Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 113 Part 1.djvu/645

 PUBLIC LAW 106-65—OCT. 5, 1999 113 STAT. 621 performed in a manner above that normally to be expected during rescue operations for the S.S. Seagate, in September 1956, while serving as a member of the Coast Guard at Gray Harbor Lifeboat Station, Westport, Washington. SEC. 562. AUTHORITY FOR AWARD OF MEDAL OF HONOR TO ALFRED RASCON FOR VALOR DURING THE VIETNAM CONFLICT. (a) WAIVER OF TIME LIMITATIONS. —Notwithstanding the time limitations specified in section 3744 of title 10, United States Code, or any other time limitation with respect to the awarding of certain medals to persons who served in the Army, the President may award the Medal of Honor under section 3741 of that title to Alfred Rascon, of Laurel, Maryland, for the acts of valor described in subsection (b). (b) ACTION DESCRIBED.— The acts of valor referred to in subsection (a) are the actions of Alfred Rascon on March 16, 1966, as an Army medic, serving in the grade of Specialist Four in the Republic of Vietnam with the Reconnaissance Platoon, Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry, 173rd Airborne Brigade (Separate), during a combat operation known as Silver City. SEC. 563. ELIMINATION OF CURRENT BACKLOG OF REQUESTS FOR REPLACEMENT OF MILITARY DECORATIONS. (a) ELIMINATION OF CURRENT BACKLOG.—The Secretary of Defense shall eliminate the backlog (as of the date of the enactment of this Act) of requests made to the Department of Defense for the issuance or replacement of military decorations for members or former members of the Armed Forces. (b) CONDITION.—The Secretary shall allocate funds and other resources in order to carry out subsection (a) in a manner that does not detract from the performance of other personnel service and personnel support activities within the Department of Defense. (c) REPORT.— Not later than 45 days after the date of the Deadline, enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report on the status of the elimination of the backlog described in subsection (a). The report shall include a plan for preventing accumulation of backlogs in the future. (d) DECORATION DEFINED.— For the purposes of this section, the term "decoration" means a medal or other decoration that a member or former member of the Armed Forces was awarded by the United States with respect to service in the Armed Forces. SEC. 564. RETROACTIVE AWARD OF NAVY COMBAT ACTION RIBBON. The Secretary of the Navy may award the Navy Combat Action Ribbon (established by Secretary of the Navy Notice 1650, dated February 17, 1969) to a member of the Navy or Marine Corps for participation in ground or surface combat during any period on or after December 7, 1941, and before March 1, 1961 (the date of the otherwise applicable limitation on retroactivity for the award of such decoration), if the Secretary determines that the member has not been previously recognized in an appropriate manner for such participation. SEC. 565. SENSE OF CONGRESS CONCERNING PRESIDENTIAL UNIT CITATION FOR CREW OF THE U.S.S. INDIANAPOLIS. (a) FINDINGS.— Congress reaffirms the findings made in section 1052(a) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year

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