[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5859 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5859

To award a Congressional Gold Medal to the World War II members of the 
                           Civil Air Patrol.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 26, 2010

  Mr. Filner 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 award a Congressional Gold Medal to the World War II members of the 
                           Civil Air Patrol.

    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) The volunteer members of the Civil Air Patrol 
        (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ``CAP'') during World 
        War II, civilian men and women ranging in age from 19 to 81, 
        provided extraordinary public and combat services during a 
        critical time of need for the Nation.
            (2) During the war, CAP members used their own aircraft to 
        perform a myriad of essential tasks for the military and the 
        Nation within the United States, including attacks on enemy 
        submarines off the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts of the 
        United States.
            (3) This extraordinary service set the stage for the post-
        war CAP to become a valuable nonprofit, public service 
        organization chartered by Congress and the Auxiliary of the 
        United States Air Force that provides essential emergency, 
        operational, and public services to communities, States, the 
        Federal Government, and the military.
            (4) The CAP was established, initially as a part of the 
        Office of Civil Defense, by air-minded citizens one week before 
        the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 1, 
        1941, ``out of the desire of civil airmen of the country to be 
        mobilized with their equipment in the common defense'' of the 
        Nation.
            (5) Within days of the start of the war, the German Navy 
        started a massive submarine offensive, known as Operation 
        Drumbeat, off the east coast of the United States against oil 
        tankers and other critical shipping that threatened the overall 
        war effort.
            (6) Neither the Navy nor the Army had enough aircraft, 
        ships, or other resources to adequately patrol and protect the 
        shipping along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts of the 
        United States, and many ships were torpedoed within sight of 
        civilians on shore, including 52 tankers sunk between January 
        and March 1942.
            (7) At that time General George Marshall remarked that 
        ``[t]he losses by submarines off our Atlantic seaboard and in 
        the Caribbean now threaten our entire war effort''.
            (8) From the beginning CAP leaders urged the military to 
        use its services to patrol coastal waters but met with great 
        resistance because of the nonmilitary training and status of 
        CAP pilots.
            (9) Finally, in response to the ever-increasing submarine 
        attacks, the Tanker Committee of the Petroleum Industry War 
        Council urged the Navy Department and the War Department to 
        consider the use of the CAP to help patrol the sea lanes off 
        the coasts of the United States.
            (10) While the Navy initially rejected this suggestion, the 
        Army decided it had merit, and the Civil Air Patrol Coastal 
        Patrol began in March 1942.
            (11) Oil companies and other organizations provided funds 
        to help pay for some CAP operations, including vitally needed 
        shore radios that were used to monitor patrol missions.
            (12) By late March 1942, the Navy also began to use the 
        services of the CAP.
            (13) Starting with three bases located in Delaware, 
        Florida, and New Jersey, CAP aircrews immediately started to 
        spot enemy submarines as well as lifeboats, bodies, and 
        wreckage.
            (14) Within 15 minutes of the first Coast Patrol flight, 
        the pilot had sighted a torpedoed tanker and was coordinating 
        rescue operations.
            (15) Eventually 21 bases, ranging from Bar Harbor, Maine, 
        to Brownsville, Texas, were set up for the CAP to patrol the 
        Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts of the United States, with 
        40,000 volunteers participating.
            (16) The CAP used a wide range of civilian-owned aircraft, 
        mainly light-weight, single engine aircraft--manufactured by 
        Cessna, Beech, Waco, Fairchild, Stinson, Piper, Taylorcraft, 
        and Sikorsky, among others--as well as some twin engine 
        aircraft such as the Grumman Widgeon.
            (17) These aircraft were painted in their civilian prewar 
        colors (red, yellow, blue, etc.) and carried special markings 
        (a blue circle with a white triangle) to identify them as CAP 
        aircraft.
            (18) Patrols were conducted up to 100 miles off shore, 
        generally with 2 aircraft flying together, in aircraft often 
        equipped with only a compass for navigation and a single radio 
        for communication.
            (19) Due to the critical nature of the situation, CAP 
        operations were conducted in bad weather as well as good, often 
        when the military was unable to fly, and in all seasons 
        (including the winter) when ditching an aircraft in cold water 
        would likely mean certain death to the aircrew.
            (20) Personal emergency equipment was often lacking, 
        particularly during early patrols where inner tubes and kapok 
        duck hunter vests were carried as flotation devices since ocean 
        worthy wet suits, life vests, and life rafts were unavailable.
            (21) The initial purpose of the CAP was to spot submarines, 
        report their position to the military, and force them to dive 
        below the surface, which limited their operating speed and 
        maneuverability and reduced their ability to detect and attack 
        shipping.
            (22) It soon became apparent that there were opportunities 
        for CAP pilots to attack submarines, such as when a Florida CAP 
        aircrew came across a surfaced submarine that quickly stranded 
        itself on a sand bar. However, the aircrew could not get any 
        assistance from armed military aircraft before the submarine 
        freed itself.
            (23) Finally, after a number of these instances, a decision 
        was made by the military to arm CAP aircraft with 50- and 100-
        pound bombs, and to arm some larger twin engine aircraft with 
        325-pound depth charges.
            (24) The arming of CAP aircraft dramatically changed the 
        mission for these civilian aircrews and resulted in more than 
        57 attacks on enemy submarines.
            (25) While CAP volunteers received $8 a day flight 
        reimbursement, their patrols were accomplished at a great 
        economic cost to many of the members of the CAP who--
                    (A) used their own aircraft and other equipment in 
                defense of the Nation;
                    (B) paid for much of their own aircraft maintenance 
                and hangar use; and
                    (C) often lived in primitive conditions along the 
                coast, including old barns and chicken coops converted 
                for sleeping.
            (26) More importantly, the CAP Coastal Patrol service came 
        at the high cost of 26 fatalities, 7 serious injuries, and 90 
        aircraft lost.
            (27) At the conclusion of the 18-month Coastal Patrol, the 
        heroic CAP aircrews would be credited with the following:
                    (A) 2 submarines destroyed or damaged;
                    (B) 57 submarines attacked;
                    (C) 82 bombs dropped against submarines;
                    (D) 173 radio reports of submarine positions (with 
                a number of credited assists for kills made by military 
                units);
                    (E) 17 floating mines reported;
                    (F) 36 dead bodies reported;
                    (G) 91 vessels in distress reported;
                    (H) 363 survivors in distress reported;
                    (I) 836 irregularities noted;
                    (J) 1,036 special investigations at sea or along 
                the coast;
                    (K) 5,684 convoy missions for the Navy;
                    (L) 86,685 missions flown;
                    (M) 244,600 total flight hours logged; and
                    (N) more than 24,000,000 miles flown.
            (28) At least one high-level German Navy Officer credited 
        the CAP with being the primary reason that submarine attacks 
        were withdrawn from the Atlantic coast of the United States in 
        1943 when he said that ``[i]t was because of those damned 
        little red and yellow planes!''.
            (29) The CAP was dismissed from coastal missions with 
        little thanks in August 1943 when the Navy took over the 
        mission completely and ordered the CAP to stand down.
            (30) While the Coastal Patrol was ongoing, the CAP was also 
        establishing itself as a vital wartime service to the military, 
        States, and communities nationwide by performing a wide range 
        of missions including--
                    (A) border patrol;
                    (B) forest fire patrol;
                    (C) courier flights for mail, repair and 
                replacement parts, and urgent deliveries;
                    (D) emergency transportation of personnel;
                    (E) target towing (with live ammunition being fired 
                at the targets and seven lives being lost) and 
                searchlight tracking training missions;
                    (F) missing aircraft and personnel searches;
                    (G) rescue of aircraft crash survivors;
                    (H) radar training flights;
                    (I) aerial inspections of camouflaged military and 
                civilian facilities;
                    (J) aerial inspections of city and town blackout 
                conditions;
                    (K) mock bombing attacks on cities and facilities 
                to test air defenses;
                    (L) aerial searches for scrap metal materials;
                    (M) support of war bond drives;
                    (N) airport guard duties;
                    (O) support for State and local emergencies such as 
                natural disasters;
                    (P) recruiting for the Army Air Force; and
                    (Q) a cadet youth program which provided aviation 
                and military training.
            (31) The CAP flew more than 500,000 hours on these 
        additional missions, including--
                    (A) 20,500 missions involving target towing (with 
                live ammunition) and gun/searchlight tracking which 
                resulted in 7 deaths, 5 serious injuries, and the loss 
                of 25 aircraft;
                    (B) a courier service involving 3 major Air Force 
                Commands over a 2-year period carrying more than 
                3,500,000 pounds of vital cargo and 543 passengers;
                    (C) southern border operations flying more than 
                30,000 hours, with 7,000 reports of unusual sightings 
                including a vehicle (that was apprehended) with 2 enemy 
                agents attempting to enter the country;
                    (D) a week in February 1945 during which CAP units 
                found seven missing Army and Navy pilots; and
                    (E) a State in which the CAP flew 790 hours on 
                forest fire patrol missions and reported 576 fires to 
                authorities during a single year.
            (32) On April 29, 1943, the CAP was transferred to the Army 
        Air Forces, thus beginning its long association with the United 
        States Air Force.
            (33) Hundreds of CAP-trained women joined military women's 
        units including the Women's Air Force Service Pilots (WASP) 
        program.
            (34) Many members of the Women's Air Force Service Pilots 
        program joined or rejoined the CAP during the post-war period 
        because it provided women opportunities to fly and continue to 
        serve the Nation that were severely lacking elsewhere.
            (35) Due to the exceptional emphasis on safety, unit 
        discipline, and pilot discipline, and the organization of the 
        CAP, by the end of the war only 64 members of the CAP had died 
        in service and only 150 aircraft had been lost (including its 
        Coastal Patrol loses from early in the war).
            (36) It is estimated that more than 200,000 civilians were 
        members of the CAP in wide range of positions and that CAP 
        aircrews flew a total of approximately 750,000 hours during the 
        war, most of which was in their personal aircraft and often at 
        real risk to their lives.
            (37) After the war, at a CAP dinner for Congress, a quorum 
        of both Houses attended with the Speaker of the House of 
        Representatives and the President thanking the CAP for its 
        service.
            (38) While air medals were issued for those participating 
        in the Coastal Patrol, little other recognition was forthcoming 
        for those efforts or for the other services the CAP volunteers 
        provided during the war.
            (39) Despite efforts to end the organization at the end of 
        the war, the CAP had proved its capabilities and strengthened 
        its ties with the Air Force and Congress.
            (40) In 1946, Congress chartered the CAP as a nonprofit, 
        public service organization and in 1948 as the Auxiliary of the 
        United States Air Force.
            (41) Today the CAP conducts many of the same missions it 
        performed during World War II, including a vital role in 
        homeland security.

SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.

    (a) Award.--
            (1) Authorized.--The President pro tempore of the Senate 
        and the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall make 
        appropriate arrangements for the award, on behalf of Congress, 
        of a single gold medal of appropriate design in honor of the 
        World War II members of the Civil Air Patrol collectively, in 
        recognition of the military service and exemplary record of the 
        Civil Air Patrol during World War II.
            (2) Design and striking.--For the purposes of the award 
        referred to in paragraph (1), the Secretary of the Treasury 
        shall strike the gold medal with suitable emblems, devices, and 
        inscriptions, to be determined by the Secretary.
            (3) Smithsonian institution.--
                    (A) In general.--Following the award of the gold 
                medal referred to in paragraph (1) in honor of the 
                World War II members of the Civil Air Patrol, the gold 
                medal shall be given to the Smithsonian Institution, 
                where it shall be displayed as appropriate and made 
                available for research.
                    (B) Sense of congress.--It is the sense of Congress 
                that the Smithsonian Institution should make the gold 
                medal received under this paragraph available for 
                display elsewhere, particularly at other locations 
                associated with the Civil Air Patrol.
    (b) 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 this Act, at a price sufficient to cover 
the costs of the medals, including labor, materials, dyes, use of 
machinery, and overhead expenses.
    (c) National Medals.--Medals struck pursuant to this Act are 
national medals for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States 
Code.

SEC. 3. 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 medal 
authorized under section 2.
    (b) Proceeds of Sale.--Amounts received from the sale of duplicate 
bronze medals under section 2(b) shall be deposited in the United 
States Mint Public Enterprise Fund.
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