The below listed 10 Congressmen deserve a great deal of credit and special recognition for cosponsoring legislation that will prevent personal medals awarded for Valor in combat to military personnel whose lives were at risk or in danger, from being diminished by a new military medal for drone operators, listed below, where the lives of the recipients are not at risk or in danger at all, 5 of the 10 Congressmen who co-sponsored the legislation are endorsed and elected Combat Veterans For Congress:

 Cong Duncan D. Hunter, Capt-USMCR (R-CA-52) http://www.hunterforcongress.com/ , Cong Michael Coffman, Maj-USMC (Ret) (R-CO-6) http://coffmanforcongress.com , Cong Adam Kinzinger, Cpt-AFNG (R-IL-11) http://www.electadam.com , Cong Michael Grimm, USMC/FBI (R-NY-11) http://grimmforcongress.com , and Cong Joe Heck,

Col-USAR (MC) (R-NV-3) http://heck4nevada.com .  The other 5 Congressmen who co-sponsored the legislation are Cong Thomas Rooney (R-FL), Cong Tim Murphy (R-PA), Cong C. W. Bill Young (R-FL), Cong Ken Calvert (R-CA), and Cong Steven M. Palazzo(R-MS).

 

We strongly encourage our national base of supporters to aide in the re-election of the 10 Congressmen in the 2014 mid-term election, by either supporting their campaigns financially, encouraging voters in their Congressional Districts that you know of to vote for them, and/or by working in their campaigns to help them win re-election.

   

We would also like to give additional special recognition to Cong Joe Heck, Col-USAR (MC) (R-NV-3) http://heck4nevada.com for reintroducing the Stolen Valor Legislation on January 14, 2013, in order to support Combat Veterans who earned military medals for Valor in combat.  The legislation would make it a crime for individuals who attempt to pass themselves off as wartime heroes and would make it a crime to make false claims about receiving certain military medals, in order to obtain service benefits, a veteran’s---reserved job, and other things like seeking unearned notoriety to run for office.  The bill introduced by Congressman Heck, a Colonel and Combat Veteran in the US Army Reserve, passed 410 to 3 in the House, but the Democrat-controlled Senate preferred Senator Webb’s version    Congressman Heck said “I hope we can build off last year’s strong bipartisan support in the House and get this important bill signed into law this year.”

It is so important for the American voters to elect Patriots, Combat Veterans For Congress,  who put their lives on the line repeatedly in defense of the Republic, and understand their responsibility to continue to protect and defend the US Constitution which they swore to do, when they were inducted into  the US Armed Forces.

 

 

New Bill Aims To Reduce Rank of Drone Medal

A group of Republican lawmakers has introduced a bill to prevent the Defense Department from establishing the Distinguished Warfare Medal for drone operators as an award that ranks higher than the Bronze Star or Purple Heart.

 

H.R. 833 tells the Defense Department how to set the precedence of medals. According to the Marine Corps Times, there is a strong chance the legislation will end up as an amendment to the 2014 defense authorization bill. The bill was co-sponsored by Congressmen Duncan Hunter (R-CA), Ken Calvert (R-CA), Michael G. Grimm (R-NY), Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), Steven M. Palazzo (R-MS), C.W. Bill Young (R-FL), Mike Coffman (R-CO), Joe Heck (R-NV), Tim Murphy (R-PA), and Thomas J. Rooney (R-FL).

 

TREA: The Enlisted Association believes that the new Distinguished Warfare Medal for operators of unmanned aerial vehicles should not rank above awards for ground combat troops.

 

Congressman Hunter, an Iraq and Afghanistan veteran, told the Marine Corps Times that there is a difference between direct combat and flying a drone from a safe location. “Those engaged in direct combat put their lives on the line, accepting extraordinary personal risk,” Hunter said. “There is nothing wrong with having a military award that recognizes commendable actions off the battlefield, but it’s absolutely necessary to ensure that combat valor awards are not diminished in any way.”