mr. chairman , i yield myself such time as i may consume . 
mr. chairman , let me close by first indicating to the gentleman from new york ( mr. crowley ) xz4000870 that the gentleman from delaware ( mr. castle ) xz4000700 as well as myself acknowledge that the folks who received the medal in the past were most deserving . 
i would point out , in fact , that the medal that was awarded , for example , to ronald and nancy reagan , was one medal , and the same thing with dr . 
king and coretta scott king , and betty and gerald ford . 
couples are treated much differently from a group . 
i guess perhaps what i found in studying this , perhaps the most egregious example of going beyond what the initial scope of the medal was was in the 106th congress where we awarded five medal bills , one of them was for the navajo code talkers which did not go in regular order . 
it was attached at the last minute to an appropriations bill . 
it not only covered the 29 original code talkers but also an additional 275 of those who qualified as code talkers . 
i guess , and i do not want to speak for the sponsor of the legislation , but i think it points out the need to tighten these requirements . 
that is what the purpose of this legislation is all about . 
