[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 890 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 890

To grant the Congressional Gold Medal to the troops who defended Bataan 
                          during World War II.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 7, 2017

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To grant the Congressional Gold Medal to the troops who defended Bataan 
                          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. 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 December 8, 1941, the 200th Coast Artillery 
        Regiment, successors to the New Mexico National Guardsmen who 
        made up part of the famed ``Rough Riders'' of the Spanish-
        American War, were the ``first to fire''.
            (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 prisoners who remained in the camps suffered from 
        continued mistreatment, malnutrition, lack of medical care, and 
        horrific conditions until they were liberated in 1945.
            (15) 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.
            (16) 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.
            (17) 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.
            (18) Many of the survivors of Bataan have died and those 
        who remain continue to tell their stories.
            (19) 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 gold 
medal of appropriate design to the troops from the United States and 
the Philippines who defended Bataan and were subsequently prisoners of 
war, in recognition of their personal sacrifice and service during 
World War II.
    (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) in honor of the prisoners of war at Bataan 
        and the troops from the United States and the Philippines who 
        defended Bataan, 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 
        prisoners of war at Bataan and the troops from the United 
        States and the Philippines who defended Bataan.

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.
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