Jeff Bingaman: “We need to do the very same in the case of our service men and women who are serving in Iraq. The amendment I am…”

“We need to do the very same in the case of our service men and women who are serving in Iraq. The amendment I am proposing says the Secretaries of the respective services may issue an appropriate medal or campaign designation to any person who serves in any capacity in the armed services in connection with Operation Iraqi Freedom. In my view, this is much preferable to the Pentagon's current policy, which is that everyone should get a Global War on Terrorism Medal instead of a medal that relates to their service in Iraq. The service men and women who are risking their lives in Iraq deserve to be recognized for their service in that country. This is a major military engagement we have gotten into here and there will be a lot of service men and women involved. We definitely should make this a separate medal. That is the thrust of the amendment.”