Association, Military Officers Association of America, Reserve Officers Association, and Veterans of Foreign Wars. Resolutions have been passed by other Veterans organizations.

Our next task will be to protect it from being stripped out or weakened in the House-Senate Conference that decides the final bill to be reported out. I stay in touch with Senator Clinton’s office, as well as other Congressional offices. Senator Clinton mentioned the Cold War Medal in her speech at VFW. That puts her on record as being strongly for it, and we need to support advocacy for an amendment in the Senate.

So we cannot relax our vigilance, but be glad we have support in the Senate. Let's increase that support. Leaders of the conference are Senator Levin (MI), Senator McCain (AZ), Senator Warner (VA), Representative Ike Skelton (MO), and Rep. Duncan Hunter (CA). We need to get their support to include the Cold War Medal included in this year's NDAA.

www.senate.gov
www.house.gov

Let's get ready for battle. This will be our year, but only if we work for it.

RESOLUTIONS SUPPORTING A COLD WAR MEDAL:
AMERICAN LEGION
EIGHTY-NINTH NATIONAL CONVENTION
OF
THE AMERICAN LEGION
RENO, NEVADA

August 28, 29, 30, 2007


Resolution No. 80: Cold War Victory Medal

Origin: District of Columbia

Submitted by: Convention Committee on National Security


WHEREAS, The United States Armed Forces engaged the forces of International Communism continuously from the end of World War II until the disintegration of the former Soviet Union; and

WHEREAS, The United States, during this extended period, relied for its manpower source on a national service Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps made up of citizens performing their obligated duty to serve and defend the United States; and

WHEREAS, The defeat of the former Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact allies constituted the greatest success of American Armed Forces since the end of World War II; and

WHEREAS, Many American citizens served the nation in assigned duties without receiving tangible recognition for that service; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, By The American Legion in National Convention assembled in Reno, Nevada, on August 28, 29, 30, 2007, That The American Legion support legislation that would authorize and provide funding for the award of a Cold War Victory Medal to all armed forces members who served on extended active duty during the period 2 September 1945 through December 1991 thereby commemorating service in the Cold War to eliminate the threat of a determined enemy to overpower the freely elected democracies of the World.



Reserve Officers Association
Resolution No. 07-12
Authorize Cold War Service Medal

WHEREAS, the Fiscal Year 2002 Defense Authorization Act encouraged the Secretary of Defense to consider authorizing the Cold War Service Medal, for the period 2 September 1945 through 26 December 1991;

WHEREAS, the veterans of the Cold War faithfully served our country during a campaign of Soviet Block aggression, Eastern Europe occupation, and the constant threat of nuclear attack; and

WHEREAS, the Secretary of Defense has not yet authorized the wearing of the Cold War Service Medal on the military uniform;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Reserve Officers Association of the United States, chartered by Congress, urge the Congress to direct the Secretary of Defense to authorize and issue the Cold War Service Medal. Renewed by the National Convention, June 30, 2007 Adopted as 04-13 by the National Convention June 12, 2004.