REPORT ON DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE PROCESS FOR AWARDING DECORATIONS.

SEC. 557. REPORT ON DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE PROCESS FOR AWARDING DECORATIONS.(a) Review.—The Secretary of Defense shall conduct a review of the policy, procedures, and processes of the military departments for awarding decorations to members of the Armed Forces.(b) Time Periods.—As part of the review under subsection (a), the Secretary shall compare the time frames of the awards process between active duty and reserve components—(1) from the time a recommendation for the award of a decoration is submitted until the time the award of the decoration is approved; and(2) from the time the award of a decoration is approved until the time when the decoration is presented to the recipient.(c) Reserve Components.—If the Secretary, in conducting the review under subsection (a), finds that the timeliness of the awards process for members of the reserve components is not the same as, or similar to, that for members of the active components, the Secretary shall take appropriate steps to address the discrepancy.(d) Report.—Not later than August 1, 2007, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate and the Committee on Armed Services of the House of Representatives a report containing the Secretary’s findings as a result of the review under subsection (a), together with a plan for implementing whatever changes are determined to be appropriate to the process for awarding decorations in order to ensure that decorations are awarded in a timely manner, to the extent practicable.