Congress honors fallen Iraq War Marine with gold medal
H.R. 8963 — Lance Corporal Dustin Sekula Congressional Gold Medal Act · Filed by Mónica De La Cruz (R-TX) · 1 cosponsor · Introduced May 21, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill authorizes Congress to strike and present a gold medal posthumously to the family of Lance Corporal Dustin Sekula, a Marine from Edinburg, Texas, who was killed in Iraq in 2004. The bill also permits the U.S. Mint to produce and sell bronze duplicate medals to recover costs, with proceeds returned to the Mint's fund.
Why we flagged it
This is a straightforward Congressional Gold Medal bill honoring a deceased Marine killed in combat. It contains no policy provisions, regulatory changes, or hidden riders—only authorization for medal design, production, and sale of duplicates.
Who it affects
This is a commemorative honor for a fallen service member with no fiscal burden to taxpayers—duplicate medal sales offset production costs. The bill serves a legitimate public purpose: honoring military sacrifice and preserving civic memory of a war casualty.
Named in the bill
Lance Corporal Dustin Sekula, U.S. Mint, U.S. Mint Public Enterprise Fund, House Committee on Financial Services, Edinburg, Texas, 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division
Where it stands
1 cosponsor: 1 Republicans.
- May 21, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- May 21, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Financial Services · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the full bill text on Jun 8, 2026; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-20.
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