[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3439 Introduced in House (IH)]







107th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3439

  To authorize the President to present a gold medal on behalf of the 
     Congress to the Choctaw Code Talkers in recognition of their 
          contributions to the Nation, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            December 6, 2001

   Mr. Watkins of Oklahoma introduced the following bill; which was 
            referred to the Committee on Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To authorize the President to present a gold medal on behalf of the 
     Congress to the Choctaw Code Talkers in recognition of their 
          contributions to the Nation, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Choctaw Code Talkers Recognition 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) On April 6, 1917, the United States, after 
        extraordinary provocations, declared war on Germany, thus the 
        United States entered World War I, the War to End All Wars.
            (2) At the time of this declaration of war, Indian people 
        in the United States, including members of the Choctaw Nation, 
        were not accorded the status of citizens of the United States.
            (3) Without regard to this lack of citizenship, many 
        members of the Choctaw Nation joined many members of other 
        Indian tribes and nations in enlisting in the Armed Forces to 
        fight on behalf of their native land.
            (4) Members of the Choctaw Nation were enlisted in the 
        force known as the American Expeditionary Force, which began 
        hostile actions in France in the fall of 1917, and 
        specifically, members of the Choctaw Nation were incorporated 
        in a company of Indian enlistees serving in the 142d Infantry 
        Company of the 36th Division.
            (5) A major impediment to Allied operations in general, and 
        American operations in particular, was the fact that the German 
        forces had deciphered all codes used for transmitting 
        information between Allied commands, leading to substantial 
        loss of men and materiel during the first year of American 
        action.
            (6) Because of the proximity and static nature of the 
        battle lines, a method to communicate without the knowledge of 
        the enemy was needed.
            (7) An American commander realized the fact that he had 
        under his command a number of men who spoke a native language. 
        While the use of such native languages was discouraged by the 
        American Government, the commander sought out and recruited 18 
        Choctaw Indians to use for transmission of field telephone 
        communications during an upcoming campaign.
            (8) Because the language used by the Choctaw soldiers in 
        the transmission of information was not based on a European 
        language or on a mathematical progression, the Germans were 
        unable to understand any of the transmissions.
            (9) The Choctaw soldiers were placed in different command 
        positions, to achieve the widest possible area for 
        communications.
            (10) The use of the Choctaw Code Talkers was particularly 
        important in the movement of American soldiers in October of 
        1918 (including securing forward and exposed positions), in the 
        protection of supplies during American action (including 
        protecting gun emplacements from enemy shelling), and in the 
        preparation for the assault on German positions in the final 
        stages of combat operations in the fall of 1918.
            (11) In the opinion of the officers involved, the use of 
        Choctaw Indians to transmit information in their native 
        language saved men and munitions, and was highly successful. 
        Based on this successful experience, Choctaw Indians were being 
        withdrawn from frontline units for training in transmission of 
        codes so as to be more widely used when the war came to a halt.
            (12) The Germans never succeeded in breaking the Choctaw 
        code.
            (13) This was the first time in modern warfare that such 
        transmission of messages in a native American language was used 
        for the purpose of confusing the enemy.
            (14) This action by members of the Choctaw Nation is 
        another example of the commitment of American Indians to the 
        defense of our great Nation and adds to the proud legacy of 
        such service.
            (15) The Choctaw Nation has honored the actions of these 18 
        Choctaw Code Talkers through a memorial bearing their names 
        located at the entrance of the tribal complex in Durant, 
        Oklahoma.

SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.

    (a) Presentation Authorized.--To express recognition by the United 
States of America and its citizens in honoring the Choctaw Code Talkers 
who distinguished themselves in performing a unique, highly successful 
communications operation that greatly assisted in saving countless 
lives and in hastening the end of World War I, the President is 
authorized to present to each Choctaw Code Talker, or a surviving 
family member of that Code Talker, on behalf of the Congress, a gold 
medal of appropriate design honoring the Choctaw Code Talkers.
    (b) Design and Striking.--For the purposes of the presentations 
referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury (hereafter 
in this Act referred to as the ``Secretary'') shall strike gold medals 
with suitable emblems, devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by 
the Secretary.

SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS.

    The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the gold 
medal struck pursuant to section 3 under such regulations as the 
Secretary may prescribe, and at a price sufficient to cover the costs 
thereof, including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and 
overhead expenses, and the cost of the gold medal.

SEC. 5. STATUS AS NATIONAL MEDALS.

    The medals struck pursuant to this Act are national medals for 
purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States Code.

SEC. 6. FUNDING.

    (a) Authority To Use Fund Amounts.--There is authorized to be 
charged against the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund an amount 
not to exceed $30,000 to pay for the costs of the medals authorized by 
this Act.
    (b) Proceeds of Sale.--Amounts received from the sale of duplicate 
bronze medals under section 3 shall be deposited in the United States 
Mint Public Enterprise Fund.
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