PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committees on Oversight and Government Reform, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Congressional Research Service
No official summary is available in the imported record yet.
People & committees
Rep. Ryan, Patrick [D-NY-18] · D–NY
Legislative record
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Referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committees on Oversight and Government Reform, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committees on Oversight and Government Reform, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committees on Oversight and Government Reform, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We also preserved the text version used in the PlainBill explanation below.
Source last updated: Oct 5, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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PlainBill explanation
Based on the full Introduced in House · 2026-09-16 text. This explanation has not received human editorial review. This overview describes the proposal’s major provisions; it does not establish what its real-world effects would be.
This bill would restrict when the Defense Department could rename or reclassify ongoing military operations and change associated casualty records or benefit eligibility. It would require public casualty statistics to keep covered deaths and combat injuries linked to the operations personnel supported, with an exception for documented factual corrections. It also would require restoration of specified records and benefits within 30 days after enactment, including benefits for military and civilian personnel supporting U.S. military activities against Iran.
The Secretary of Defense may not redesignate, rename, or reclassify an ongoing designated contingency operation
The Secretary of Defense shall publish and update as frequently as practicable statistics about covered casualties and shall ensure that each covered casualty is attributed, in each casualty record and in each publication of casualty statistics of the Department of Defense (including the Defense Casualty Analysis System), to each specific military operation in support of which the member of the armed forces or civilian official concerned was serving at the time of the casualty.
corrects a demonstrable error of fact concerning the individual casualty
Administrative changes to the naming, structuring, categorization, or classification of an ongoing designated operation shall not be considered a basis to alter the eligibility of any member of the armed forces or civilian personnel for any benefit, including awards or decorations, veterans' preference accrual, pay or leave entitlement, deployment‑related threshold, or contingency military leave tied to service in that operation.
Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall restore all casualty records and casualty statistics by the Department of Defense modified since February 28, 2026, to comply with section 1472 of title 10, United States Code, as added by section 5 of this Act.
Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall restore all covered benefits to members of the Armed Services and civilian personnel who supported covered military operations since February 28, 2026, in order to comply with subsection (f) of section 991 of title 10, United States Code, as added by section 7 of this Act.
The term covered military operations means United States military activities against Iran from February 28, 2026, until the date of the enactment of this Act.
Section 1 names the proposal the Honoring the Sacrifice of Troops in War Act of 2026.
This Act may be cited as the Honoring the Sacrifice of Troops in War Act of 2026.
Section 2 expresses Congress's proposed position that service members killed or wounded in hostilities should be counted by name and number in their operation's casualty records. It states that reporting categories, accounting methods, or assertions that hostilities have ceased should not conceal the human cost of military operations. Separately, it states that false assertions that hostilities have ceased or arbitrary termination of an active contingency-operation designation should not deny service members, their families, or Defense Department civilian employees the benefits and awards they are due. These are statements of congressional position.
It is the sense of Congress that— (1) every member of the Armed Forces who dies or is wounded in hostilities is entitled to be counted, by name and in number, in the casualty records of the operation in which the member served;
no reporting category, accounting methodology, or assertion that hostilities have ceased may be used to conceal from Congress or the American people the human cost of the military operations of the United States;
no false assertion that hostilities have ceased nor arbitrary termination of the designation of an active contingency operation may be used to deny servicemembers, their families, or Department of Defense civilian employees the benefits and awards they are due for their support to active military operations.
Section 3 would use the definition of “contingency operation”—a legal classification of military operations—in title 10, section 101(a)(13), as amended by this bill. The source does not reproduce the existing definition.
In this Act, the term contingency operation has the meaning given the term in section 101(a)(13) of title 10, United States Code, as amended by section 4 of this Act.
Section 4 would prohibit the Defense Secretary from renaming or reclassifying an ongoing designated contingency operation when conditions meet the referenced statutory criteria and service members remain involved in military action against the same enemy or opposing force. This restriction would also apply during or after an announced ceasefire, diplomatic negotiations, or a change in operational phase when those conditions persist.
The Secretary of Defense may not redesignate, rename, or reclassify an ongoing designated contingency operation if the facts and circumstances on the ground at the time and place of the potential reclassification meets the criteria of subparagraph (A)(ii) and involve members of the armed forces involved in military actions, operations, or hostilities against the same enemy of the United States or opposing military force against which the original operation was conducted, including during or following an announced ceasefire, diplomatic negotiation, or change in operational phase.
Section 5 would require the Defense Secretary to publish casualty statistics and update them as frequently as practicable. Each covered casualty would have to be linked in department records and published statistics to every specific operation the person was supporting at the time.
The Secretary of Defense shall publish and update as frequently as practicable statistics about covered casualties and shall ensure that each covered casualty is attributed, in each casualty record and in each publication of casualty statistics of the Department of Defense (including the Defense Casualty Analysis System), to each specific military operation in support of which the member of the armed forces or civilian official concerned was serving at the time of the casualty.
A covered casualty would include a service member's death while on active duty, supporting a designated operation, or in its area of operations. Wounds and injuries would qualify only if incurred in combat operations under those circumstances.
The term covered casualty means, with respect to a member of the armed forces— (A) the death of the member while serving on active duty, or while serving in support of, or in the area of operations of, a designated military operation; or (B) a wound or injury of the member incurred in combat operations in the circumstances described in subparagraph (A).
Section 5 defines casualty records to include Defense Department records of deaths, wounds, or injuries of service members or civilian officials. Its definition of a designated military operation requires an official contingency-operation designation by the Defense Secretary or a command's commander under the referenced statute.
The term casualty record means any record of the Department of Defense documenting the death of a member of the armed forces or civilian official, or a wound or injury of such an individual, including any record in the Defense Casualty Analysis System or any individual casualty report.
The term designated military operation means a military operation to which the Secretary of Defense or the commander of a command has officially designated a contingency operation under the conditions of section 101(a)(13) of this title.
Once a covered casualty was linked to a designated operation, that link would have to remain in records and cumulative statistics, subject to the factual-correction exception. A successor operation or revised reporting category could not remove, transfer, or reduce the existing attribution.
Except as provided in subsection (b)(2), a covered casualty attributed to a designated military operation shall remain so attributed in the casualty records and cumulative casualty statistics of the Department of Defense. The establishment of a successor or additional designated military operation, or of any new or revised reporting category, shall not operate to remove, transfer, or reduce any attribution previously made.
The Defense Secretary could not direct changes to covered casualty records, classifications, operation assignments, or cumulative counts based on renaming or reclassifying an ongoing contingency operation that meets the specified conditions and continues against the same enemy or opposing force. The factual-correction exception would still apply.
Except as provided in paragraph (2), the Secretary of Defense may not direct any component of the Department of Defense to modify a casualty record, reclassify a covered casualty, or change the casualty status or operation attribution of a covered casualty, or restart, reset, or rebase any cumulative count of casualties if the basis for doing so is a redesignation, renaming, or reclassification of an ongoing designated contingency operation that— (A) meets the criteria of section 101(a)(13)(B) of this title; and (B) involves members of the armed forces in military actions, operations, or hostilities against the same enemy of the United States or opposing military force against which the original operation was conducted, including during or following periods of an announced ceasefire, diplomatic negotiation, or change in operational phase.
A permitted factual correction would have to fix a demonstrable error about the individual casualty and document the specific facts in writing. It could not be based even partly on changes in policy, methodology, reporting-category structure or presentation, or the specified assertions that hostilities had ended, paused, or diminished.
Paragraph (1) does not apply to a modification of a casualty record that— (A) corrects a demonstrable error of fact concerning the individual casualty, including an error as to the identity, unit, duty status, location, or cause of death or injury of the member concerned; (B) is documented in writing, including the specific facts establishing the error; and (C) is not based, in whole or in part, on a change in policy, methodology, or the structure or presentation of reporting categories, or on any assertion described in subsection (c).
Statements or agreements that hostilities had ended, paused, or diminished could not justify excluding, removing, or transferring a casualty's operation attribution if the specified conditions on the ground continued against the same enemy or opposing force. This would cover statements by the President, other U.S. officials, and foreign governments.
A covered casualty may not be excluded from attribution to a designated military operation, and may not be removed or transferred from such an attribution, on the basis of any assertion, determination, announcement, or agreement, whether by the President, the Secretary of Defense, any other officer or employee of the United States, or a foreign government, that hostilities associated with the operation have ceased, concluded, paused, or diminished, if the facts and circumstances on the ground at the time and place of the potential reclassification met the criteria of section 101(a)(13)(B) of this title and involve members of the armed forces in military actions, operations, or hostilities against the same enemy of the United States or opposing military force against which the original operation was conducted.
Section 6 would give the Defense Secretary 30 days after enactment to restore department casualty records and statistics modified since February 28, 2026, to comply with the new casualty-record requirements. Although the section heading names Operation Epic Fury, the restoration directive refers to all such modified records and statistics.
6. Restoration of casualty records relating to Operation Epic Fury (a) Restoration Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall restore all casualty records and casualty statistics by the Department of Defense modified since February 28, 2026, to comply with section 1472 of title 10, United States Code, as added by section 5 of this Act.
Within the same 30-day deadline, the Defense Secretary would have to notify the primary next of kin of each deceased or wounded service member whose record or operation attribution was modified between February 28, 2026, and enactment. Written notices would explain the restoration and its reason.
Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall provide to the primary next of kin of each deceased or wounded member of the Armed Forces whose casualty record or operation attribution was modified during the covered period written notice of the restoration of the record or attribution required by subsection (a), and the reason for such restoration.
the term covered period means the period beginning on February 28, 2026, and ending on the date of the enactment of this Act.
Section 7 would prohibit the Defense Secretary from directing changes to deployment-related benefit eligibility solely because an ongoing operation was renamed or reclassified, when the specified conditions persist against the same enemy or opposing force. The restriction would include shortening, extending, pausing, or resetting eligibility.
The Secretary of Defense may not direct any component of the Department of Defense to modify, adjust, shorten, extend, pause, reset, or otherwise alter any deployment‑related benefit eligibility if the basis for such modification is solely a redesignation, renaming, or reclassification of an ongoing designated contingency operation where the facts and circumstances on the ground at the time and place of potential redesignation meet the criteria of section 101(a)(13)(B) of this title and members of the armed forces are involved in military actions, operations, or hostilities against the same enemy of the United States or opposing military force against which the original operation was conducted, including during or following periods of an announced ceasefire, temporary cessation of hostilities, diplomatic negotiation, or change in operational phase.
For that restriction, benefit eligibility would continue to be calculated as though the original operation designation remained in effect, subject to the bill's exceptions.
For purposes of paragraph (1), deployment‑related benefit eligibility determinations shall continue to be calculated as if the original designation of the operation remained in effect, except as provided under paragraph (4).
Administrative changes to an ongoing operation's name, structure, or classification could not serve as a basis for changing military or civilian personnel's eligibility for benefits tied to that operation. Listed examples include awards, veterans' preference credit, pay, leave, and deployment-related thresholds.
Administrative changes to the naming, structuring, categorization, or classification of an ongoing designated operation shall not be considered a basis to alter the eligibility of any member of the armed forces or civilian personnel for any benefit, including awards or decorations, veterans' preference accrual, pay or leave entitlement, deployment‑related threshold, or contingency military leave tied to service in that operation.
Eligibility periods could still be adjusted when a statute explicitly requires it, substantive operational changes make it necessary—including hostilities against a new enemy—or a Secretary-approved deployment exception authorizes it under the referenced existing provision.
Nothing in this subsection prohibits adjustments to eligibility windows when such adjustments are— (A) explicitly required by statute; (B) necessary due to a substantive change in operational conditions, including commencement of hostilities against a new enemy or opposing force; or (C) authorized under subsection (a)(3) pursuant to a Secretary‑approved deployment exception.
For the benefit protections, a designated military operation would require an official contingency-operation designation by the Defense Secretary or a combatant command's commander under the referenced statute.
In this subsection, the term designated military operation means a military operation to which the Secretary of Defense or the commander of a combatant command has officially designated a contingency operation under the conditions of section 101(a)(13) of this title.
Section 8 would require the Defense Secretary, within 30 days after enactment, to restore covered benefits to military and civilian personnel who supported U.S. military activities against Iran from February 28, 2026, through enactment, to comply with the new eligibility protections.
Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall restore all covered benefits to members of the Armed Services and civilian personnel who supported covered military operations since February 28, 2026, in order to comply with subsection (f) of section 991 of title 10, United States Code, as added by section 7 of this Act.
The term covered military operations means United States military activities against Iran from February 28, 2026, until the date of the enactment of this Act.
Covered benefits would be benefits those personnel are entitled to receive, including Defense Department awards, veterans' preference credit, contingency military leave, and benefits under specified pay, leave, and tax authorities triggered by the legal definition of a contingency operation.
The term covered benefits means benefits to which members of the Armed Forces and civilian personnel who support covered military operations are entitled, including Department of Defense awards or decorations, veterans’ preference accrual, contingency military leave, or other benefits associated with special pay, leave, and tax authorities in titles 10, 37, and 5, United States Code, the Department of State Standardized Regulations, Internal Revenue Service combat zone regulations, and Office of Personnel Management policies that are triggered by the statutory definition of a contingency operation.
Within 30 days after enactment, the Defense Secretary would also have to send affected military and civilian personnel written notice explaining the required benefit restoration and its reason. This notice requirement would cover benefits modified from February 28, 2026, through enactment.
Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall provide to each member of the Armed Forces or civilian personnel whose covered benefits were modified during the covered period written notice of the restoration of benefits required by subsection (a), and of the reason for such restoration.
The term covered period means the period beginning on February 28, 2026, and ending on the date of the enactment of this Act.
The supplied official-actions snapshot, updated October 5, 2026, records introduction in the House on September 16, 2026, and referral that day to Armed Services, Oversight and Government Reform, and Ways and Means for provisions within their respective jurisdictions. This snapshot does not establish subsequent legislative action or enactment.
Source snapshot updated 2026-10-05T19:24:02Z.
2026-09-16: Introduced in House
2026-09-16: Referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committees on Oversight and Government Reform, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
A closer look
Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2026-09-16. These findings describe provisions and who may benefit; they are not judgments of waste, corruption, or motive.
This review covers the supplied bill text. “None identified” does not rule out provisions in later versions or accompanying reports and disclosures.
Provisions outside the bill’s main subject, or policy changes attached to appropriations.
None identified in the reviewed text
No unrelated rider was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish the contents or attachment history of other versions or accompanying materials.
Spending directed to particular recipients or places outside ordinary competitive or formula-based allocation.
None identified in the reviewed text
No congressionally directed spending earmark was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version; formal earmark status cannot be fully assessed without disclosures and accompanying materials, and the conclusion does not establish absence in those materials or other versions.
Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.
None identified in the reviewed text
No materially narrow preferential carve-out was identified in the complete supplied introduced text under the stated definition. Protection and restoration of intended beneficiaries' existing entitlements were not treated as preferential treatment solely because coverage is specified. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: Oct 5, 2026. How PlainBill uses AI