# What the National Civilian Medals Improvement Act Does

This bill makes changes to how the President awards four major national medals that recognize outstanding achievement in science, arts, technology, and humanities. Think of these medals as the nation's highest civilian honors—the President's way of saying "you've made an exceptional contribution to America."

The bill standardizes the rules across all four medals to make the process more consistent and transparent. For each medal, it sets the same basic requirements: the President must award at least one medal per year but no more than five in any calendar year. This ensures the medals stay meaningful and aren't handed out too freely. The bill also specifies who can receive these honors—U.S. citizens or permanent residents who have filed for citizenship can qualify, but sitting politicians (the Vice President, Cabinet members, and Congress members) and their immediate family members cannot. Additionally, the medals cannot be awarded after someone dies, meaning they're only for living recipients.

The bill creates two entirely new medals that didn't exist before: the National Humanities Medal and the National Medal of Social Sciences. These additions recognize that achievement in the humanities and social sciences deserves the same level of national recognition as accomplishments in science, technology, and the arts. The bill also clarifies which government officials and expert committees should recommend recipients, ensuring the selection process involves knowledgeable people from relevant fields like the National Science Foundation, the Patent Office, and the National Academies.

One final provision treats these medals seriously from a legal standpoint—they're classified as "things of value" under federal bribery and corruption laws, making it clear that giving or receiving one of these medals improperly could have legal consequences.

National Civilian Medals Improvement Act

Eshoo, Anna G.

National Civilian Medals Improvement Act This bill revises the requirements for awarding the National Medal of Science, the National Medal of Arts, and the National Technology and Innovation Medal and establishes a National Humanities Medal and a National Medal of Social Sciences. The bill prohibits such medals from being awarded to certain public officials or posthumously. With respect to the National Medal of Arts, the President must award at least one award annually but not more than five in any calendar year.