[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2491 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







107th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2491

To authorize the President to award a gold medal on behalf of Congress 
    to the Choctaw and Comanche code talkers in recognition of the 
   contributions provided by those individuals to the United States.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 9, 2002

  Mr. Inhofe introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
    referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To authorize the President to award a gold medal on behalf of Congress 
    to the Choctaw and Comanche code talkers in recognition of the 
   contributions provided by those individuals to the United States.

    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 ``Honoring the Choctaw and Commanche 
Code Talkers Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) on April 6, 1917, the United States, after 
        extraordinary provocations, declared war on Germany and began 
        what is known as the First World War;
            (2) at that time, Indian people in the United States, 
        including members of the Choctaw Nation, were not accorded 
        citizenship;
            (3) without regard to this lack of citizenship, many 
        members of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and other Indian 
        tribes and Nations enlisted in the armed forces to fight on 
        behalf of the United States;
            (4) members of the Choctaw Nation enlisted in the force 
        known as the American Expeditionary Force, which began hostile 
        actions in France in the fall of 1917;
            (5) members of the Choctaw Nation were incorporated in a 
        company of Indian enlistees serving in the 142nd Infantry 
        Company of the 36th Division;
            (6) because of the proximity and static nature of the 
        battle lines in World War I, a method of communication that 
        could be used without the knowledge of the enemy was necessary;
            (7) a commander of the United States realized that he had 
        under his command a number of soldiers who spoke a Native 
        language;
            (8) while the use of Native languages was discouraged by 
        the military of the United States, the commander sought out and 
        recruited 18 Choctaw Indians to assist in the transmission of 
        field telephone communications during an upcoming campaign;
            (9) because the language used by the Choctaw soldiers in 
        the transmission of information was not based on a European 
        language or mathematical progression, the Germans were unable 
        to understand any of the transmissions;
            (10) the Choctaw soldiers were placed in different command 
        positions, to achieve the widest possible area for 
        communications;
            (11) the use of the Choctaw code talkers was particularly 
        important in the movement of military personnel of the United 
        States in October 1918 (including securing forward and exposed 
        positions), in--
                    (A) the protection of supplies during action 
                (including protecting gun emplacements from enemy 
                shelling); and
                    (B) in the preparation for the assault on German 
                positions in the final stages of combat operations in 
                the fall of 1918;
            (12) in the opinion of the officers involved, the use of 
        the Choctaw Indians to transmit information in their Native 
        language saved men and munitions, and was highly successful;
            (13) based on that successful experience, Choctaw Indians 
        were withdrawn from front line units to be trained in the 
        transmission of codes so as to be more widely used when World 
        War I ended;
            (14) the Germans never succeeded in breaking the Choctaw 
        code;
            (15) use of the Choctaw code talkers was the first instance 
        in modern warfare in which the transmission of messages in a 
        Native American language was used for the purpose of confusing 
        the enemy;
            (16) on December 7, 1941, the Japanese Empire attacked 
        Pearl Harbor, prompting Congress to declare war on the Japanese 
        the following day;
            (17) the military code had been developed by the United 
        States for transmitting messages, but that code had been 
        deciphered by the Japanese;
            (18) a search by intelligence officials of the United 
        States was carried out to develop new means to counter the 
        enemy;
            (19) as occurred during World War I, the Federal Government 
        called on an Indian tribe, in this instance, the Comanche 
        Nation, to support the military effort;
            (20) the United States Army sent 14 Commanche Indians 
        overseas to serve as members of the 4th Signal Company of the 
        4th Infantry Division;
            (21) the Comanche code talkers passed messages over 
        telephones and radios in their native tongue so as to prevent 
        the enemy from intercepting and deciphering the messages;
            (22) because no written Comanche language existed, and 
        because there were no Comanche words for many military terms, a 
        military code had to be devised and written;
            (23) by using the Comanche language, Comanche code talkers 
        were able to--
                    (A) provide secure communications;
                    (B) protect tactical movements; and
                    (C) ensure that troops would not be in danger from 
                an enemy eavesdropping on signal transmissions;
            (24) several of the 14 Comanche code talkers coded messages 
        sent from the battlefields in Europe back to division 
        headquarters, where the remainder of the Commanche code talkers 
        decoded the messages;
            (25) the work of the Comanche code talkers thwarted enemy 
        efforts to steal communications of the United States;
            (26) the efforts of the Comanche code talkers were 
        especially important during and after the Allied landings at 
        Normandy in June 1944;
            (27) the Comanche code talkers contributed greatly to the 
        Allied war effort in Europe and were instrumental in winning 
        the war in Europe;
            (28) the efforts of the Comanche code talkers saved 
        countless lives;
            (29) only 1 of the Comanche code talkers remains alive as 
        of the date of enactment of this Act; and
            (30) the actions of the Choctaw and Comanche members of the 
        military of the United States during World War I and World War 
        II--
                    (A) are evidence of the commitment of members of 
                Indian tribes of the United States to the defense of 
                the United States; and
                    (B) add to the proud legacy of service by those 
                members in the military of the United States.

SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.

    (a) Authorization of Award.--
            (1) In general.--The President may award, on behalf of 
        Congress, to each of the Choctaw and Comanche code talkers 
        listed in paragraph (2) (or to a surviving family member of 
        each of those Choctaw and Comanche code talkers), a gold medal 
        of appropriate design to honor, and express recognition by the 
        United States of, the Choctaw and Comanche code talkers who 
        distinguished themselves in performing a unique, highly 
        successful communications operation that assisted in saving 
        countless lives during World War I and World War II.
            (2) Code talkers.--The code talkers referred to in 
        paragraph (1) are--
                    (A) of the Choctaw Nation--
                            (i) Albert Billy;
                            (ii) Victor Brown;
                            (iii) Mitchell Bobb;
                            (iv) Ben Carterby;
                            (v) George Davenport;
                            (vi) Joe Davenport;
                            (vii) James Edwards;
                            (viii) Tobias Frazier;
                            (ix) Ben Hampton;
                            (x) Noel Johnson;
                            (xi) Otis Leader;
                            (xii) Soloman Louis;
                            (xiii) Pete Maytubby;
                            (xiv) Jeff Nelson;
                            (xv) Joseph Oklahombi;
                            (xvi) Robert Taylor;
                            (xvii) Walter Veach and
                            (xviii) Calvin Wilson; and
                    (B) of the Comanche tribe--
                            (i) Charles Chibitty;
                            (ii) Haddon Codynah;
                            (iii) Robert Holder;
                            (iv) Forrest Kassanavoid;
                            (v) Wellington Mihecoby;
                            (vi) Albert Nahquaddy, Jr.;
                            (vii) Clifford Ototivo;
                            (viii) Simmons Parker;
                            (ix) Melvin Permansu;
                            (x) Elgin Red Elk;
                            (xi) Roderick Red Elk;
                            (xii) Larry Saupitty;
                            (xiii) Morris Tabbyetchy; and
                            (xiv) Willis Yackeshi.
    (b) Design and Striking.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary of the Treasury (referred to 
        in this Act as the ``Secretary'') shall strike a gold medal to 
        be awarded under subsection (a) having such suitable emblems, 
        devices, and inscriptions as may be determined by the 
        Secretary.
            (2) Duplicate medals.--The Secretary may strike and sell 
        duplicates in bronze of the medal struck under paragraph (1)--
                    (A) in accordance with such regulations as the 
                Secretary may prescribe; and
                    (B) at a price sufficient to cover the costs of 
                duplicating the medal (including the costs of labor, 
                materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead 
                expenses, and the actual cost of the medals).

SEC. 4. STATUS AS NATIONAL MEDALS.

    A medal struck in accordance with this Act shall be considered to 
be a national medal for purposes of chapter 51, of title 31, United 
States Code.

SEC. 5. FUNDING.

    (a) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated from the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund such 
sums as are necessary to pay the costs of striking and awarding medals 
in accordance with section 3.
    (b) Proceeds of Sale.--Amounts received from the sale of duplicate 
bronze medals under this section 3(b)(2) shall be deposited in the 
United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund.
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