Legislative Process of the Stolen Valor Act

The Constitution of the United States is clear about how enactment is set up. The procedure by the way it works can be extremely confused, and it might take a long time for a bill to end up a law. Congress has numerous territories that a bill must go through before it can turn into law on the off chance that it is a state law and now and then significantly more if it is a government law or a law that may scrutinize the Constitution. How that procedure functions, primarily on account of the Stolen Valor Act is the focal point of this paper. This law was initially marked in 2005 by previous President George W. Shrubbery, at that point esteemed unlawful by the Supreme Court dependent on the First Amendment, the right to speak freely, just to be changed and re-instituted and marked in by previous President Barack Obama in 2013.    The Stolen Valor Act was proposed to alter title 18, United States Code, regarding insurances for the Medal of Honor, and for some different purposes throughout the years from the earliest starting point in 2005 to the last marking in 2013 (Congress.gov, 2012). One of the cases that emerge is the situation of William Hilar, who for a long time lied about being a Colonel in the Special Forces, and who said he had a PH. D (Adwar, 2015). He would show classes in and do preparing in counterterrorism, tranquilize trafficking, and human trafficking tasks. He asserted that the motion picture “Taken” depended on his life after his girl was sold into sex subjection and killed. In this time, he had defrauded individuals into paying him for false preparing and numerous things under these false qualifications. The most military administration Hilar had done was in the Coast Guard getting the rank of trivial officer. In 2011, Hilar was indicted and requested to pay back all the cash he had misled at 66 years old and burn through 21 months in jail with three years’ supervised discharge. The reason that they could arraign Hilar for this wrongdoing was that of the bill called the Stolen Valor Act that was passed in 2005.   

The administrative procedure can begin in a wide range of zones yet the primary way it begins is it must be presented by somebody in Congress, even though it very well may be drafted by anybody outside Congress it must be presented by somebody inside (Congress.org, n.d.). The enactment comes in four unique structures one is a bill, the others are joint, simultaneous and essential goals. It begins with the bill being numbered and, in the House, or Senate at that point sent to a panel. The Stolen Valor Act was initially presented by Congressman John T. Salazar of Colorado to the House of Representatives in 2005 and was named HR3352 in the House of Representatives and S.1998 in the Senate (Haq, July 22, 2005).

Most bills are then doled out to a board of trustees where it can either be allowed to a subcommittee for additional investigation, audit, and hearings or it is chosen whether it will make it in the House or Senate (Congress.org, n.d.). This is the place markups and declaration can jump out at help demonstrate a valid justification for the bill to continue to full advisory group. When it is sent back to the full advisory group than the full council can have hearings and votes on suggestions to the House or Senate, this procedure is designated “requesting a bill announce”. After this procedure than a board of trustees, part arranges a composed report portraying “the purpose and extent of the enactment, the effect on existing laws and projects, position of the official branch, and perspectives of disagreeing individuals from the council” (Congress.org, n.d.). When it achieves the chamber, it began at it is put on a schedule with the goal that it tends to be cast a ballot on. In the house, there are various timetables, and the lion’s share pioneer or speaker decides when things will be heard and what arrange.

When the bill achieves the floor of the Senate or the House, it is bantered on strategies and guidelines that must be pursued that decides how much time can be spent bantering on each bill (Congress.org, n.d.). When the discussion is finished, and the alteration is endorsed, they vote on the bill. This is the place they either pass it, or it is vanquished. On the off chance that it is passed it is sent to the next assembly of Congress to begin the procedure of either aside from it, disregard it or alter it before casting a ballot on it. In the event that they change it and they vote to pass it, then it must be sent back to the next chamber to be reconsidered and cast a ballot on once more. This procedure goes ahead until the point when both of the chambers does not pass it, or they both pass it. On the off chance that just minor changes are made to the bill by one of the chambers it is sent back to the next chamber for simultaneousness of the bill by that chamber.

The Stolen Valor bill in the first form in 2005, was affirmed in the House at that point sent to the Senate that rolled out minor improvements to the bill at that point sent it back to the HR who agreed with it and where it authoritatively passed on Dec. 2006 (Civic Impulse, 2017).

The last piece of the authoritative procedure is to send the bill to the president. The president can complete a couple of various things. He can sign the bill into a law, he can veto the bill, Or, the President can make no move for ten days, while Congress is in session, and it consequently moves toward becoming law or, if the president makes no move after Congress has deferred its second session, it is a “stash veto,” and the enactment bites the dust (Congress.org, n.d.). The main thing that can change the president’s veto, for this situation, is if Congress endeavors to “supersede the veto.” This requires 66% move call vote of the individuals who are available in adequate numbers for a majority. On account of the Stolen Valor Act, President George W. Hedge marked the new enactment into law on December 20, 2006 (Congress.gov, 2012).   

This all changed however in 2007 when Xavier Alvarez made cases at an open gathering that he was a resigned U.S Marine who had been injured in the field on a few events and was granted the Congressional Medal of Honor (Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, n.d.). The FBI got some answers concerning this and recovered duplicates of these gathering that were taped and arraigned Alvarez. He was indicted and condemned to three years’ probations and a fine. His lawyer bid the conviction saying it was an infringement of his First Amendment rights. The US Court of Appeals upset his conviction, yet the administration spoke to the Supreme Court which consented to hear the case. On June 20, 2012, the Supreme Court concurred that the Stolen Valor Act damaged the First Amendment favoring Alvarez (Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, n.d.).   

Not long after it was struck down on January 15, 2013, Rep. Joseph Heck of Nevada presented another adaptation of the Stolen Valor Act to the House of Representatives. The distinction with this variant was that it recorded unambiguous acts that were submitted when erroneously expressing you had gotten respects in the military, for example, a monetary profit from professing to have a Medal of Honor. The Stolen Valor Act that was proposed was composed as pursued:

Stolen Valor Act of 2013-Amends the government criminal code to modify arrangements

identifying with false cases about military administration to subject to a fine, detainment for not over one year, or both a person who, with a plan to acquire cash, property, or other substantial advantages, deceitfully holds himself or herself out to be a beneficiary of:

• a Congressional Medal of Honor,
• a recognized administration cross,
• a Navy Cross,
• an Air Force cross,
• a silver star,
• a Purple Heart,
• a Combat Infantryman’s Badge,
• a Combat Action Badge,
• a Combat Medical Badge,
• a Combat Action Ribbon,
• a Combat Action Medal, or

any substitution or copy award for such decoration as approved by law (Congress.gov, 2012).

This adaptation of the Stolen Valor Act set aside less opportunity to experience the House and Senate.

06/03/2013    Became Public Law No: 113-12

06/03/2013    Signed by President.

05/28/2013    Presented to President.

05/22/2013    Passed/consented to in Senate: Passed Senate without alteration by Unanimous Consent. (thought: CR S3789)

05/20/2013    Passed/consented to in House: On motion to suspend the guidelines and pass the bill Agreed to by the Yeas and Nays: (2/3 required): 390 – 3 (Roll no. 161). (content: CR H2779)

05/20/2013    Reported by the Committee on Judiciary. H. Rept. 113-84.01/15/2013 Introduced in House (Congress.gov, 2012).   

After President Obama marked the new form of Stolen Valor Act into the impact, it helped a considerable measure of the tricks that were going on to end tragically it did not prevent somebody from lying about serving their nation and accepting high respects. Where this is ethically understandable, it cannot be viewed as a wrongdoing in our nation. This anyway for some will never be morally or ethically satisfactory in a nation where the right to speak freely for somebody to lie about getting those military respects was earned by the individuals who genuinely contended energetically for every one of the opportunities our nation has, and to remove that respect from them is more than criminal it’s terrible.

References

• Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. (n.d.). Facts and case summary for U.S. v. Alvarez. Retrieved from http://www.uscourts.gov/educational-resources/educational-activities/facts-and-case-summary-us-v-alvarez
• Adwar, Corey. (2015, April 24). 5 Offenders who received creative punishment for stolen valor. Retrieved from http://taskandpurpose.com/5-offenders-who-received-creative-punishments-for-stolen-valor/
• Civic Impulse. (2017). S. 1998 – 109th Congress: Stolen valor act of 2005. Retrieved from https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/109/s1998
• Congress.gov. (2012). All Bill Information (Except Text) for S.1998 – Stolen Valor Act of 2005. Retrieved from https://www.congress.gov/bill/109th-congress/senate-bill/1998/all-info
• Congress.org. (n.d.). Legislative process. Retrieved from http://congress.org/advocacy-101/the-legislative-process/
• Haq, Nayyera. (2005, July 22). Salazar Introduces “Stolen Valor Act” to Penalize Medal Frauds. Retrieved from http://www.homeofheroes.com/herobill/index.html