[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3085 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
115th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3085
To award a Congressional Gold Medal, collectively, to American military
personnel who fought in defense of Bataan, Corregidor, Guam, Wake
Island, and the Philippine Archipelago between December 7, 1941, and
May 10, 1942, and who died or were imprisoned by the Japanese military
in the Philippines, Japan, Korea, Manchuria, Wake Island, and Guam from
April 9, 1942, until September 2, 1945, in recognition of their
personal sacrifice and service to their country.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 27, 2017
Mr. Pearce (for himself, Mr. McKinley, Ms. Michelle Lujan Grisham of
New Mexico, and Mr. Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico) introduced the
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial
Services, and in addition to the Committee on House Administration, for
a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the
committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To award a Congressional Gold Medal, collectively, to American military
personnel who fought in defense of Bataan, Corregidor, Guam, Wake
Island, and the Philippine Archipelago between December 7, 1941, and
May 10, 1942, and who died or were imprisoned by the Japanese military
in the Philippines, Japan, Korea, Manchuria, Wake Island, and Guam from
April 9, 1942, until September 2, 1945, in recognition of their
personal sacrifice and service to their country.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Hours after the attacks on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii,
Imperial Japanese forces launched an attack on the Philippines,
cutting off vital lines of communication to members of the
Armed Forces of the United States (referred to in this Act as
the ``Armed Forces'') and Filipino troops in the Far East under
the command of General Douglas MacArthur.
(2) On May 6, 1942, Corregidor fell after a weeklong siege
and its defenders were surrendered. On May 10, 1942, American
forces under the command of Major General William F. Sharp
surrendered after fighting the Japanese from April 29, 1942, to
May 9, 1942, on the island of Mindanao in the southernmost
portion of the Philippine Archipelago. It was on this date, May
10, 1942, that General Wainwright, as Supreme Allied Commander,
surrendered all Allied Forces in the Philippine Archipelago.
(3) Despite being cut off from supply lines and
reinforcements, members of the Armed Forces and Philippine
troops quickly executed a plan to delay the Japanese invasion
and defend the Philippines against that invasion.
(4) By April 1942, troops from the United States and the
Philippines had bravely and staunchly fought off enemy attacks
in Bataan for more than 4 months under strenuous conditions
that resulted in widespread starvation and disease.
(5) By maintaining their position and engaging the enemy
for as long as they did, the troops at Bataan were able to
change the momentum of the war, delaying the Japanese timetable
to take control of the Southeast Pacific for needed war
materials. Because of the heroic actions of the defenders of
Bataan, members of the Armed Forces and other Allied forces
throughout the Pacific had time to regroup and prepare for the
successful liberation of the Pacific and the Philippines.
(6) On April 9, 1942, Major General Edward King, whose
troops suffered from starvation and a lack of supplies,
surrendered the soldiers from the United States and the
Philippines into enemy hands.
(7) Over the next week, troops from the Armed Forces and
the Philippines were taken prisoner and forced to march 65
miles without any food, water, or medical care in what came to
be known as the ``Bataan Death March''.
(8) During this forced march, thousands of soldiers died,
either from starvation, lack of medical care, sheer exhaustion,
or abuse by their captors.
(9) Conditions at the prisoner of war camps were appalling,
leading to increased disease and malnutrition among the
prisoners.
(10) The prisoners at Camp O'Donnell died at a rate of
nearly 400 per day because of the poor conditions of the camp.
(11) On June 6, 1942, the prisoners at Camp O'Donnell were
transferred to Camp Cabanatuan, north of Camp O'Donnell.
(12) Nearly 26,000 of the 50,000 Filipino prisoners of war
died at Camp O'Donnell and survivors were gradually paroled
from September through December 1942.
(13) Between September of 1942 and December of 1944,
prisoners of war from the Armed Forces who had survived the
horrific death march were shipped north for forced labor aboard
``hell ships'' and succumbed in great numbers because of the
abysmal conditions. Many of those ships were mistakenly
targeted by Allied naval forces because the Japanese military
convoys were not properly labeled as carrying prisoners of war.
The sinking of the Arisan Maru alone claimed nearly 1,800 lives
of members of the Armed Forces.
(14) The campus of the University of Santo Tomas was
converted to the Santo Tomas Internment Camp by the Japanese
during their occupation of the Philippines. Santo Tomas became
the initial internment camp for both the army and navy nurses,
with the army and navy nurses remaining there until their
liberation.
(15) The prisoners who remained in the camps suffered from
continued mistreatment, malnutrition, lack of medical care, and
horrific conditions until they were liberated in 1945.
(16) The veterans of Bataan represented the best of the
United States and the Philippines, hailed from various locales
across both countries, and represented true diversity.
(17) Over the subsequent decades, the veterans of Bataan
formed support groups, were honored in local and State
memorials, and told their stories to all people of the United
States.
(18) The United States Navy has continued to honor the
history and stories of the veterans of Bataan by naming 2 ships
after the battle, including 1 ship that is still in service,
the USS Bataan (LHD-5), in memory of their valor and honorable
resistance against Imperial Japanese forces.
(19) Many of the survivors of Bataan have died and those
who remain continue to tell their stories.
(20) The people of the United States and the Philippines
are forever indebted to these men for--
(A) the courage and tenacity they demonstrated
during the first 4 months of World War II fighting
against enemy soldiers; and
(B) the perseverance they demonstrated during 3
years of capture, imprisonment, and atrocious
conditions, while maintaining dignity, honor,
patriotism, and loyalty.
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 collective award, on behalf of Congress, of a
single gold medal of appropriate design to American military personnel
who fought in defense of Bataan, Corregidor, Guam, Wake Island, and the
Philippine Archipelago between December 7, 1941, and May 10, 1942, and
who died or were imprisoned by the Japanese military in the
Philippines, Japan, Korea, Manchuria, Wake Island, and Guam from April
9, 1942, until September 2, 1945, in recognition of their personal
sacrifice and service to their country.
(b) Design and Striking.--For purposes of the award under
subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury (referred to in this Act
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
under subsection (a), the gold medal shall be given to the
Smithsonian Institution, where it shall 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 at other locations,
particularly at locations that are associated with the American
military personnel described under subsection (a).
SEC. 3. DUPLICATE MEDALS.
(a) Striking of Duplicates.--Under such regulations as the
Secretary may prescribe, the Secretary may strike duplicates in bronze
of the gold medal struck under section 2.
(b) Selling of Duplicates.--The Secretary may sell such duplicates
under subsection (a) at a price sufficient to cover the costs of such
duplicates, including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and
overhead expenses.
(c) Proceeds of Sale.--Amounts received from the sale of duplicate
bronze medals under subsection (b) shall be deposited in the United
States Mint Public Enterprise Fund.
SEC. 4. STATUS OF MEDALS.
(a) National Medals.--Medals struck under 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. 5. 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.
<all>