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HR 6234 responses from elected officials


Pete-o MSU
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Derek Kilmer responded to me:

"Thank you for contacting me regarding H.R.6234, the Private Corrado Piccoli Purple Heart Preservation Act. I appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts with me.

I am grateful for the tremendous dedication and sacrifice of servicemembers and their families. Our nation enjoys unparalleled freedom because of their commitment – a commitment we should return as we continue to support those who have dedicated their lives to serve and protect our nation.

Our neck of the woods is home to a large Navy installation, numerous Coast Guard stations, and a major joint Army and Air Force base. There are a number of active-duty, reservist, and veteran families in our communities, and I am grateful for their bravery and service in defending our nation. Much has been asked of the many service members in our region and they have always responded with courage, ardent loyalty, and genuine hearts for service.

As you know, the Stolen Valor Act of 2013 banned false claims of military service with the intent to obtain money, property, or other tangible benefits. Seeking to strengthen protections against these false claims, and, more specifically, to protect the sanctity of the Purple Heart award, Rep. Paul Cook (CA) introduced the Private Corrado Piccoli Purple Heart Preservation Act. The bill would prohibit the sale of any Purple Heart medal presented by the government to a wounded servicemember or their family.

I appreciate the intent behind this bill. I believe that the unauthorized purchase of medals tarnishes the memory of those who were wounded or killed service to the nation. At the same time, I respect military historians and collectors who preserve military memorabilia to honor those that served our nation. I believe there’s a path forward to protect the integrity of the Purple Heart. The bill has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee, where it awaits further action. I will be sure to keep your thoughts in mind should this, or any similar legislation, come before the full House of Representatives.

I encourage you to continue to share your views with me on this topic or any other issue. Thank you for reaching out. It is an honor to serve as your representative.

Sincerely,

Derek Kilmer
Member of Congress"

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sounds like another politicain talking out of both faces, as usual.

 

I believe eventually the bill will pass and our only chance is for the new President to veto it. As some have said, this is just too much of an opportunity for the politicians to make themselves look good for them to not pass it. Having said that, we still need to lobby them and if they turn a deaf ear then tell them they will be losing votes. The next step would then be to lobby the White House and urge a veto.

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sounds like another politicain talking out of both faces, as usual.

 

Yes. He certainly has quite the flair for stating absolutely nothing (But, it's clear he will be voting for the bill).

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oldradiostuff

I am confused as to why people think Trump may veto this? Am I missing something? Veterans groups are supporting this legislation...

 

Exactly, if it goes to a vote, it will pass both houses and then be signed. That's why I think our best bet is to get it amended. Maybe refine it to only make it illegal to buy or sell a Purple Heart that has been reported as lost or stolen by a veteran or next of kin.

 

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Exactly, if it goes to a vote, it will pass both houses and then be signed. That's why I think our best bet is to get it amended. Maybe refine it to only make it illegal to buy or sell a Purple Heart that has been reported as lost or stolen by a veteran or next of kin.

 

We would all be for that...
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Maybe refine it to only make it illegal to buy or sell a Purple Heart that has been reported as lost or stolen by a veteran or next of kin.

 

 

This would only open up a whole other can of worms. All a relative would need to do is claim it was lost/stolen no matter how it was obtained.

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oldradiostuff

 

This would only open up a whole other can of worms. All a relative would need to do is claim it was lost/stolen no matter how it was obtained.

 

An acceptable risk, in my opinion. The alternative is to see it pass as it is, and no one has to report anything - they are just all illegal to buy or sell, without regard as to whether someone is looking to recover the medal or not.

 

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An acceptable risk, in my opinion. The alternative is to see it pass as it is, and no one has to report anything - they are just all illegal to buy or sell, without regard as to whether someone is looking to recover the medal or not.

 

 

Then how would you prove that you legally bought the medal? It has been discussed on here numerous times how it is very easy to get an authenticated document so I doubt a printed document stating where someone bought it would hold water.

 

How many medals have passed thru numerous hands? Does everyone have proof of the chain of command for all of the medals in their collection?

 

I highly doubt it. The burden of proof will fall on the collector not the family.

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oldradiostuff

 

Then how would you prove that you legally bought the medal? It has been discussed on here numerous times how it is very easy to get an authenticated document so I doubt a printed document stating where someone bought it would hold water.

 

How many medals have passed thru numerous hands? Does everyone have proof of the chain of command for all of the medals in their collection?

 

I highly doubt it. The burden of proof will fall on the collector not the family.

 

The Bill, as it is written right now, would completely prohibit the following with regards to a Purple Heart medal:

 

"purchases, attempts to purchase, solicits for purchase, mails, ships, imports, exports, produces blank certificates of receipt for, manufactures, sells, attempts to sell, advertises for sale, trades, barters, or exchanges for anything of value"

 

We need to find a way to have the bill amended to loosen these restrictions in a way that would allow all of us to continue to collect Purple Hearts. Otherwise, it's game over. Keep what you have but you can't obtain or sell/trade any that you currently have.

 

Any suggestions?

 

 

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The Bill, as it is written right now, would completely prohibit the following with regards to a Purple Heart medal:

 

"purchases, attempts to purchase, solicits for purchase, mails, ships, imports, exports, produces blank certificates of receipt for, manufactures, sells, attempts to sell, advertises for sale, trades, barters, or exchanges for anything of value"

 

We need to find a way to have the bill amended to loosen these restrictions in a way that would allow all of us to continue to collect Purple Hearts. Otherwise, it's game over. Keep what you have but you can't obtain or sell/trade any that you currently have.

 

Any suggestions?

 

 

I agree, and we have to realize a compromise might not be perfect.

 

Pete

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This would only open up a whole other can of worms. All a relative would need to do is claim it was lost/stolen no matter how it was obtained.

You have to prove your claim of theft.
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Here's a suggestion. Kill the Bill. It's already illegal to possess / sell / trade / etc. stolen property, so parsing words will only help keep it alive.

 

If amended it will still be illogical, oppressive, and threatening (with fines and jail time) for doing something that is, was, and will be (constitutionally) legal to do.

 

Note the wording of the proposed Bill as it exists: "...purchases or attempts to purchase, mails, imports, exports, produces blank certificates of receipt for, manufactures, sells or attempts to sell, or trades for anything of value any decoration or medal authorized by Congress for the Armed Forces, any of the service medals or badges awarded to members of the Armed Forces, or the ribbon, button, or rosette of any such badge, decoration or medal, or any colorable imitation thereof..."

 

As written this can be interpreted to include any and all actions related to ANY AND ALL medals, badges, ribbons, lapel pins, citations, etc. etc. etc. It does not specify ONLY the Purple Heart medal.

 

So write to each and every lawmaker involved: the sponsor, all co-sponsors, as well as the Chairman Judiciary Committee and all members of the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations (to which it has been referred).

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oldradiostuff

I don't think they will even want to compromise??? They have it in their mind we are greedy no good collectors and profiting on the blood of vets !

 

The folks from PHR may truly have this in their minds, but the only thing a politician has in his mind is how to get more votes in the next election.

 

There are 16 co-sponsors of this bill, we only need one that will listen and introduce an amendment to make allowance for private collectors to continue to obtain historical Purple Hearts.

 

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It's legal to burn the flag bt not collect??? How messed up is that ? The same right that give people the right to burn the flag should be used in our favor to collect! We need to keep writing congressmen etc and state this fact they are violating US citizens rights !

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oldradiostuff

Here's a suggestion. Kill the Bill. It's already illegal to possess / sell / trade / etc. stolen property, so parsing words will only help keep it alive.

 

If amended it will still be illogical, oppressive, and threatening (with fines and jail time) for doing something that is, was, and will be (constitutionally) legal to do.

 

Note the wording of the proposed Bill as it exists: "...purchases or attempts to purchase, mails, imports, exports, produces blank certificates of receipt for, manufactures, sells or attempts to sell, or trades for anything of value any decoration or medal authorized by Congress for the Armed Forces, any of the service medals or badges awarded to members of the Armed Forces, or the ribbon, button, or rosette of any such badge, decoration or medal, or any colorable imitation thereof..."

 

As written this can be interpreted to include any and all actions related to ANY AND ALL medals, badges, ribbons, lapel pins, citations, etc. etc. etc. It does not specify ONLY the Purple Heart medal.

 

So write to each and every lawmaker involved: the sponsor, all co-sponsors, as well as the Chairman Judiciary Committee and all members of the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations (to which it has been referred).

 

This isn't a correct interpretation of the bill. I'm a little tied up at the moment, but, if you all would like, I'll sit down tonight and write up an explanation of what the bill is and isn't doing. I've spent the last 30 years doing this, so I'm happy to do it. Maybe I could just send it to Robert and he could figure out how best to post it to make the explanation available.

 

The condensed version is that the part you quote and underline above is ALREADY THE LAW, VERBATIM, IN THE US.

 

The only reason they included it in the bill is because they are renumbering the subsection to add the part on the Purple Heart, so they included the new subsection numbers in the bill, quoting the existing language of Section 704, Title 18 USC so it can be assigned a new paragraph number.

 

Again, I'll offer to walk through this and explain it tonight, if you like.

 

Dave

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Sponsor:


Representative Paul Cook

1222 Longworth House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515


Co-Sponsors:


Representative Collin C. Peterson

2204 Rayburn HOB

Washington, DC 20515


Representative Bruce Poliquin

426 Cannon House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515


Representative Chris Collins

1117 Longworth House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515


Representative Judy Chu

2423 Rayburn House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515


Representative Lynn Jenkins

1526 Longworth House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515


Representative Louie Gohmert

2243 Rayburn House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515


Representative Dan Newhouse

1641 Longworth House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515


Representative David N. Cicilline

2244 Rayburn House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515


Representative Sanford D. Bishop, Jr.

2407 Rayburn House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515


Representative Bill Posey

120 Cannon House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515


Representative Christopher P. Gibson

1708 Longworth House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515


Representative Eleanor Holmes Norton

2136 Rayburn House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515


Representative Ken Calvert

2205 Rayburn House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515


Representative Mike Thompson

231 Cannon House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515


Representative Zoe Lofgren

1401 Longworth House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515


Representative Ruben Gallego

1218 Longworth House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515


Chairman of the Judiciary Committee:


Bob Goodlatte

2309 Rayburn HOB

Washington, DC 20515


Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations


Chairman:


Jim Sensenbrenner, Jr.

2449 Rayburn House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515


Members:


Rep. Steve Chabot

2371 Rayburn House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515


Rep. Randy Forbes

2135 Rayburn House Office Building


Rep. Louie Gohmert

2234 Rayburn House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515


Rep. Ted Poe

2412 Rayburn House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515


Rep. Jason Chaffetz

2236 Rayburn House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515


Rep. Trey Gowdy

1404 Longworth House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515


Rep. Raul Labrador

1523 Longworth House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515


Rep. Ken Buck

416 Cannon House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515


Rep. Mike Bishop

428 Cannon House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515


Sheila Jackson Lee

2252 Rayburn House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515


Rep. Pedro Pierluisi

2410 Rayburn House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515


Rep. Judy Chu

2423 Rayburn House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515


Rep. Luis Gutierrez

2408 Rayburn House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515


Rep. Karen Bass

408 Cannon House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515


Rep. Cedric Richmond

240 Cannon House Office Building

Washington, DC 20515
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This isn't a correct interpretation of the bill. I'm a little tied up at the moment, but, if you all would like, I'll sit down tonight and write up an explanation of what the bill is and isn't doing. I've spent the last 30 years doing this, so I'm happy to do it. Maybe I could just send it to Robert and he could figure out how best to post it to make the explanation available.

 

The condensed version is that the part you quote and underline above is ALREADY THE LAW, VERBATIM, IN THE US.

 

The only reason they included it in the bill is because they are renumbering the subsection to add the part on the Purple Heart, so they included the new subsection numbers in the bill, quoting the existing language of Section 704, Title 18 USC so it can be assigned a new paragraph number.

 

Again, I'll offer to walk through this and explain it tonight, if you like.

 

Dave

Send it when available.
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oldradiostuff

While I sympathize with the sentiment that we wish the bill would just die, a bill with the image of protecting the honor of veterans and that already has 16 co-sponsors is unlikely to just fade away.

 

It's very likely that it will pass either as written now or in an amended version.

 

I'll write up a (hopefully brief) explanation and email it to Robert tonight.

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Oh great. Looks like I'll be buying PHs from Robert out of a secret basement like Zed's in Pulp Fiction. :D

Tobacco Barn...but we don't play those Zed games around here...I'm good for a BBQ sandwich and some soothing peach brandy... :)
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