thedrifter
11-15-06, 03:17 PM
November 15, 2006
Stolen Valor Act stalls in House
By John Hoellwarth
Staff writer
The House Judiciary Committee failed to take action on the Stolen Valor Act during its first meeting after the midterm elections and is not scheduled to send the bill to the floor before the current congressional session concludes at the end of the year, according to committee spokesman Terry Shawn.
The Stolen Valor Act — which has been bottled up in the House subcommittee on crime, terrorism and homeland security since the Senate unanimously passed its version of the bill Sept. 7 — would close a loophole in current law that allows fraudulent veterans to claim they rate military decorations they didn’t earn as long as they don’t physically wear them.
Currently, people who didn’t earn such awards as the Silver Star, Navy Cross and Medal of Honor can put them on their résumés and vehicle license plates without violating the law. The new legislation prescribes hefty fines and up to a year in jail for posers who try to pass themselves off as war heroes.
The bill has attracted more than 100 co-sponsors in the House — including five Judiciary Committee members — since it was introduced in the summer of 2005 by Rep. John Salazar, D-Colo., who pushed unsuccessfully to get the bill passed before Congress adjourned for the midterm elections Oct. 1.
Co-sponsor Rep. Bob Beauprez, R-Colo., called the committee’s failure to act on the bill before adjournment “enormously frustrating.” Committee member Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said he was “disappointed” by the lack of traction the bill has gained in committee.
The committee is scheduled to meet again during the first two weeks of December. If the bill does not make it to the floor for a vote then, it must be reintroduced in the House and Senate during the next congressional session.
Ellie
Stolen Valor Act stalls in House
By John Hoellwarth
Staff writer
The House Judiciary Committee failed to take action on the Stolen Valor Act during its first meeting after the midterm elections and is not scheduled to send the bill to the floor before the current congressional session concludes at the end of the year, according to committee spokesman Terry Shawn.
The Stolen Valor Act — which has been bottled up in the House subcommittee on crime, terrorism and homeland security since the Senate unanimously passed its version of the bill Sept. 7 — would close a loophole in current law that allows fraudulent veterans to claim they rate military decorations they didn’t earn as long as they don’t physically wear them.
Currently, people who didn’t earn such awards as the Silver Star, Navy Cross and Medal of Honor can put them on their résumés and vehicle license plates without violating the law. The new legislation prescribes hefty fines and up to a year in jail for posers who try to pass themselves off as war heroes.
The bill has attracted more than 100 co-sponsors in the House — including five Judiciary Committee members — since it was introduced in the summer of 2005 by Rep. John Salazar, D-Colo., who pushed unsuccessfully to get the bill passed before Congress adjourned for the midterm elections Oct. 1.
Co-sponsor Rep. Bob Beauprez, R-Colo., called the committee’s failure to act on the bill before adjournment “enormously frustrating.” Committee member Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said he was “disappointed” by the lack of traction the bill has gained in committee.
The committee is scheduled to meet again during the first two weeks of December. If the bill does not make it to the floor for a vote then, it must be reintroduced in the House and Senate during the next congressional session.
Ellie