HR 7211 United States House · 119th Congress

To authorize the President to award the Medal of Honor to John W. Ripley for acts of valor during the Vietnam War, and for other purposes.

This bill authorizes the President to award the Medal of Honor to Marine Corps veteran John W. Ripley for his acts of valor on April 2, 1972, during the Vietnam War. It specifically overrides standard time limits for Medal of Honor awards (under 10 U.S. Code sections 8298(a) and 8300) that would otherwise prevent the award for actions occurring decades earlier. Ripley had previously received the Navy Cross for the same actions. The bill directly affects Ripley’s eligibility for the highest military honor, bypassing standard procedural barriers.

Issues: ✓ Veterans

Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Mar 2026

House Passage

Feb 2026

Senate Passage

Mar 2026

Signed into Law

Mar 2026

Introduced Jan 22, 2026 Signed Mar 26, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

Engrossed in House → Enrolled Bill · 2 edits

MINOR

The substantive policy content of HR 7211 is unchanged. The diff reflects the transition from the House-engrossed version to the enrolled bill format, adding standard congressional headers, section numbering, signature blocks, and GPO metadata. The only minor wording addition is 'and for other purposes' appended to the short title.

TECHNICAL

The bill was reformatted from a simple engrossed layout into the full enrolled bill format with 119th Congress headers, SECTION 1 numbering, and signature blocks for the Speaker and Vice President.

The short title now includes the phrase 'and for other purposes,' which is standard boilerplate in enrolled bills but has no substantive effect.

Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the Senate by voice vote (no roll call recorded).

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Mar 26, 2026

Signed into law

Signed by President.

executive

Mar 3, 2026

Upper · Passed

Passed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent. (consideration: CR S767)

upper

Mar 3, 2026

Upper · Passed

Passed/agreed to in Senate: Passed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent.

upper

Mar 3, 2026

Upper · Passed

Senate Committee on Armed Services discharged by Unanimous Consent.

upper

Feb 4, 2026

Committee

Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services.

upper

Feb 3, 2026

Lower · Passed

On passage Passed without objection. (text: CR H1967)

lower

Feb 3, 2026

Lower · Passed

Passed/agreed to in House: On passage Passed without objection. (text: CR H1967)

lower

Feb 3, 2026

Lower · Passed

Committee on Armed Services discharged.

lower

Feb 3, 2026

Lower · Passed

Mr. Bacon asked unanimous consent to discharge from committee and consider.

lower

Jan 22, 2026

Committee

Referred to the House Committee on Armed Services.

lower

Jan 22, 2026

Introduced

Introduced in House

lower

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors