Sponsors
The bill provides formal recognition and a clear application process for border service through a new medal, benefiting veterans and families, but leaves issuance discretionary and creates modest administrative and taxpayer costs that could delay or prevent some families from receiving the award.
Veterans and retired service members who served on the U.S.–Mexico border will be formally recognized with a new campaign medal, providing official acknowledgment of their service.
Next-of-kin of qualifying deceased service members can receive the medal, giving families tangible recognition and potential closure for their loved ones' service.
The bill requires an application form to be prepared and disseminated, creating a clear, accessible process for eligible individuals or families to request the medal.
Issuance to next-of-kin is permissive rather than mandatory, so some families of deceased qualifying members may not receive the medal if the Department of Defense decides not to issue it.
The Department of Defense will incur administrative burden to verify past service and process requests, which could delay issuance for some applicants.
Designing, producing, and administering a new medal will create additional costs for the Department of Defense, ultimately paid by taxpayers.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Creates a DoD campaign medal for service on the U.S.–Mexico border during Operation Faithful Patriot and requires DoD to make it available on request to eligible individuals and qualifying next-of-kin.
Requires the Secretary of Defense to design, produce, and issue a new military campaign medal to honor service by members of the Armed Forces who served on the U.S.–Mexico border during Operation Faithful Patriot or a subsequent operation there. The Department must makes the medal available on request to qualifying retired or former service members, may issue to next-of-kin of deceased qualifiers, and must provide an application form for requests.
Introduced July 25, 2025 by Riley M. Moore · Last progress July 25, 2025