Staff Sergeant John D. Martek Purple Heart Restoration Act
This bill provides for the awarding of the Purple Heart to veterans who experienced a traumatic brain injury on or after December 7, 1941, that is attributable to an act of an enemy of the United States. To be eligible, such veterans must have a service-connected disability attributable to the brain injury or have a military record demonstrating the occurrence of the brain injury.
The bill requires the military departments to (1) establish a process for persons to submit applications for the awarding of the Purple Heart to such veterans, and (2) award the Purple Heart to qualifying applicants regardless of the date of the brain injury.
[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2719 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2719
To provide for the awarding of the Purple Heart to certain veterans who
experienced a traumatic brain injury, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 8, 2025
Mr. Kennedy of New York introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on Armed Services
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To provide for the awarding of the Purple Heart to certain veterans who
experienced a traumatic brain injury, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Staff Sergeant John D. Martek Purple
Heart Restoration Act''.
SEC. 2. AWARDING OF PURPLE HEART TO CERTAIN VETERANS WHO EXPERIENCED A
TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY.
Chapter 57 of title 10, United States Code, is amended by inserting
after section 1129a the following new section:
``Sec. 1129b. Purple Heart: certain veterans who experienced a
traumatic brain injury
``(a) In General.--For purposes of the award of the Purple Heart,
the Secretary concerned shall treat a veteran described in subsection
(b) in the same manner as a member of the Armed Forces who is killed or
wounded in action as the result of an act of an enemy of the United
States.
``(b) Veteran Described.--A veteran described in this subsection is
a veteran--
``(1) who experienced a traumatic brain injury while a
member of the Armed Forces that is attributable to an act of an
enemy of the United States that occurred on or after December
7, 1941; and
``(2)(A) who has a service-connected disability
attributable to such traumatic brain injury, as determined by
the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or
``(B) with respect to whom there is a military record that
demonstrates the occurrence of such traumatic brain injury.
``(c) Award Process.--Each Secretary concerned shall--
``(1) establish a process for persons to submit
applications for the awarding of the Purple Heart under this
section; and
``(2) award the Purple Heart to each person who submits an
application that demonstrates the person is a veteran described
in subsection (b), without regard to the date on which the
veteran experienced the traumatic brain injury that is
described in the application.
``(d) Definitions.--In this section, the terms `service-connected'
and `veteran' have the meaning given the terms in section 101 of title
38.''.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the House Committee on Armed Services.
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