Congress carves out National Mall exception for Medal of Honor monument
S. 858 — Hershel ‘Woody' Williams National Medal of Honor Monument Location Act · Filed by Jim Justice (R-WV) · 13 cosponsors · Introduced Mar 5, 2025 · Signed
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What it does
This bill authorizes the National Medal of Honor Museum Foundation to build a commemorative monument on the National Mall honoring Medal of Honor recipients. It exempts this specific monument from a federal restriction that normally prohibits new commemorative works in the core Reserve area of the Mall, allowing it to be placed there instead of in a less prominent location.
Why we flagged it
The bill's sole operative function is to authorize placement of a specific commemorative monument on federal land by exempting it from existing siting restrictions. It is a straightforward commemorative authorization, not a policy change or regulatory carve-out.
What the text implies
- Creates a named-person exception to the Commemorative Works Act's Reserve restrictions, potentially establishing precedent for future carve-outs and weakening the Act's uniform application across all proposed monuments.
- The exemption applies only to this specific monument; future Medal of Honor or military monuments would still require separate legislative action, creating unequal treatment and administrative fragmentation.
- National Mall space is finite and subject to comprehensive planning; each exception reduces flexibility for future public uses and may complicate the National Park Service's stewardship of the Reserve.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
The bill honors Medal of Honor recipients and enables public commemoration of military valor on the National Mall, a genuine public-interest purpose. However, it creates a precedent-setting exception to the Commemorative Works Act's Reserve restrictions, potentially opening the door to future carve-outs and fragmenting the Mall's planning integrity — a real governance cost that affects all citizens' access to and stewardship of shared federal space.
Named in the bill
National Medal of Honor Museum Foundation, National Mall, Medal of Honor recipients, National Park Service, 40 USC section 8908(c), 40 USC chapter 89 (Commemorative Works Act), Public Law 117–80
Where it stands
13 cosponsors: 12 Republicans, 1 Democrats.
- Mar 5, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Mar 5, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources”
- Dec 9, 2025 — Hearing held · Congress.gov: “Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks. Hearings held”
- Dec 17, 2025 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a…”
- Mar 25, 2026 — Passed the Senate · Congress.gov: “Passed Senate with an amendment by Unanimous Consent. (text of amendment in the nature of a substitute: CR…”
- Aug 31, 2026 — Passed both chambers · Congress.gov: “On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by voice vote”
- Aug 31, 2026 — Floor vote scheduled · Congress.gov: “Mr. Westerman moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill”
- Sep 2, 2026 — Sent to president · Congress.gov: “Presented to President”
- Sep 10, 2026 — Signed into law · Congress.gov: “Became Public Law No: 119-104”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
2 lobbying clients named this bill on 3 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $120,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 2 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 41% of bills with at least one filing.
Jim Justice, the sponsor, reported $34,750 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- National Medal of Honor Museum — $100,000 on 2 filings
- City of Arlington — $20,000 on 1 filing
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 19, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (663 characters) on Jul 10, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; 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.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 19, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
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