S.Amdt. 5835

SA 5835. Ms. ROSEN (for herself and Mr. Cramer) submitted an
amendment intended to be proposed by her to the bill S. 4784, to
authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2027 for military activities
of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for
defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military
personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which
was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the end of subtitle C of title V, add the following:

SEC. 529E. COMBAT STATUS IDENTIFIER EQUIVALENT FOR REMOTELY
PILOTED AIRCRAFT CREW.

(a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of
the enactment of this Act, the Secretaries of the military
departments, in consultation with the Secretary of Veterans
Affairs, shall establish a status identifier or equivalent
recognition to denote the combat participation of remotely
piloted aircraft (RPA) crew members who conduct operations in
direct support of combat missions. The identifier shall be
designed to enable appropriate consideration by the
Department of Veterans Affairs in the administration of
benefits and services that account for combat-related
service, consistent with how traditional combat designators
are treated.
(b) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be
construed to require the Department of Defense to categorize
service described in subsection (a) as equivalent to service
involving physical presence in a combat zone.
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