[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1591 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1591

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


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 21, 2011

  Mrs. Gillibrand (for herself, Mr. Kirk, Mr. Levin, and Mr. Johanns) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
            Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
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.
            (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 who 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 remaining Jews in Hungary.
            (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 United States 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 placards of 
        it throughout Budapest to familiarize the Nazis 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 her colleagues spent the whole 
        night making approximately 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 deposited with the 
        War Refugee Board, Wallenberg was able to purchase 
        approximately 30 buildings, which he used as hospitals, 
        schools, soup kitchens, and safe houses for over 8,000 children 
        whose parents had 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 Jews in Hungary that survived, Raoul 
        Wallenberg, acting under the War Refugee Board, is credited 
        with saving an estimated 100,000 of them in a 6-month period.
            (16) 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 States 
        agency, he was able to save approximately 100,000 Jews in 
        Hungary, many of whom were later able to immigrate to the 
        United States.
            (17) Indeed, many 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) 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.
            (18) 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 (in this 
Act referred to as the ``Secretary'') 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 (in this Act referred to as 
the ``Secretary'') 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.
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