Stolen Valor bill advances
WASHINGTON – A House committee on Wednesday approved a bill that seeks to punish people who lie about military service to gain benefits or a preferential job.
The Stolen Valor Act now moves to a final House vote, which its sponsor Rep. Joe Heck, R-Nev., said could take place when Congress returns in September from a monthlong recess.
The legislation was OK’d by voice vote in the House Judiciary Committee.
The bill reworks a 2005 law that made it a crime for someone to falsely claim to have received military honors.
The U.S. Supreme Court in June declared the law an unconstitutional infringement of First Amendment free speech rights.
Heck’s narrower replacement would make it a crime for someone to lie about having received decorations with the intent of obtaining “anything of value,” such as VA benefits or a job reserved for a veteran.
An amendment adopted by the committee narrowed it further, exempting individuals who wear medals they did not earn.
Heck said the change would have minimal effect and was made at the recommendation of House attorneys who feared that otherwise the new bill could run afoul of a new constitutional challenge.