[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5142 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 5142
To award posthumously a Congressional Gold Medal, in commemoration to
the servicemembers who perished in Afghanistan on August 26, 2021,
during the evacuation of citizens of the United States and Afghan
allies at Hamid Karzai International Airport, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
August 31, 2021
Mrs. McClain (for herself, Mr. Bacon, Mr. Banks, Mrs. Bice of Oklahoma,
Mr. Biggs, Mr. Bucshon, Mr. Calvert, Mr. Carson, Mr. Cawthorn, Mr.
Chabot, Mr. Cline, Mr. Crawford, Mr. Davidson, Mr. Fortenberry, Mr.
Fulcher, Mr. Gaetz, Mr. Garbarino, Mr. Gibbs, Mr. Gimenez, Mr. Gonzalez
of Ohio, Mr. Good of Virginia, Mr. Gooden of Texas, Mrs. Greene of
Georgia, Mr. Griffith, Mr. Guthrie, Mrs. Harshbarger, Ms. Herrell, Mr.
Hice of Georgia, Mrs. Hinson, Mr. Hudson, Mr. Huizenga, Ms. Jacobs of
California, Mr. Jordan, Mr. Joyce of Ohio, Mr. Kelly of Pennsylvania,
Mr. Kelly of Mississippi, Mrs. Kim of California, Mr. Lamborn, Mr.
Latta, Mr. Lawson of Florida, Mr. LaMalfa, Mr. Luetkemeyer, Ms.
Malliotakis, Mr. McClintock, Mr. McKinley, Mr. Meijer, Mrs. Miller of
West Virginia, Mrs. Miller-Meeks, Mr. Moolenaar, Mr. Mooney, Mr. Moore
of Utah, Mr. Moulton, Mrs. Murphy of Florida, Mr. Owens, Mr. Palazzo,
Mr. Pappas, Mr. Pfluger, Mr. Reschenthaler, Mr. Rouzer, Mr. Smith of
Nebraska, Mr. Smucker, Ms. Stefanik, Mr. Steil, Mr. Steube, Ms. Tenney,
Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, Mr. Turner, Mrs. Wagner, Mr. Walberg, Mrs.
Walorski, Mr. Weber of Texas, Mr. Westerman, Mr. Williams of Texas, Mr.
Wittman, Mr. Young, Mr. Harris, Ms. Cheney, Mr. Burchett, Mr. Allen,
Mr. Amodei, Ms. Herrera Beutler, Mr. Bilirakis, Mr. Brooks, Mr.
Fitzgerald, Mrs. Cammack, Mr. Carl, Mr. Cole, Mr. Curtis, Mr.
DesJarlais, Mr. Feenstra, Mr. Gallagher, Mr. Zeldin, Mr. Ferguson, Mr.
Fitzpatrick, Mr. Fleischmann, Mr. C. Scott Franklin of Florida, Mr.
Guest, Mrs. Hartzler, Mr. Jacobs of New York, Mr. Johnson of South
Dakota, Mr. Keating, Mr. Kinzinger, Mr. Kustoff, Mrs. Luria, Mr. Mann,
Mr. Mast, Mr. McCaul, Mr. Murphy of North Carolina, Mr. Newhouse, Mr.
Palmer, Mr. Schweikert, Mr. Smith of New Jersey, Mr. Soto, Mrs. Spartz,
Mr. Valadao, Ms. Van Duyne, Mr. Vela, Mr. Wilson of South Carolina, Mr.
Hollingsworth, Mr. Gallego, Mr. Smith of Missouri, Mr. Norman, Mr.
Thompson of Pennsylvania, Mr. Vicente Gonzalez of Texas, Mr. Carter of
Georgia, Mr. Rodney Davis of Illinois, Mr. Levin of California, Mr.
Emmer, Mr. LaTurner, Mr. Graves of Louisiana, Mr. Fallon, Mr. Aguilar,
Mrs. Lesko, Mr. Balderson, Miss Gonzalez-Colon, Ms. Slotkin, Mr.
Taylor, Mr. Horsford, Mr. Pence, Mr. Moore of Alabama, Mr. Van Drew,
Ms. Sherrill, Mr. Garcia of California, Mr. Upton, Mr. Budd, Mr.
Donalds, Mr. Obernolte, Mr. Loudermilk, Mrs. Rodgers of Washington, Mr.
Bost, Mr. Costa, Ms. Salazar, Mrs. McBath, Mr. Grothman, Ms. Letlow,
Mr. Golden, Mr. Morelle, Mr. Simpson, Mr. Bishop of North Carolina, Ms.
Mace, Mrs. Boebert, Mr. Johnson of Ohio, Mr. McHenry, and Mr. Bentz)
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 posthumously a Congressional Gold Medal, in commemoration to
the servicemembers who perished in Afghanistan on August 26, 2021,
during the evacuation of citizens of the United States and Afghan
allies at Hamid Karzai International Airport, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) At 9:44 A.M., on August 26, 2021, the Pentagon
confirmed that one explosion occurred at the Hamid Karzai
International Airport.
(2) The explosion was confirmed to be a suicide bombing by
ISIS-K terrorist group.
(3) Estimates as high as 200 deaths were reported,
including 13 servicemembers of the United States, as well as
hundreds more wounded.
(4) The attack on Thursday, August 26, 2021, at the Hamid
Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, killed 13
United States servicemembers, making it the deadliest single
day of the war for the United States in more than a decade.
(5) The American servicemembers went above and beyond the
call of duty to protect citizens of the United States and our
allies to ensure they are brought to safety in an extremely
dangerous situation as the Taliban regained control over
Afghanistan.
(6) The American servicemembers exemplified extreme bravery
and valor against armed enemy combatants.
(7) The American servicemembers dedicated their lives and
their heroism deserves great honor.
(8) Maxton Soviak, Kareem Nikoui, David Espinoza, Rylee
McCollum, Jared Schmitz, Hunter Lopez, Taylor Hoover, Daegan
William-Tyeler Page, Nicole Gee, Humberto Sanchez, Dylan
Merola, Johanny Rosario Pichardo, and Ryan Knauss have been
identified as the 13 servicemembers who died from the blast
while stationed at Hamid Karzai International Airport.
SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDALS.
(a) Presentations Authorized.--The Speaker of the House of
Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate shall make
appropriate arrangements for the posthumous presentation, on behalf of
the Congress, of a single gold medal of appropriate design in
commemoration to the 13 servicemembers who perished in Afghanistan, on
August 26, 2021.
(b) Design and Striking.--For the purposes of the presentation
referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury (hereafter
in this Act referred to 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
under subsection (a), the gold medal shall be given to the
Smithsonian Institution, where it shall be available for
display as appropriate and made available for research.
(2) Sense of congress.--It is the sense of Congress that
the Smithsonian Institution shall make the gold medal received
under paragraph (1) available for display outside of the
District of Columbia at times, particularly at other locations
associated with the 13 servicemembers who perished in
Afghanistan on August 26, 2021.
SEC. 3. DUPLICATE MEDALS.
The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the gold
medal struck pursuant to section 2 at a price sufficient to cover the
cost thereof, including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and
overhead expenses.
SEC. 4. STATUS OF MEDALS.
(a) National Medals.--The medal struck pursuant to this Act is a
national medal 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. AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS; PROCEEDS OF SALE.
(a) 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
pursuant to this Act.
(b) Proceeds of Sale.--The amounts received from the sale of
duplicate bronze medals authorized under section 3 shall be deposited
into the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund.
<all>