[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 46 (Wednesday, April 12, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2619-S2621]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. BINGAMAN (for himself and Mr. Inouye):
  S. 2408. A bill to authorize the President to award a gold medal on 
behalf of the Congress to the Navajo Code Talkers in recognition of 
their contributions to the Nation; to the Committee on Banking, 
Housing, and Urban Affairs.


                  honoring the navajo code talkers act

  Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce important 
legislation, recognizing the heroic contributions of a group of Native 
American soldiers who served in the Pacific theater during the second 
World War. This legislation will authorize the President of the United 
States to award a gold medal, on behalf of the Congress, to each of the 
original twenty-nine Navajo Code Talkers, as well as a silver medal to 
each man who later qualified as a Navajo Code Talker (MOS 642). These 
medals are to express recognition by the United States of America and 
its citizens of the Navajo Code Talkers who distinguished themselves in 
performing a unique, highly successful communications operation that 
greatly assisted in saving countless lives and in hastening the end of 
the war in the Pacific.

  It has taken too long to properly recognize these soldiers, whose 
achievements have been obscured by twin veils

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of secrecy and time. As they approach the final chapter of their lives, 
it is only fitting that the nation pay them this honor. That's why I am 
introducing this legislation today--to salute these brave and 
innovative Native Americans, to acknowledge the great contribution they 
made to the Nation at a time of war, and to finally give them their 
rightful place in history.
  With each new successive generation of Americans, blessed as we are 
in this time of relative peace and prosperity, it is easy to forget 
what the world was like in the early 1940's. The United States was at 
war in Europe, and on December 7, 1941, we were faced with a second 
front as the Japanese Empire attacked Pearl Harbor.
  One of the intelligence weapons the Japanese possessed was an elite 
group of well-trained English speaking soldiers, used to intercept U.S. 
communications, then sabotage the message or issue false commands to 
ambush American troops. Military code became more and more complex--at 
Guadalcanal, military leaders complained that it took 2\1/2\ hours to 
send and decode a single message.
  The idea to use Navajo for secure communications came from Philip 
Johnson. Johnson was the son of a missionary, raised on the Navajo 
reservation, and one of the few non-Navajos who spoke their language 
fluently. But he was also a World War I veteran, and knew of the 
military's search for a code that would withstand all attempts to 
decipher it. Johnson believed Navajo answered the military requirement 
for an undecipherable code because Navajo is an unwritten language of 
extreme complexity. In early 1942, he met with the Commanding General 
of Amphibious Corps, Pacific Fleet, and his staff to convince them of 
the value of the Navajo language as code. In one of his tests, he 
demonstrated that Navajos could encode, transmit, and decode a three-
line English message in 20 seconds. Twenty-seconds!
  Convinced, the Marine Corps called upon the Navajo Nation to support 
the military effort by recruiting and enlisting Navajo men to serve as 
Marine Corps Radio Operators. These Navajo Marines, who became known as 
the Navajo Code Talkers, used the Navajo language to develop a unique 
code to communicate military messages in the South Pacific. True to 
Phillip Johnson's prediction, and the enemy's frustration, the code 
developed by these Native Americans proved unbreakable and was used 
throughout the Pacific theater.
  Their accomplishment was even more heroic given the cultural context 
in which they were operating:
  The Navajos were second-class citizens and were discouraged from 
using their own language; and
  They were living on reservations, as many still are today, yet they 
volunteered to serve, protect, and defend the very power that put them 
there.
  But the Navajo, a people subjected to alienation in their own 
homeland, who had been discouraged from speaking their own language, 
stepped forward and developed the most significant and successful 
military code of the time:
  This Code was so successful that military commanders credited the 
Code in saving the lives of countless American soldiers and the 
successful engagements of the U.S. in the battles of Guadalcanal, 
Tarawa, Saipan, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. At Iwo Jima, Major Howard 
Connor, 5th Marine Division signal officer, declared, ``Were it not for 
the Navajos, the Marines would never have taken Iwo Jima.'' Major 
Connor had six Navajo code talkers working around the clock during the 
first 48-hours of the battle. Those six sent and received over 800 
messages, all without error;
  This Code was so successful that some Code Talkers were guarded by 
fellow marines whose role was to kill them in case of imminent capture 
by the enemy; and finally,
  It was so successful that the Department of Defense kept the Code 
secret for 23 years after the end of World War II, when it was finally 
declassified.
  And there, Mr. President, is the foundation of the problem.
  If their achievements had been hailed at the conclusion of the war, 
proper honors would have been bestowed at that time. But the Code 
Talkers were sworn to secrecy, an oath they kept and honored, but at 
the same time, one that robbed them of the very accolades and place in 
history they so rightly deserved. Their ranks include veterans of 
Guadalcanal, Saipan, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa; they gave their lives at 
New Britain, Bougainville, Guam, and Peleliu. But, while the bodies of 
their fallen comrades came home, simple messages of comfort from those 
still fighting to relatives back home on the reservations were 
prohibited by the very secrecy of the code's origin. And at the end of 
the war, these unsung heroes returned to their homes on buses--no 
parades, no fanfare, no special recognition for what they had truly 
accomplished--because while the war was over, their duty--their oath of 
secrecy--continued. The secrecy surrounding the code was maintained 
until it was declassified in 1968--only then did a realization of the 
sacrifice and valor of these brave Native Americans emerge from 
history.
  For the countless lives they helped save, for this contribution that 
helped speed the Allied victory in the Pacific, I believe they 
succeeded beyond all expectations.
  Through the enactment of this bill, the recognition for the Navajo 
Code Talkers will be delayed no longer, and they will finally take 
their place in history they so rightly deserve.
  To this end, I urge my colleagues to support the bill.
  Mr. President, I ask for unanimous consent that the bill be printed 
in the Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                S. 2408

       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 ``Honoring the Navajo Code 
     Talkers Act''

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       Congress finds the following:
       (1) On December 7, 1941, the Japanese Empire attacked Pearl 
     Harbor and war was declared by the Congress the following 
     day.
       (2) The military code, developed by the United States for 
     transmitting messages, had been deciphered by the Japanese 
     and a search by U.S. Intelligence was made to develop new 
     means to counter the enemy.
       (3) The United States government called upon the Navajo 
     Nation to support the military effort by recruiting and 
     enlisting twenty-nine (29) Navajo men to serve as Marine 
     Corps Radio Operators; the number of enlistees later 
     increased to over three-hundred and fifty.
       (4) At the time, the Navajos were second-class citizens, 
     and they were a people who were discouraged from using their 
     own language.
       (5) The Navajo Marine Corps Radio Operators, who became 
     known as the Navajo Code Talkers, were used to develop a code 
     using their language to communicate military messages in the 
     Pacific.
       (6) To the enemy's frustration, the code developed by these 
     Native Americans proved to be unbreakable and was used 
     extensively throughout the Pacific theater.
       (7) The Navajo language, discouraged in the past, was 
     instrumental in developing the most significant and 
     successful military code of the time. At Iwo Jima alone, they 
     passed over 800 error-free messages in a 48-hour period;
       (a) So successful, that military commanders credited the 
     Code in saving the lives of countless American soldiers and 
     the successful engagements of the U.S. in the battles of 
     Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Saipan, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa;
       (b) So successful, that some Code Talkers were guarded by 
     fellow marines whose role was to kill them in case of 
     imminent capture by the enemy;
       (c) So successful, that the code was kept secret for 23 
     years after the end of World War II.
       (8) Following the conclusion of World War II, the U.S. 
     Department of Defense maintained the secrecy of the Navajo 
     code until it was declassified in 1968; only then did a 
     realization of the sacrifice and valor of these brave Native 
     Americans emerge from history.

     SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.

       (a) Presentation Authorized.--The President is authorized 
     to award to each of the original twenty-nine Navajo Codes 
     Talkers, or a surviving family member, on behalf of the 
     Congress, a gold medal of appropriate design, honoring the 
     Navajo Codes Talkers. The President is further authorized to 
     award to each man who qualified as a Navajo Code Talker (MOS 
     642), or a surviving family member, a silver medal with 
     suitable emblems and devices. These medals are to express 
     recognition by the United States of America and its citizens 
     in honoring the Navajo Code Talkers who distinguished 
     themselves in performing a unique, highly successful 
     communications operation that greatly assisted in saving 
     countless lives and in hastening the end of the World War II 
     in the Pacific.
       (b) Design and Striking.--For the purposes of the award 
     referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury 
     (in this Act referred to as the `Secetary') shall strike

[[Page S2621]]

     a gold medal with suitable emblems, devices, and 
     inscriptions, to be determined by the Secretary.

     SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS.

       The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of 
     the gold medal struck pursuant to section 2 under such 
     regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, and at a price 
     sufficient to cover the costs thereof, including labor, 
     materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses, and 
     the cost of the gold medal.

     SEC. 5. STATUS AS NATIONAL MEDALS.

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

     SEC. 6. FUNDING.

       (a) Authority To Use Fund Amounts.--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 medals authorized by this Act.
       (b) Proceeds of Sale.--Amounts received from the sale of 
     duplicate bronze medals under section 3 shall be deposited in 
     the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund.
                                 ______