[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1688 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1688

 To award the Congressional Gold Medal to the members of the Office of 
    Strategic Services (OSS), collectively, in recognition of their 
     superior service and major contributions during World War II.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           November 13, 2013

  Mr. Kirk (for himself and Mr. Rockefeller) introduced the following 
 bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, 
                       Housing, and Urban Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To award the Congressional Gold Medal to the members of the Office of 
    Strategic Services (OSS), collectively, in recognition of their 
     superior service and major contributions during World War II.

    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 ``Office of Strategic Services 
Congressional Gold Medal Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was the first 
        effort by the United States to implement a system of strategic 
        intelligence during World War II and provided the basis for the 
        modern-day intelligence and special operations communities of 
        the United States.
            (2) OSS founder General William J. Donovan is the only 
        person in the history of the United States to receive the 4 
        highest military decorations of the United States, including 
        the Medal of Honor. Upon learning of his death in 1959, 
        President Eisenhower called General Donovan the ``last hero''. 
        In addition to founding and leading the OSS, General Donovan 
        was also selected by President Roosevelt, who called General 
        Donovan his ``secret legs'', as an emissary to Great Britain 
        and continental Europe before the United States entered World 
        War II.
            (3) During World War II, each branch of the Armed Forces of 
        the United States contributed personnel to the OSS. United 
        States Coast Guard personnel were recruited for the Maritime 
        Unit and the Operational Swimmer Group.
            (4) The present-day United States special operations forces 
        trace their lineage to the OSS. The Maritime Unit of the OSS 
        was a precursor to the Navy SEALs. The OSS Operational Groups 
        and Jedburghs were forerunners of the United States Army 
        Special Forces. The 801st/492nd Bombardment Group 
        (``Carpetbaggers'') were progenitors of the United States Air 
        Force Special Operations Command. The Marines who served in the 
        OSS, including the actor Sterling Hayden and Colonel William 
        Eddy, whom General Donovan described as the ``American Lawrence 
        of Arabia'', were predecessors of the United States Marine 
        Corps Forces Special Operations Command.
            (5) The OSS organized, trained, supplied, and fought with 
        resistance organizations throughout Europe and Asia that played 
        an important role in the victory of the United States during 
        World War II. President Eisenhower credited the work of the OSS 
        with the French Resistance during the liberation of France as 
        the equivalent of the French Resistance having an extra 
        division.
            (6) Four future Directors of Central Intelligence served as 
        OSS officers: William Casey, William Colby, Allen Dulles, and 
        Richard Helms.
            (7) Women comprised more than \1/3\ of OSS personnel and 
        played a critical role in the organization. These women 
        included Virginia Hall, the only civilian female to receive a 
        Distinguished Service Cross in World War II, and Julia Child.
            (8) The OSS recruited Fritz Kolbe, a German diplomat who 
        became the most important spy of the United States against the 
        Nazis in World War II.
            (9) Leading scientists and scholars in the United States 
        served in the OSS Research and Analysis Branch, including Ralph 
        Bunche, the first African-American to receive the Nobel Peace 
        Prize, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Arthur Schlesinger, 
        Jr., Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg, Sherman Kent, John 
        King Fairbank, and Walt Rostow. Its ranks also included 7 
        future presidents of the American Historical Association, 5 of 
        the American Economic Association, and 2 Nobel laureates. The 
        Bureau of Intelligence and Research of the United States 
        Department of State traces its creation to the OSS Research and 
        Analysis Branch.
            (10) The OSS invented and employed new technology through 
        its Research and Development Branch, including new weapons and 
        revolutionary communications equipment. Dr. Christian 
        Lambertsen invented the first underwater breathing apparatus 
        that was first utilized by the OSS and is known today as 
        ``SCUBA''.
            (11) OSS Detachment 101 operated in Burma and pioneered the 
        art of unconventional warfare. It was the first unit of the 
        United States to deploy a large guerrilla army deep in enemy 
        territory. OSS Detachment 101 has been credited with the 
        highest kill/loss ratio for any infantry-type unit in the 
        military history of the United States and was awarded a 
        Presidential Unit Citation.
            (12) The X-2 branch of the OSS pioneered 
        counterintelligence with the British and established the modern 
        counterintelligence community. The network of contacts built by 
        the OSS with foreign intelligence services led to enduring Cold 
        War alliances.
            (13) Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of French North 
        Africa in November 1942, was aided by the networks established 
        and information acquired by the OSS to guide the landings of 
        the Allies.
            (14) OSS Operation Halyard resulted in the rescue of more 
        than 500 downed airmen trapped behind enemy lines in 
        Yugoslavia, one of the most daring and successful rescue 
        operations of World War II.
            (15) OSS ``Mercy Missions'' at the end of World War II 
        saved the lives of thousands of Allied prisoners of war whom it 
        was feared would be murdered by the Japanese.
            (16) The handful of surviving men and women of the OSS, 
        whom General Donovan called his ``glorious amateurs'', are 
        among the greatest generation. They have never been 
        collectively recognized for their heroic and pioneering service 
        in World War II.

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 Congress, 
of a gold medal of appropriate design in commemoration to the members 
of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), in recognition of their 
superior service and major contributions during World War II.
    (b) Design and Striking.--For purposes of the presentation referred 
to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury (referred to in 
this Act as the ``Secretary'') shall strike a 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 
        commemoration of the members of the Office of Strategic 
        Services 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 
        Office of Strategic Services.

SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS.

    The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the gold 
medal struck pursuant to section 3 under such regulations as the 
Secretary may prescribe, at a price sufficient to cover the cost 
thereof, including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and 
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.
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