[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3642 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        H.R.3642

                    One Hundred Seventeenth Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America


                          AT THE FIRST SESSION

           Begun and held at the City of Washington on Sunday,
          the third day of January, two thousand and twenty-one


                                 An Act


 
  To award a Congressional gold medal to the 369th Infantry Regiment, 
 commonly known as the ``Harlem Hellfighters'', in recognition of their 
           bravery and outstanding service during World War I.

    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 ``Harlem Hellfighters Congressional 
Gold Medal Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
    Congress finds the following:
        (1) When the United States officially entered World War I in 
    April 1917, the Armed Forces were still segregated, even though 
    African-American soldiers had served and distinguished themselves 
    in every war since the Revolutionary War, and even the Colonial 
    Wars preceding the American Revolution.
        (2) After several years of advocacy and debate, in 1916 the 
    State of New York authorized the recruitment of the 15th New York 
    National Guard Regiment, which was called to Federal service on 
    July 25, 1917, soon after arriving for training at Camp Whitman, 
    New York.
        (3) The 15th completed its basic military practice training at 
    Camp Whitman, New York.
        (4) To receive combat training, the 15th reported, on October 
    8, 1917, to Camp Wadsworth, in Spartanburg, South Carolina, where 
    it experienced many incidents of racial discrimination.
        (5) Consequently, the government agreed to remove the 15th from 
    Camp Wadsworth, but, instead of receiving further training, the 
    regiment began preparing for deployment to France in November.
        (6) The 15th arrived in Saint Nazaire, France, on January 1, 
    1918, where it was redesignated the 369th Infantry Regiment.
        (7) Partly because many White soldiers within the American 
    Expeditionary Forces (hereinafter, the ``AEF'') refused to perform 
    combat duty with Black soldiers, members of the 369th were 
    initially assigned manual labor tasks, such as loading and 
    unloading supplies, and constructing roads and railroads.
        (8) After receiving pressure from the 369th regimental 
    commander about not having a combat mission, the AEF attached the 
    369th to the French Fourth Army.
        (9) By mid-March of 1918, the 369th went to the Argonne Forest 
    with the French 16th Division for training and soon entered the 
    trenches.
        (10) The 369th encountered its first German soldiers in combat 
    in April, 1918.
        (11) In May of 1918, Private Henry Johnson of the 369th 
    received the French Croix de Guerre, with Palm, for extraordinary 
    valor, becoming one of the first American soldiers to be awarded 
    this honor.
        (12) Johnson also belatedly received a Purple Heart, was 
    awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, and in, 2015, was awarded 
    the Medal of Honor.
        (13) Throughout the remainder of the spring and into the summer 
    the 369th served at Minacourt, in the Champagne-Marne Defensive, 
    and during the Aisne-Marne Offensive in support of the French 161st 
    Infantry Division.
        (14) As summer turned to autumn, the 369th went on to 
    participate in the Meuse-Argonne offensive, where it captured the 
    important village of Sechault despite sustaining severe losses.
        (15) On October 14, 1918, the 369th advanced to Alsace.
        (16) On November 20, 1918, the 369th reached the banks of the 
    Rhine River as part of the French Army of Occupation, the first 
    Allied unit to do so.
        (17) The 369th was relieved of its assignment with the French 
    161st Division in December, 1918, and elements of the regiment 
    sailed for New York in late January and early February, 1919.
        (18) The 369th Infantry Regiment received a parade up 5th 
    Avenue in New York City on February 17, 1919, receiving applause 
    and cheers from hundreds of thousands of onlookers.
        (19) The 369th was demobilized on February 28, 1919.
        (20) Over 170 individual members of the 369th received the 
    Croix de Guerre, many were awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, 
    and the 369th was awarded a unit citation.
        (21) It is generally believed that the 369th was dubbed the 
    ``Harlem Hellfighters'' by German soldiers, who found the men to be 
    incredibly determined and courageous in battle.
        (22) The 369th was the first regiment of African Americans to 
    deploy overseas during World War I and spent 191 days on the front 
    line in World War I, more than any other American regimental sized 
    unit.
        (23) The 369th never lost a foot of ground nor had a man taken 
    prisoner, despite suffering a high number of casualties.
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 the Congress, of a gold medal 
of appropriate design to the 369th Infantry Regiment, commonly known as 
the ``Harlem Hellfighters'', in recognition of their bravery and 
outstanding service during World War I.
    (b) Design and Striking.--For the purposes of the award referred to 
in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury 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 in honor 
    of the 369th Infantry Regiment, the ``Harlem Hellfighters'', 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 awarded pursuant 
    to this Act available for display elsewhere, particularly at other 
    locations associated with the Harlem Hellfighters.
SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS.
    (a) In General.--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 bronze medals, including labor, materials, 
dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses.
    (b) Proceeds of Sales.--The amounts received from the sale of 
duplicate medals under subsection (a) shall be deposited in the United 
States Mint Public Enterprise Fund.
    (c) Authority to Use Fund Amounts.--There is authorized to be 
charged against the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund such 
amounts as may be necessary to pay for the costs of the medals struck 
under this Act.
SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS.
    The gold medal struck pursuant to this Act is a national medal for 
purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States Code.
SEC. 6. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS.
     The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of complying 
with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, shall be determined by 
reference to the latest statement titled ``Budgetary Effects of PAYGO 
Legislation'' for this Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional 
Record by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, provided that 
such statement has been submitted prior to the vote on passage.

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

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