[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3927 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3927

  To grant the congressional gold medal to the Montford Point Marines.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            October 26, 2009

 Ms. Corrine Brown of Florida (for herself, Mr. Filner, Mr. Buyer, Mr. 
    Rangel, Mr. Jones, Ms. Kilpatrick of Michigan, Mr. Payne, Mrs. 
Christensen, Mr. Davis of Illinois, Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas, 
    Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas, Mr. Cleaver, Mr. Meek of Florida, Mr. 
   Hastings of Florida, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Mr. Snyder, and Mr. 
   Michaud) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on 
House Administration, 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 BILL


 
  To grant the congressional gold medal to the Montford Point Marines.

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

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) On June 25, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt 
        issued Executive Order No. 8802 establishing the Fair 
        Employment Practices Commission and opening the doors for the 
        very first African-Americans to enlist in the United States 
        Marine Corps.
            (2) The first Black Marine recruits were trained at Camp 
        Montford Point, near the New River in Jacksonville, North 
        Carolina.
            (3) On August 26, 1942, Howard P. Perry of Charlotte, North 
        Carolina, was the first Black private to set foot on Montford 
        Point.
            (4) During April 1943 the first African-American Marine 
        Drill Instructors took over as the senior Drill Instructors of 
        the eight platoons then in training; the 16th Platoon (Edgar R. 
        Huff), 17th (Thomas Brokaw), 18th (Charles E. Allen), 19th 
        (Gilbert H. Johnson), 20th (Arnold R. Bostic), 21st (Mortimer 
        A. Cox), 22nd (Edgar R. Davis, Jr.), and 23rd (George A. 
        Jackson).
            (5) Black Marines of the 8th Ammunition Company and the 
        36th Depot Company landed on the island of Iwo Jima on D-day, 
        February 19, 1945.
            (6) The largest number of Black Marines to serve in combat 
        during World War II took part in the seizure of Okinawa in the 
        Ryuku Islands with some 2,000 Black Marines seeing action 
        during the campaign.
            (7) On November 10, 1945, the first African-American 
        Marine, Frederick C. Branch, was commissioned as a second 
        lieutenant at the Marine Corps Base in Quantico, Virginia.
            (8) Overall 19,168 Blacks served in the Marine Corps in 
        World War II.
            (9) An enterprising group of men, including original 
        Montford Pointer Master Sergeant Brooks E. Gray, planned a 
        reunion of the Men of Montford Point, and on September 15, 
        1965, approximately 400 Montford Point Marines gathered at the 
        Adelphi Hotel in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to lay the 
        foundation for the Montford Point Marine Association Inc., 16 
        years after the closure of Montford Point as a training 
        facility for Black recruits.
            (10) Organized as a non-military, nonprofit entity, the 
        Montford Point Marine Association's main mission is to preserve 
        the legacy of the first Black Marines.
            (11) Today the Montford Point Marine Association has 36 
        chapters throughout the United States.
            (12) Many of these first Black Marines stayed in the Marine 
        Corps like Sergeant Major Edgar R. Huff.
            (13) Sergeant Major Huff was one of the very first recruits 
        aboard Montford Point.
            (14) Sergeant Major Huff was also the first African-
        American Sergeant Major and the first African-American Marine 
        to retire with 30 years of service which included combat in 
        three major wars, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam 
        War.
            (15) During the Tet Offensive, Sergeant Major Huff was 
        awarded the Bronze Star Medal with combat ``V'' for valor for 
        saving the life of his radio operator.
            (16) Another original Montford Pointer who saw extensive 
        combat action in both the Korean War and the Vietnam War was 
        Sergeant Major Louis Roundtree.
            (17) Sergeant Major Roundtree was awarded the Silver Star 
        Medal, four Bronze Star Medals, three Purple Hearts, and 
        numerous other personal and unit awards for his service during 
        these conflicts.
            (18) On April 19, 1974, Montford Point was renamed Camp 
        Johnson after legendary Montford Pointer Sergeant Major Gilbert 
        ``Hashmark'' Johnson.
            (19) The Montford Point Marine Association has several 
        memorials in place to perpetuate the memory of the first 
        African-American Marines and their accomplishments, including--
                    (A) the Montford Point Marine Association Edgar R. 
                Huff Memorial Scholarship which is offered annually 
                through the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation;
                    (B) the Montford Point Museum located aboard Camp 
                Johnson (Montford Point) in Jacksonville, North 
                Carolina;
                    (C) the Brooks Elbert Gray, Jr. Consolidated 
                Academic Instruction Facility named in honor of 
                original Montford Pointer and the Montford Point Marine 
                Corps Association founder Master Gunnery Sergeant Gray. 
                This facility was dedicated on 15 April 2005 aboard 
                Camp Johnson, North Carolina; and
                    (D) during July of 1997 Branch Hall, a building 
                within the Officers Candidate School in Quantico, 
                Virginia, was named in honor of Captain Frederick 
                Branch.

SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.

    (a) Award Authorized.--The Speaker of the House of Representatives 
and the President pro tempore of the Senate shall make appropriate 
arrangements for the award, on behalf of the Congress, of a single gold 
medal of appropriate design in honor of the Montford Point Marines, 
collectively, in recognition of their personal sacrifice and service to 
their country.
    (b) Design and Striking.--For the purposes of the award referred to 
in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury (hereafter in this Act 
referred to as the ``Secretary'') shall strike the gold medal with 
suitable emblems, devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the 
Secretary.
    (c) Smithsonian Institution.--
            (1) In general.--Following the award of the gold medal in 
        honor of the Montford Point Marines under subsection (a), the 
        gold medal shall be given to the Smithsonian Institution, where 
        it will be displayed as appropriate and made available for 
        research.
            (2) Sense.--It is the sense of the Congress that the 
        Smithsonian Institution should make the gold medal received 
        under paragraph (1) available for display elsewhere, 
        particularly at other appropriate locations associated with the 
        Montford Point Marines.

SEC. 3. DUPLICATE MEDALS.

    Under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, the 
Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the gold medal 
struck under section 2, at a price sufficient to cover the costs of the 
medals, including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and 
overhead expenses.

SEC. 4. NATIONAL MEDALS.

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

SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS; PROCEEDS OF SALE.

    (a) Authorization of Appropriations.--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 cost of the medals 
authorized under section 2.
    (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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