Some military veterans could qualify for a new Atomic Veterans Service Medal, if an amendment to the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act the House approved Friday becomes law.
The amendment offered by Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Ma.) would allow radiation-exposed veterans — or in the case of a deceased veteran, next of kin — to request the medal from the Defense Department, according to the text of the measure. The amendment passed the House unanimously last week during markup of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which the chamber approved on Friday.
Fellow Massachusettsan Sen. Edward Markey (D) introduced a bill in May that proposes essentially the same thing as the NDAA the House just sent to the Senate: medals for veterans exposed to radiation in the course of testing or development of nuclear weapons. That bill has not made it out of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
The Senate Armed Services Committee approved its version of the National Defense Authorization Act in June, albeit without any language about an Atomic Veterans Service Medal. The full Senate has yet to take up that legislation.
