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All Medal and Militaria Collectors and Dealers...Bill Update...HR 544


tarbridge
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Hi folks...resend all your letters...HR 6234 is now...HR 544.It was submitted 13 January. Just change the bill number and resend to your Representatives.

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Austin_Militaria

I remember a forum post not to long ago about a collector obtaining Senator John McCain's fathers medals who was an Admiral. Not sure what the circumstances of why they were sold, but that might make media story supporting collectors.

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vintageproductions

I remember a forum post not to long ago about a collector obtaining Senator John McCain's fathers medals who was an Admiral. Not sure what the circumstances of why they were sold, but that might make media story supporting collectors.

 

Rob-His stuff was sold by a niece about fifteen or so years ago in San Diego.

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I sent the following today to my congressman, who is a member of the judiciary committe:

 

 

I call your attention to HR 544 (previously HR 6234):
“(1) PENALTY.—Whoever knowingly 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 any decoration or medal authorized by Congress for the armed forces of the United States, or any of the service medals or badges awarded to the members of such forces, or the ribbon, button, or rosette of any such badge, decoration or medal, or any colorable imitation thereof, except when authorized under regulations made pursuant to law, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than six months, or both."
This bill would make it a crime for a man to send to his grandchild his Good Conduct Medal or any service medal he earned. As a veteran of the Vietnam War I fully understand and appreciate the sacrifice recipients made in order to earn these award. However, they were not given with any provision that they had to remain with the recipient and could not ever be sold, donated, or mailed to anyone else. These medals become the personal property of the veteran and Big Government should not be dictating what can and can not be done with them. In many cases the veteran dies without any heirs and the medals are disposed of with the balance of the veteran's estate. Under HR 544 the medals would literally have to be thrown away because they can't be sold and they can't be mailed even if they were to be donated to a museum.
I find this bill to be overly broad in its scope. Only if a medal is used to misrepresent a person's record and/or for some other fraudulent purpose should there be a crime committed. It should not be a crime to pass these medals on to friends, relatives, or even perfect strangers. I believe this bill is a solution in desperate need of a problem. There is no problem.
I encourage you as a member of the House Judiciary Committee to vote against this bill.
Thank you.
Don't know what benefit this will produce, particularly given the hard-headedness of this guy and the others who run congress, but at least I'll feel as if I did something. We'll see what kind of a response I receive.
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FFZFlyers letter above is excellent!

 

These politicians get sucked into this misguided law because they think they can score political points for standing up for veterans. The truth is that most of the purple hearts floating around are sold by the veterans families. Sadly after two or maybe three generations, uncle Archie's box of military stuff may no longer have value to every family member. HR 554 is really saying Purple Hearts are government property not the recipients.

 

Many of the collectors are veterans themselves who research and memorialize these items. I think the impact of this law would be devastating in the loss of historical artifacts. Families will simply toss the medals instead of getting in trouble. I also worry about groupings that contain un-named Purple Hearts. In order to sell them in the future the PH would then be separated from the groups and lost to history. With over a million Purple Hearts out there, this law will be impossible to enforce. I do have hope that if he law is enacted, it will eventfully be overturned by the supreme court.

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I think this will be far more reaching than just PH medals ! It's the beginning they will want to take all medals out of hand of collectors! Punish the evil collectors! That's how they paint us ! Filke and all his cohorts!

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oldradiostuff

This bill prohibits the listed actions related to the Purple Heart.

 

No other medals or awards are affected by HR554.

 

Just a clarification, definitely not an endorsement.

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Hi! While I am not in any of these members constituencies, who do you think would be the best person to write to at this point? Thanks!

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Hi! While I am not in any of these members constituencies, who do you think would be the best person to write to at this point? Thanks!

 

The only person you can write is your own congressman. If you contact the others, they will forward your letter/fax/email to your congressman anyway. If it comes to a vote, your specific congressman will definitely have a say on it.

 

Politics aside, former rep. Barney Frank gives a good primer about contacting your elected officials: https://mic.com/articles/167878/barney-frank-heres-how-to-not-waste-your-time-pressuring-lawmakers

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I had reason to take off work (Dr.) and also visit my County Service Officer at our local court house on a VA issue on Tuesday. As it happened, a representative of my Congressman, Jim Banks ® (3rd District, Indiana) was visiting the court house, so I stopped in. I had printed off a copy of the Military Trader article for him and I told him about the problems of the proposed legislation. I explained how the "Stolen Valor" act hurt US history by sending Medal of Honor's overseas. As I was working a VA issue, I had my binder of paperwork from my deployment to Afghanistan including some of my photo's. Congressman Banks is a USN Afghanistan vet, so showing the staffer a bit of my stuff carried a bit of weight I think. I also took and showed him a D-Day Paratrooper KIA Purple Heart and told him how it would be a tragedy if these were lost to history by a bad law. As it turned out, he and I had met a few times previously and have a good mutual friend. I'm confident that my visit will be reported to Congressman Banks.<br />BKW

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Two more co-sponsors have popped up for a total of 17. Here is the updated list of sponsors. If you are a constituent of one of these folks, PLEASE contact them ASAP! Thanks!

 

Cosponsor Date Cosponsored

Rep. Shea-Porter, Carol [D-NH-1] 02/13/2017

Rep. Thompson, Mike [D-CA-5] 02/13/2017

Rep. Castro, Joaquin [D-TX-20] 02/07/2017

Rep. Calvert, Ken [R-CA-42] 02/02/2017

Rep. Abraham, Ralph Lee [R-LA-5] 02/02/2017

Rep. Cohen, Steve [D-TN-9] 02/02/2017

Rep. Collins, Chris [R-NY-27] 02/02/2017

Rep. Maloney, Sean Patrick [D-NY-18] 02/02/2017

Rep. LoBiondo, Frank A. [R-NJ-2] 02/02/2017

Rep. Grothman, Glenn [R-WI-6] 02/02/2017

Rep. Pingree, Chellie [D-ME-1] 02/02/2017

Rep. Marshall, Roger W. [R-KS-1] 02/02/2017

Rep. Dunn, Neal P. [R-FL-2]* 01/13/2017

Rep. Poliquin, Bruce [R-ME-2]* 01/13/2017

Rep. Jenkins, Lynn [R-KS-2]* 01/13/2017

Rep. Chu, Judy [D-CA-27]* 01/13/2017

Rep. Bishop, Sanford D., Jr. [D-GA-2]* 01/13/2017

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It is interesting to me how the Military Order of the Purple Heart has revised their verbiage toward medal collectors. When HR 6234 was introduced, they wrote "Unfortunately, the profiteering actions of military collectors make this task difficult as medals find their way onto the market and away from their rightful places of honor. Medals engraved with the names of those killed in action command the highest prices. MOPH believes that these medals rightfully belong with those families, as the Purple Heart is often the last tangible item a family receives in memory of their deceased loved one."

Now all they say is " Many opponents of the bill have questioned it's restrictions of civil liberties in regards to the right of a Veteran or family to sell their medal if they do so choose. The bill still allows these parties to gift their medals and it allows medal enthusiast to still own them. The bill simply prevents selling them, which protects the integrity of the medal itself and the legacy and or sacrifice of that Veteran. We as a country owe them that respect.

 

To me, this shows that many of our voices are being heard! Keep up the fight! It is still a restriction of personal property rights!

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This bill prohibits the listed actions related to the Purple Heart.

 

No other medals or awards are affected by HR554.

 

Just a clarification, definitely not an endorsement.

The first sentence in the Penalty paragraph specifically states, without equivocation: "....any decoration or medal authorized by Congress for the armed forces of the United States, or any of the service medals or badges awarded...."

 

Me thinks this means any and all ​medals, including the PH and everything else, NDSM, VSM, WWII Victory, etc., etc., etc.

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