[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2447 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        H.R.2447

                      One Hundred Twelfth Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America


                          AT THE FIRST SESSION

         Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday,
            the fifth day of January, two thousand and eleven


                                 An Act


 
  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.
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.

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.