[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1527 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1527

 To authorize the award of a Congressional gold medal to the Montford 
                     Point Marines of World War II.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 8, 2011

  Mrs. Hagan (for herself, Mr. Burr, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Roberts, Mr. 
 Schumer, Mr. Lieberman, Mrs. Feinstein, Mrs. McCaskill, Mr. Udall of 
Colorado, Ms. Landrieu, Mr. Brown of Ohio, Mr. Nelson of Florida, Mrs. 
 Boxer, and Mr. Graham) introduced the following bill; which was read 
  twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban 
                                Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To authorize the award of a Congressional gold medal to the Montford 
                     Point Marines of World War II.

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

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (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 
        African-American individuals to enlist in the United States 
        Marine Corps for the first time;
            (2) the first African-American 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 African-American 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 8 platoons then in training, including--
                    (A) Edgar R. Huff, 16th Platoon;
                    (B) Thomas Brokaw, 17th Platoon;
                    (C) Charles E. Allen, 18th Platoon;
                    (D) Gilbert H. Johnson, 19th Platoon;
                    (E) Arnold R. Bostic, 20th Platoon;
                    (F) Mortimer A. Cox, 21st Platoon;
                    (G) Edgar R. Davis, Jr., 22nd Platoon; and
                    (H) George A. Jackson, 23rd Platoon;
            (5) African-American 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 African-American Marines to serve 
        in combat during World War II took part in the seizure of 
        Okinawa in the Ryuku Islands, with some 2,000 African-American 
        Marines seeing action during the campaign;
            (7) on November 10, 1945, Frederick C. Branch was the first 
        African-American Marine to be commissioned as a Second 
        Lieutenant, at the Marine Base in Quantico, Virginia;
            (8) overall, 19,168 African-Americans served in the Marine 
        Corps in World War II;
            (9) 16 years after the closure of Montford Point as a 
        training facility for African-American recruits, an 
        enterprising group of men, including original Montford Point 
        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, and laid the foundation for the 
        Montford Point Marine Association Inc.;
            (10) organized as a nonmilitary, nonprofit entity, the 
        Montford Point Marine Association has as its main mission to 
        preserve the legacy of the first African-American Marines, and 
        today the Association has 36 chapters throughout the United 
        States;
            (11) many of the first African-American Marines stayed in 
        the Marine Corps for a career, including Sergeant Major Edgar 
        R. Huff, 1 of the very first recruits at Montford Point;
            (12) Sergeant Major Huff was the first African-American 
        Sergeant Major and the first African-American Marine to retire 
        with 30 years of service, which included combat in 3 major 
        conflicts, World War II, the Korean Conflict, and the Vietnam 
        War;
            (13) Sergeant Major Huff was awarded the Bronze Star medal 
        with a combat ``V'' for valor for saving the life of his radio 
        operator during the Tet Offensive in Vietnam;
            (14) another original Montford Point Marine who saw 
        extensive combat action in both the Korean Conflict and the 
        Vietnam War was Sergeant Major Louis Roundtree, who was awarded 
        the Silver Star, 4 Bronze Stars, 3 Purple Hearts, and numerous 
        other personal and unit awards for his service during those 
        conflicts;
            (15) on April 19, 1974, Montford Point was renamed ``Camp 
        Johnson'', after legendary Montford Point Marine Sergeant Major 
        Gilbert ``Hashmark'' Johnson; and
            (16) the Montford Point Marine Association has several 
        memorials in place to perpetuate the memory of who they were 
        and what they accomplished, 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 at Camp 
                Johnson in Jacksonville, North Carolina;
                    (C) the Brooks Elbert Gray, Jr. Consolidated 
                Academic Instruction Facility, named in honor of 
                original Montford Point Marine and Montford Point 
                Marine Corps Association founder Master Gunnery 
                Sergeant Gray (dedicated on April 15, 2005, at Camp 
                Johnson, North Carolina); and
                    (D) Branch Hall, a building within the Officers 
                Candidate School in Quantico, Virginia, which was named 
                in honor of Captain Frederick Branch during July of 
                1997.

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 to the Montford Point Marines, United 
States Marine Corps, collectively, in recognition of their dedicated 
service during World War II.
    (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, United States Marine 
        Corps, 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 of congress.--It is the sense of 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, United States Marine Corps.

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 medal 
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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