To require the Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, to develop guidelines regarding the use by the Secretaries of the military departments and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs of unofficial sources of information to determine the eligibility of a member or former member of the Armed Forces for benefits and decorations when the member's service records are incomplete because of damage to the records, including records damaged by a 1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, Missouri.
Latest action · Jan 24, 2014 Referred to the Subcommittee on Military Personnel.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedOct 30, 2013
- Passed HouseNot reached
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Directs the Secretary of Defense (DOD) to develop guidelines for the use by the Secretaries of the military departments and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA) of unofficial sources of information, including eyewitness statements, to determine the eligibility of a member or former member of the Armed Forces for benefits and decorations when the member's service records are incomplete because of damage to the records as a result of the 1973 fire at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, Missouri, or any subsequent incident while the records were in DOD's possession.
Cosponsors 21
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Nov 13, 2013 to Jul 31, 2014.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-MD | Chris Van Hollen | Nov 13, 2013 | |
| D-NY | Daniel B. Maffei | Nov 13, 2013 | |
| D-CA | Julia Brownley | Nov 13, 2013 | |
| D-MA | Niki Tsongas | Dec 2, 2013 | |
| D-VT | Peter Welch | Dec 2, 2013 | |
| D-NY | Steve Israel | Dec 2, 2013 | |
| D-NY | Brian Higgins | Dec 10, 2013 | |
| D-NY | Jose E. Serrano | Dec 10, 2013 | |
| D-CA | Michael M. Honda | Dec 10, 2013 | |
| D-TN | Steve Cohen | Dec 10, 2013 | |
| D-NY | Charles B. Rangel | Jan 8, 2014 | |
| D-IL | Bradley Scott Schneider | Mar 6, 2014 | |
| D-NY | Carolyn McCarthy | Mar 6, 2014 | |
| R-UT | Chris Stewart | Mar 6, 2014 | |
| R-CA | Doug LaMalfa | Mar 6, 2014 |
Actions 4
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Jan 24, 2014Referred to the Subcommittee on Military Personnel.
- Nov 12, 2013Referred to the Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs.
- Oct 30, 2013Introduced in House
- Oct 30, 2013Referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security.
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Oct 30, 2013Introduced in House
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov.