Congress formally rescinds medals for massacre of unarmed Native Americans
S. 1915 — Remove the Stain Act · Filed by Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) · 7 cosponsors · Introduced May 22, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill rescinds 20 Medals of Honor awarded to soldiers of the 7th Cavalry for their participation in the Wounded Knee Massacre on December 29, 1890, when U.S. troops killed approximately 350–375 unarmed Lakota men, women, and children. The bill removes the names of these soldiers from the official Medal of Honor Roll but does not require them to return the physical medals or strip any other military benefits. The rescission is a formal congressional acknowledgment that these medals were awarded for acts that do not meet the standard of 'gallantry beyond the call of duty' and were inconsistent with the integrity of the nation's highest military decoration.
Why we flagged it
The bill's sole operative function is to rescind military decorations awarded for acts that Congress now formally recognizes as a massacre of unarmed civilians. This is a corrective historical and moral judgment, not a policy change affecting ongoing government operations or private interests.
What the text implies
- Rescission does not strip other military benefits or pensions, so the financial impact on the affected soldiers is zero—the measure is purely symbolic and historical, not punitive.
- The bill affirms that the Medal of Honor Roll is a living historical record subject to congressional correction when awards are found to have been inconsistent with the decoration's stated standard.
- Removal from the Medal of Honor Roll may affect how military history is taught and how the 7th Cavalry's role at Wounded Knee is presented in official military records and public memory.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Ordinary citizens and Native Americans gain moral and historical clarity: the nation's highest military award is no longer formally associated with the massacre of unarmed civilians, restoring the integrity of the decoration and acknowledging a historical atrocity. The rescission carries no direct cost to citizens—no benefits are stripped, no taxes are raised, and no rights are curtailed.
Named in the bill
7th Cavalry, Lakota Sioux Nation, Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, Great Sioux Nation, National Congress of American Indians, Secretary of the Army, Secretary of the Navy, Secretary of the Air Force, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (Coast Guard), Medal of Honor Roll, Wounded Knee Creek, Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
Where it stands
7 cosponsors: 6 Democrats, 1 Independents.
- May 22, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- May 22, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on Armed Services · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed 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 bill text published by Congress.gov (4,780 characters) on Sep 23, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 14,707 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 2026-09-23.
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