Earlier this week lawmakers on the House Armed Services Committee tucked an amendment into the Defense Authorization Bill which would require a review of the Medal of Honor award process by Pentagon officials, because of concerns over their perceived reluctance to give out the award. 

Only five Medals of Honor have been awarded for heroism in the current overseas conflicts -- four for Iraq, one for Afghanistan. All of the awards have been posthumous. No one has been given the medal (the highest military honor) since President Obama took office.

Rep. Duncan D. Hunter, R-Calif., who sponsored the amendment, said he's concerned by what appears to be an inconsistent and stingy approach in how officials are approaching the honor. "The lack of Medal of Honor awards in Iraq and Afghanistan suggest that either troops are not as brave as they used to be, which I don’t believe is true, or someone has to die in order to receive this honor."

He specifically cited the case of Sgt. Rafael Peralta, who was controversially awarded the Navy Cross but not the Medal of Honor. In 2006 defense officials dismissed lawmakers concerns over the process, saying the award is reserved for only the most heroic and selfless of battlefield decisions. 

Hunter's office said earlier this year acting Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Gail McGinn suggested that electronic warfare may be the reason why only five troops have been honored recently. “Technological advancements have dramatically changed battlefield tactics, techniques and procedures," she wrote in a letter to the office. "Precision-guided stand-off weapons allow our forces to destroy known enemy positions with reduced personnel risk.”

On Wednesday the congressman dismissed those comments. "It’s true that some aspects of warfare have changed, but what hasn’t changed is the close-quarter combat that is required to take ground from the enemy. That is what our Marines and soldiers do. Those actions are no different today than they were at any other time before."

The measure must still be passed by the full House and Senate -- and signed by the president -- before it becomes law.

[PHOTO: Army.mil]