Chris Smith: “as the sponsor of H.R. 3838, I rise to urge all of my colleagues to support this legislation that will amend the…”

“as the sponsor of H.R. 3838, I rise to urge all of my colleagues to support this legislation that will amend the Congressional charter of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW). As Chairman of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, I was pleased to introduce this bill on March 4, 2002, at the request of the VFW to allow Members of the armed forces who have received hostile fire or imminent danger pay to be eligible for VFW membership. This bipartisan amendment to the VFW charter simply allows the organization to keep up with the times as the nature of our Nation's military operations has changed. The VFW's charter currently requires a veteran to have received a campaign medal in order to join the organization. But the dangerous contingency operations our servicemembers have participated in over the past twenty or so years have not resulted in the award of campaign medals. Servicemenbers doing their duty in global hot spots have faced the type of risks that should qualify them for VFW membership.”