[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3001 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        H.R.3001

                      One Hundred Twelfth Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America


                          AT THE SECOND SESSION

          Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
            the third day of January, two thousand and twelve


                                 An Act


 
To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Raoul Wallenberg, in recognition 
      of his achievements and heroic actions during the Holocaust.

    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 ``Raoul Wallenberg Centennial 
Celebration Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
    The Congress finds as follows:
        (1) Raoul Wallenberg was born in Europe on August 4, 1912, to 
    Swedish Christian parents.
        (2) In 1935, he graduated from the University of Michigan in 
    Ann Arbor, completing a five-year program in three-and-a-half 
    years.
        (3) In a letter to his grandfather, Wallenberg wrote of his 
    time in America: ``I feel so at home in my little Ann Arbor that 
    I'm beginning to sink down roots here and have a hard time 
    imagining my leaving it. . . . Every now and then I feel strange 
    when I think about how tiny my own country is and how large and 
    wonderful America is.''.
        (4) Raoul returned to Sweden, where he began a career as a 
    businessman, and afterwards, a Swedish diplomat.
        (5) In 1936, Raoul's grandfather arranged a position for him at 
    the Holland Bank in Haifa, Palestine. There Raoul began to meet 
    young Jews who had already been forced to flee from Nazi 
    persecution in Germany. Their stories affected him deeply.
        (6) He was greatly troubled by the fate of Jews in Europe, 
    confiding to actress Viveca Lindfors the horrific plight of Jews 
    under Nazi Europe.
        (7) Under the direction of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 
    War Refugee Board was established in January 1944 to aid civilians 
    that fell victim to the Nazi and Axis powers in Europe.
        (8) One of War Refugee Board's top priorities was protection of 
    the 750,000 Hungarian Jews still alive.
        (9) It was decided that Raoul Wallenberg, aged 31 at the time, 
    would be most effective in protecting Jews and victims of the Nazis 
    in Hungary under the War Refugee Board. He was recruited by Iver 
    Olsen, an agent for the Office of Strategic Services and sent to 
    Budapest, Hungary, under his official profession as a Swedish 
    diplomat. He was instructed to use passports and other creative 
    means to save as many lives as possible.
        (10) Wallenberg created a new Swedish passport, the Schutzpass, 
    which looked more imposing and official than the actual Swedish 
    passport. He reportedly put up huge place cards of it throughout 
    Budapest to make the Nazis familiar with it. He unilaterally 
    announced that it granted the holder immunity from the death camps. 
    The Schutzpasses alone are credited with saving 20,000 Jewish 
    lives.
        (11) In one example of his heroism, Wallenberg was told of a 
    Nazi plot to round up several thousand Jewish women and acted 
    swiftly to save them. Former Wallenberg staffer, Agnes Adachi, 
    recalls the time when she and other staff, spent the whole night 
    making around 2,000 Schutzpasses before 6 a.m. They were all 
    completed and personally delivered to the women in time to save 
    their lives.
        (12) Using the money the United States put into the War Refugee 
    Board, Wallenberg was able to purchase about thirty buildings, 
    which he used as hospitals, schools, soup kitchens, and safe houses 
    for over 8,000 children whose parents have already been deported or 
    killed.
        (13) Tommy Lapid, a young boy who was staying with his mother 
    in a Swedish safe house (his father was already dead), gave an 
    eyewitness account of how his family was helped by Wallenberg and 
    the War Refugee Board: ``One morning, a group of Hungarian Fascists 
    came into the house and said that all the able-bodied women must go 
    with them. We knew what this meant. My mother kissed me and I cried 
    and she cried. We knew we were parting forever and she left me 
    there, an orphan to all intents and purposes. Then two or three 
    hours later, to my amazement, my mother returned with the other 
    women. It seemed like a mirage, a miracle. My mother was there--she 
    was alive and she was hugging me and kissing me, and she said one 
    word: Wallenberg.''.
        (14) Even as the war was coming to a close, Wallenberg remained 
    vigilant and attentive to the people under his care. Adolf 
    Eichmann, the SS colonel charged with the extermination of Jews in 
    Eastern Europe, was determined to exterminate the 70,000 Jews kept 
    as prisoners in a guarded ghetto in Budapest. As soon as Wallenberg 
    heard of the plot, he sent Pal Szalay, an Arrow-Crossman senior 
    official, who defected and turned to Wallenberg. Szalay was sent to 
    speak to General Schmidthuber, who was ordered to spearhead the 
    ghetto extermination in Budapest. Szalay informed Schmidthuber 
    that, seeing as the war was coming to an end, if the planned 
    massacre took place, Wallenberg would see to it personally that 
    Schmidthuber would be prosecuted as a war criminal and hanged. The 
    plans were ultimately abandoned and considered Wallenberg's last 
    big victory.
        (15) Of the 120,000 Hungarian Jews that survived, Raoul 
    Wallenberg, acting under the War Refugee Board, is credited with 
    saving an estimated 100,000 of them in a six-month period.
        (16) Raoul Wallenberg's fate remains a mystery. In January 13, 
    1945, he contacted the Russians in an effort to secure food for the 
    Jews under his protection--as he was still working hard to protect 
    them.
        (17) In 1981, President Ronald Reagan made Raoul Wallenberg an 
    honorary citizen of the United States, an honor only previously 
    extended to Winston Churchill.
        (18) These findings show that Raoul Wallenberg showed 
    exceptional heroism and bravery with his actions during the 
    holocaust. Working with the War Refugee Board, a United State's 
    agency, he was able to save about 100,000 Hungarian Jews, many of 
    which were later able to immigrate to the United States.
        (19) Indeed, hundreds of thousands of American Jews can 
    directly or indirectly attribute their own lives to Raoul 
    Wallenberg's actions during World War II. Many of the people 
    Wallenberg saved have been influential citizens contributing to 
    American institutions and culture, including Congressman Tom Lantos 
    (February 1, 1928-February 11, 2008), Annette Lantos, and the Liska 
    Rebbe, Rabbi Yoizef (Joseph) Friedlander, who carried forth the 
    Liska Hassidic dynasty from Hungary to the United States after 
    being saved by Raoul Wallenberg.
        (20) His actions and character make him an excellent contender 
    for a Congressional Gold Medal in time for the centennial of his 
    birth, to celebrate his achievements and humanitarian 
    accomplishments.
SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.
    (a) Presentation Authorized.--The Speaker of the House of 
Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate shall make 
appropriate arrangements for the presentation, on behalf of the 
Congress, of a gold medal of appropriate design to the next of kin or 
personal representative of Raoul Wallenberg, in recognition of his 
achievements and heroic actions during the Holocaust.
    (b) Design and Striking.--For the purpose of the presentation 
referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury shall 
strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, devices, and inscriptions to 
be determined by the Secretary.
SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS.
    Under such regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury may 
prescribe, the Secretary may strike duplicate medals in bronze of the 
gold medal struck pursuant to section 3 and sell such duplicate medals 
at a price sufficient to cover the costs of the duplicate medals 
(including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, overhead expenses) 
and the cost of the gold medal.
SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS.
    (a) National Medals.--The medals struck pursuant to this Act are 
national medals for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States 
Code.
    (b) Numismatic Items.--For purposes of section 5134 of title 31, 
United States Code, all medals struck under this Act shall be 
considered to be numismatic items.
SEC. 6. AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS; PROCEEDS OF SALE.
    (a) Authorization of Charges.--There is authorized to be charged 
against the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund, such amounts as 
may be necessary to pay for the costs of the medals struck pursuant to 
this Act.
    (b) Proceeds of Sale.--Amounts received from the sale of duplicate 
bronze medals under section 4 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.