The House unanimously passed a bill that would create a monument to commemorate Medal of Honor recipients in Washington, D.C.
The National Medal of Honor Monument Act, H.R. 1664, passed Monday with a 416-0 vote, with 14 members not voting. The Senate has not voted on the companion bill, S. 172, though the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks held a hearing on it last month. No federal funds will be used to pay for the monument.
“The brave Medal of Honor recipients are patriots who have put their lives on the line to ensure that we can live freely and prosperously in the greatest nation on earth,” Rep. Marc Veasey, one of the lawmakers who introduced the bill, said in a statement. “That is why from the beginning, I have been proud to spearhead this legislation that will create a place to pay homage to these recipients and the values that the Medal of Honor represents — values of courage, patriotism, commitment, and sacrifice.”
BIDEN AND IRAQ PM ANNOUNCE END TO US’S COMBAT MISSION
To date, 3,527 soldiers have been awarded the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest military award for valor in combat, dating all the way back to the Civil War.
“A monument in our nation’s capital will commemorate the bravery of our nation’s Medal of Honor recipients for current and future generations. We must never forget the sacrifices they made for our freedoms. With this project, we will have a place to learn from and reflect on their service,” said Rep. Blake Moore, who also co-sponsored the bill.
The National Medal of Honor Museum Foundation, an institution dedicated to building a National Medal of Honor Museum in the future, celebrated the passage of the legislation.
“Fewer than 4,000 Americans have received the Medal of Honor since its founding during the Civil War, and today there are only 67 recipients alive,” James T. Connors, the museum’s CEO, said in a statement. “A Monument in our nation’s capital will celebrate the values and stories of our nation’s greatest heroes, but time is of the essence to get this project done. We want to thank Reps. Veasey and Moore, as well as Sens. Cornyn and Kaine, for their invaluable leadership. This is a Monument to unite all Americans, and we urge the Senate to swiftly pass this bill and send it to President Biden’s desk.”
Lt. Col. William Swenson, who is on the board of directors for the museum and was a captain at the time he became a Medal of Honor recipient, told the Washington Examiner in a phone interview that a future monument in Washington, D.C. is a “way for us to really show the world quite frankly, is in our nation’s capital, what our values are, this is American exceptionalism.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“I think that we, as a nation, especially right now, we need to be looking for things that didn’t bring us together,” he added. “We really need to see those things that are nonpartisan that really do not reflect our lesser traits, but really take on those aspirational components of who we are as a country.”
The National Medal of Honor Museum will be in Arlington, Texas, and Swenson, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions during combat operations against armed enemy combatants in Kunar Province, Afghanistan, in 2009, said they will break ground next year.
