Congress allows Medal of Honor monument on the National Mall.

What it does

The bill lets the National Medal of Honor Museum Foundation build a monument. It will stand on the National Mall. Federal law normally stops new monuments there. This bill makes an exception for this monument. It honors Medal of Honor recipients.

Who it affects

Medal of Honor recipients are honored by this monument. The public can visit and learn about military valor. Citizens share the National Mall as federal space.

One thing to notice

This bill creates a special exception to the Commemorative Works Act. Future monuments would need their own separate laws.

From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.

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 groups reported lobbying about this bill. They filed 3 reports from Dec 2025 to Jun 2026.

Those reports show $120,000 in lobbying spending. Each report lists about 2 bills. So that money was not all for this bill.

More groups named this bill than 41% of bills with any report.

Jim Justice, who sponsored the bill, received $34,750 from PACs for the 2026 election.

• National Medal of Honor Museum — $100,000 in 2 reports
• City of Arlington — $20,000 in 1 report

Lobbying is legal. These reports show who lobbied about this bill, not what changed.

Words to know

• Medal of Honor — The highest military award given by the United States.
• National Mall — A large open area in Washington, D.C., with monuments.
• Commemorative Works Act — Federal law that controls where new monuments can be built.
• lobbying — Trying to influence lawmakers about a bill. Companies and groups pay people to do this.
• PACs — Groups that collect money and give it to candidates for office.
• sponsored — To sponsor a bill is to introduce it in Congress and put your name on it.