[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2234 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        S.2234

                     One Hundred Fourteenth Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America


                          AT THE SECOND SESSION

           Begun and held at the City of Washington on Monday,
           the fourth day of January, two thousand and sixteen


                                 An Act


 
 To award the Congressional Gold Medal, collectively, to the members of 
the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) 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.
    The Congress finds the following:
        (1) The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was America's first 
    effort to implement a system of strategic intelligence during World 
    War II and provided the basis for the modern-day American 
    intelligence and special operations communities. The U.S. Special 
    Operations Command and the National Clandestine Service chose the 
    OSS spearhead as their insignias.
        (2) OSS founder General William J. Donovan is the only person 
    in American history to receive our Nation's four highest 
    decorations, 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 him 
    his ``secret legs'', as an emissary to Great Britain and 
    continental Europe before the United States entered World War II.
        (3) All the military branches during World War II contributed 
    personnel to the OSS. The present-day Special Operations Forces 
    trace their lineage to the OSS. Its Maritime Unit was a precursor 
    to the U.S. Navy SEALs. The OSS Operational Groups and Jedburghs 
    were forerunners to U.S. Army Special Forces. The 801st/492nd 
    Bombardment Group (``Carpetbaggers'') were progenitors to the Air 
    Force Special Operations Command. The Marines who served in the 
    OSS, including the actor Sterling Hayden (a Silver Star recipient), 
    Col. William Eddy (a Distinguished Service Cross recipient who was 
    described as the ``nearest thing the United States has had to a 
    Lawrence of Arabia''), and Col. Peter Ortiz (a two-time Navy Cross 
    recipient), were predecessors to the Marine Special Operations 
    Command. U.S. Coast Guard personnel were recruited for the Maritime 
    Unit and its Operational Swimmer Group.
        (4) The OSS organized, trained, supplied, and fought with 
    resistance organizations throughout Europe and Asia that played an 
    important role in America's victory during World War II. General 
    Eisenhower credited the OSS's covert contribution in France to the 
    equivalent to having an extra military division. General Eisenhower 
    told General Donovan that if it did nothing else, the photographic 
    reconnaissance conducted by the OSS prior to the D-Day Invasion 
    justified its creation.
        (5) Four future directors of central intelligence served as OSS 
    officers: William Casey, William Colby, Allen Dulles, and Richard 
    Helms.
        (6) Women comprised more than one-third of OSS personnel and 
    played a critical role in the organization. They included Virginia 
    Hall, the only civilian female to receive a Distinguished Service 
    Cross in World War II, and Julia Child.
        (7) OSS recruited Fritz Kolbe, a German diplomat who became 
    America's most important spy against the Nazis in World War II.
        (8) America's leading scientists and scholars 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 included seven future presidents of the American 
    Historical Association, five of the American Economic Association, 
    and two Nobel laureates.
        (9) The U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Intelligence and 
    Research traces its creation to the OSS Research and Analysis 
    Branch.
        (10) James Donovan, who was portrayed by Tom Hanks in the 
    Steven Spielberg movie ``Bridge of Spies'' and negotiated the 
    release of U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers, served as General Counsel 
    of the OSS.
        (11) The OSS invented and employed new technology through its 
    Research and Development Branch, inventing new weapons and 
    revolutionary communications equipment. Dr. Christian Lambertsen 
    invented the first underwater rebreathing apparatus that was first 
    utilized by the OSS and is known today as SCUBA.
        (12) OSS Detachment 101 operated in Burma and pioneered the art 
    of unconventional warfare. It was the first United States unit to 
    deploy a large guerrilla army deep in enemy territory. It has been 
    credited with the highest kill/loss ratio for any infantry-type 
    unit in American military history and was awarded a Presidential 
    Unit Citation.
        (13) Its X-2 branch 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.
        (14) 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 Allied landings.
        (15) OSS Operation Halyard rescued more than 500 downed airmen 
    trapped behind enemy lines in Yugoslavia, one of the most daring 
    and successful rescue operations of World War II.
        (16) 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.
        (17) The handful of surviving men and women of the OSS whom 
    General Donovan said performed ``some of the bravest acts of the 
    war'' are members of 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 the 
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 to 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.

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

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