Troy Nehls: “I thank my distinguished colleague, Chairman Bost, for yielding. First and foremost, it has been a sincere pleasure to…”

“I thank my distinguished colleague, Chairman Bost, for yielding. First and foremost, it has been a sincere pleasure to work with the chairman and his staff to advance this important legislation to the House floor. It is an honor to stand with him today. I also extend my gratitude and thanks to my colleague, Mr. Pappas, for co-leading this bipartisan legislation with me for the last two Congresses. Mr. Speaker, today, I rise in strong support of H.R. 695, the Medal of Honor Act. The Medal of Honor is our Nation's highest and most prestigious military decoration that can be awarded. Under current law, the President may award a Medal of Honor to a member of the Armed Forces who has distinguished himself conspicuously by ``gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty while engaged in action against an enemy of the United States; while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing foreign force; or while serving with friendly foreign forces engaged in an armed conflict against an opposing armed force in which the United States is not a belligerent party.'' Since the Medal of Honor was established by Congress in 1862, it has been awarded 3,528 times. Today, as the chairman stated, there are only 63 living Medal of Honor recipients. Throughout my time in Congress, I have had the privilege of getting to know some of these heroes and hearing their stories firsthand.…”