[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 743 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 743

   To award a Congressional Gold Medal to the soldiers of the 5307th 
      Composite Unit (Provisional), commonly known as ``Merrill's 
Marauders'', in recognition of their bravery and outstanding service in 
               the jungles of Burma during World War II.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 12, 2019

Mr. Isakson (for himself, Ms. Baldwin, Mrs. Blackburn, Mr. Boozman, Mr. 
 Coons, Mr. Cotton, Mr. Daines, Ms. Duckworth, Ms. Ernst, Ms. Hassan, 
    Mr. Inhofe, Mr. Jones, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Markey, Mr. Moran, Ms. 
  Murkowski, Mr. Perdue, Mr. Rounds, Mrs. Shaheen, Ms. Stabenow, Mr. 
 Tester, and Ms. Warren) 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 the soldiers of the 5307th 
      Composite Unit (Provisional), commonly known as ``Merrill's 
Marauders'', in recognition of their bravery and outstanding service in 
               the jungles of Burma 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 ``Merrill's Marauders Congressional 
Gold Medal Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) in August 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and 
        other Allied leaders proposed the creation of a ground unit of 
        the Armed Forces that would engage in a ``long-range 
        penetration mission'' in Japanese-occupied Burma to--
                    (A) cut off Japanese communications and supply 
                lines; and
                    (B) capture the town of Myitkyina and the Myitkyina 
                airstrip, both of which were held by the Japanese;
            (2) President Roosevelt issued a call for volunteers for 
        ``a dangerous and hazardous mission'' and the call was answered 
        by approximately 3,000 soldiers from the United States;
            (3) the Army unit composed of the soldiers described in 
        paragraph (2)--
                    (A) was officially designated as the ``5307th 
                Composite Unit (Provisional)'' with the code name 
                ``Galahad''; and
                    (B) later became known as ``Merrill's Marauders'' 
                (referred to in this section as the ``Marauders'') in 
                reference to its leader, Brigadier General Frank 
                Merrill;
            (4) in February 1944, the Marauders began their 
        approximately 1,000-mile trek through the dense Burmese jungle 
        with no artillery support, carrying their supplies on their 
        backs or the pack saddles of mules;
            (5) over the course of their 5-month trek to Myitkyina, the 
        Marauders fought victoriously against larger Japanese forces 
        through 5 major and 30 minor engagements;
            (6) during their march to Myitkyina, the Marauders faced 
        hunger and disease that were exacerbated by inadequate aerial 
        resupply drops;
            (7) malaria, typhus, and dysentery inflicted more 
        casualties on the Marauders than the Japanese;
            (8) by August 1944, the Marauders had accomplished their 
        mission, successfully disrupting Japanese supply and 
        communication lines and taking the town of Myitkyina and the 
        Myitkyina airstrip, the only all-weather airstrip in Northern 
        Burma;
            (9) after taking Myitkyina, only 130 Marauders out of the 
        original 2,750 were fit for duty and all remaining Marauders 
        still in action were evacuated to hospitals due to tropical 
        diseases, exhaustion, and malnutrition;
            (10) for their bravery and accomplishments, the Marauders 
        were awarded the ``Distinguished Unit Citation'', later 
        redesignated as the ``Presidential Unit Citation'', and a 
        Bronze Star; and
            (11) though the Marauders were operational for only a few 
        months, the legacy of their bravery is honored by the Army 
        through the modern day 75th Ranger Regiment, which traces its 
        lineage directly to the 5307th Composite Unit.

SEC. 3. 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 award, on behalf of Congress, of a single gold 
medal of appropriate design to the soldiers of the 5307th Composite 
Unit (Provisional) (referred to in this section as ``Merrill's 
Marauders''), in recognition of their bravery and outstanding service 
in the jungles of Burma during World War II.
    (b) Design and Striking.--For the purposes of the award 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 
        referred to in subsection (a) in honor of Merrill's Marauders, 
        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 elsewhere, 
        particularly at other locations and events associated with 
        Merrill's Marauders.

SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS.

    Under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, the 
Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the gold medal 
struck under section 3, at a price sufficient to cover the costs of the 
medals, including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and 
overhead expenses.

SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS.

    Medals struck pursuant to this Act are national medals for purposes 
of chapter 51 of title 31, United States Code.
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