[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3642 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3642
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.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 28, 2021
Mr. Suozzi (for himself, Mrs. Beatty, Mr. Espaillat, Ms. Adams, Mr.
Aderholt, Mr. Aguilar, Mr. Allred, Mr. Amodei, Mr. Arrington, Mr.
Auchincloss, Mrs. Axne, Mr. Babin, Mr. Baird, Mr. Balderson, Mr. Barr,
Ms. Barragan, Ms. Bass, Mr. Bera, Mr. Bergman, Ms. Herrera Beutler, Mr.
Beyer, Mr. Bishop of Georgia, Mr. Blumenauer, Ms. Bonamici, Mr. Bost,
Ms. Bourdeaux, Mr. Bowman, Mr. Brendan F. Boyle of Pennsylvania, Mr.
Brady, Mr. Brown, Ms. Brownley, Mr. Buck, Mr. Burchett, Ms. Bush, Mrs.
Bustos, Mr. Butterfield, Mr. Carbajal, Mr. Cardenas, Mr. Carson, Mr.
Carter of Louisiana, Mr. Cartwright, Mr. Case, Ms. Castor of Florida,
Mr. Castro of Texas, Mr. Cawthorn, Ms. Cheney, Ms. Chu, Mr. Cicilline,
Ms. Clark of Massachusetts, Ms. Clarke of New York, Mr. Cleaver, Mr.
Cline, Mr. Clyburn, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Cole, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Mr.
Connolly, Mr. Cooper, Mr. Correa, Mr. Costa, Mr. Courtney, Ms. Craig,
Mr. Crist, Mr. Crow, Mr. Cuellar, Ms. Davids of Kansas, Mr. Danny K.
Davis of Illinois, Mr. Rodney Davis of Illinois, Ms. Dean, Mr. DeFazio,
Ms. DeGette, Ms. DeLauro, Ms. DelBene, Mr. Delgado, Mrs. Demings, Mr.
DeSaulnier, Mr. Deutch, Mrs. Dingell, Mr. Doggett, Mr. Michael F. Doyle
of Pennsylvania, Mr. Duncan, Mr. Dunn, Ms. Escobar, Ms. Eshoo, Mr.
Estes, Mr. Evans, Mr. Feenstra, Mr. Ferguson, Mr. Fitzpatrick, Mr.
Fleischmann, Mrs. Fletcher, Mr. Foster, Mr. Fortenberry, Ms. Lois
Frankel of Florida, Mr. Gallego, Mr. Gallagher, Mr. Garamendi, Mr.
Garbarino, Mr. Garcia of Illinois, Ms. Garcia of Texas, Mr. Golden, Mr.
Gimenez, Mr. Gohmert, Mr. Gomez, Mr. Gonzalez of Ohio, Mr. Vicente
Gonzalez of Texas, Miss Gonzalez-Colon, Mr. Gosar, Mr. Gottheimer, Ms.
Granger, Mr. Green of Texas, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Grothman, Mr. Guest, Mr.
Hagedorn, Mr. Harder of California, Mrs. Hartzler, Mrs. Hayes, Ms.
Herrell, Mr. Higgins of New York, Mr. Himes, Mr. Hill, Mrs. Hinson, Mr.
Horsford, Mr. Hudson, Mr. Huffman, Mr. Huizenga, Mr. Issa, Ms. Jackson
Lee, Mr. Jacobs of New York, Ms. Jacobs of California, Ms. Jayapal, Mr.
Jeffries, Mr. Johnson of Ohio, Mr. Johnson of South Dakota, Mr. Johnson
of Georgia, Mr. Jones, Mr. Jordan, Mr. Joyce of Ohio, Mr. Kahele, Ms.
Kaptur, Mr. Katko, Mr. Keating, Mr. Keller, Mr. Kelly of Pennsylvania,
Ms. Kelly of Illinois, Mr. Kelly of Mississippi, Mr. Khanna, Mr.
Kildee, Mr. Kilmer, Mr. Kim of New Jersey, Mrs. Kim of California, Mr.
Kind, Mr. Krishnamoorthi, Ms. Kuster, Mr. LaHood, Mr. Lamb, Mr.
LaMalfa, Mr. Lamborn, Mr. Langevin, Mr. Larsen of Washington, Mr.
Larson of Connecticut, Mr. Latta, Mrs. Lawrence, Mr. Lawson of Florida,
Ms. Lee of California, Mrs. Lee of Nevada, Mrs. Lesko, Mr. Levin of
Michigan, Mr. Levin of California, Mr. Lieu, Ms. Lofgren, Mr.
Lowenthal, Mr. Lucas, Mrs. Luria, Mr. Lynch, Mr. Malinowski, Ms.
Malliotakis, Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney of New York, Mr. Sean Patrick
Maloney of New York, Mr. Mann, Ms. Manning, Mr. Mast, Ms. Matsui, Mrs.
McBath, Mr. McCaul, Ms. McCollum, Mr. McEachin, Mr. McGovern, Mr.
McKinley, Mrs. Rodgers of Washington, Mr. McNerney, Mr. Meeks, Ms.
Meng, Mr. Meuser, Mrs. Miller of Illinois, Mrs. Miller-Meeks, Mr.
Moolenaar, Ms. Moore of Wisconsin, Mr. Moore of Alabama, Mr. Morelle,
Mr. Moulton, Mr. Mrvan, Mr. Mullin, Mr. Murphy of North Carolina, Mr.
Nadler, Mr. Neal, Mr. Neguse, Mr. Nehls, Mr. Newhouse, Ms. Newman, Mr.
Norcross, Ms. Norton, Mr. Norman, Mr. O'Halleran, Mr. Pallone, Mr.
Palazzo, Mr. Palmer, Mr. Panetta, Mr. Pascrell, Mr. Payne, Mr.
Perlmutter, Mr. Peters, Mr. Pfluger, Mr. Phillips, Ms. Pingree, Ms.
Plaskett, Mr. Pocan, Ms. Porter, Mr. Posey, Ms. Pressley, Mr. Price of
North Carolina, Mr. Quigley, Mr. Raskin, Mr. Reed, Miss Rice of New
York, Mr. Rice of South Carolina, Ms. Blunt Rochester, Mr. Rogers of
Kentucky, Ms. Ross, Ms. Roybal-Allard, Mr. Ruiz, Mr. Ryan, Ms. Sanchez,
Mr. Sarbanes, Ms. Scanlon, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Schiff, Mr. Schneider,
Mr. Schrader, Ms. Schrier, Mr. Scott of Virginia, Mr. David Scott of
Georgia, Ms. Sewell, Mr. Sherman, Ms. Sherrill, Mr. Sires, Ms. Slotkin,
Mr. Smith of Washington, Mr. Smith of Missouri, Mr. Smucker, Mr. Soto,
Ms. Spanberger, Mrs. Spartz, Ms. Speier, Mr. Stanton, Ms. Stefanik, Ms.
Stevens, Ms. Strickland, Mr. Swalwell, Mr. Takano, Ms. Tenney, Mr.
Thompson of Mississippi, Mr. Thompson of Pennsylvania, Mr. Thompson of
California, Ms. Titus, Mr. Tonko, Mr. Torres of New York, Mrs. Trahan,
Mr. Trone, Mr. Turner, Mr. Upton, Mr. Van Drew, Mr. Vargas, Mr. Veasey,
Mr. Vela, Ms. Velazquez, Mr. Walberg, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, Ms.
Waters, Mr. Welch, Mr. Weber of Texas, Mr. Wenstrup, Mr. Westerman, Ms.
Wild, Ms. Williams of Georgia, Mr. Yarmuth, Mr. Young, and Mr. Zeldin)
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
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A BILL
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 single 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
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 this Act available for display elsewhere, particularly at
other locations and events associated with the Harlem
Hellfighters.
SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS.
Under such regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury may
prescribe, the Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of
the gold medal struck under section 3(b), 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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