[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 71 (Monday, May 20, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3629-S3631]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  AWARDING A CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL

  Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Banking 
Committee be discharged from further consideration of S. 309 and the 
Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The clerk 
will report the bill by title.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 309) to award a Congressional Gold Medal to the 
     World War II members of the Civil Air Patrol.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Mrs. BOXER. I ask unanimous consent the Harkin amendment, which is at 
the desk, be agreed to, the bill as amended be read three times and 
passed, and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no 
intervening action or debate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment (No. 951) was agreed to, as follows:

                (Purpose: To make technical corrections)

       On page 15, line 5, strike ``dyes'' and insert ``dies''.
       On page 15, line 6, insert before the period the following: 
     ``, and amounts received from the sale of such duplicates 
     shall be deposited in the United States Mint Public 
     Enterprise Fund''.
       On page 15, strike line 10 and all that follows through 
     line 20.

  The bill (S. 309), as amended, was ordered to be engrossed for a 
third reading, was read the third time and passed, as follows:

[[Page S3630]]

                                 S. 309

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

       Congress makes the following findings:
       (1) The unpaid volunteer members of the Civil Air Patrol 
     (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ``CAP'') during 
     World War II provided extraordinary humanitarian, combat, and 
     national services during a critical time of need for the 
     Nation.
       (2) During the war, CAP members used their own aircraft to 
     perform a myriad of essential tasks for the military and the 
     Nation within the United States, including attacks on enemy 
     submarines off the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts of the 
     United States.
       (3) This extraordinary national service set the stage for 
     the post-war CAP to become a valuable nonprofit, public 
     service organization chartered by Congress and designated the 
     Auxiliary of the United States Air Force that provides 
     essential emergency, operational, and public services to 
     communities, States, the Federal Government, and the 
     military.
       (4) The CAP was established on December 1, 1941, initially 
     as a part of the Office of Civil Defense, by air-minded 
     citizens one week before the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, 
     Hawaii, out of the desire of civil airmen of the country to 
     be mobilized with their equipment in the common defense of 
     the Nation.
       (5) Within days of the start of the war, the German Navy 
     started a massive submarine offensive, known as Operation 
     Drumbeat, off the east coast of the United States against oil 
     tankers and other critical shipping that threatened the 
     overall war effort.
       (6) Neither the Navy nor the Army had enough aircraft, 
     ships, or other resources to adequately patrol and protect 
     the shipping along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts of 
     the United States, and many ships were torpedoed and sunk, 
     often within sight of civilians on shore, including 52 
     tankers sunk between January and March 1942.
       (7) At that time General George Marshall remarked that 
     ``[t]he losses by submarines off our Atlantic seaboard and in 
     the Caribbean now threaten our entire war effort''.
       (8) From the beginning CAP leaders urged the military to 
     use its services to patrol coastal waters but met with great 
     resistance because of the nonmilitary status of CAP civilian 
     pilots.
       (9) Finally, in response to the ever-increasing submarine 
     attacks, the Tanker Committee of the Petroleum Industry War 
     Council urged the Navy Department and the War Department to 
     consider the use of the CAP to help patrol the sea lanes off 
     the coasts of the United States.
       (10) While the Navy initially rejected this suggestion, the 
     Army decided it had merit, and the Civil Air Patrol Coastal 
     Patrol began in March 1942.
       (11) Oil companies and other organizations provided funds 
     to help pay for some CAP operations, including vitally needed 
     shore radios that were used to monitor patrol missions.
       (12) By late March 1942, the Navy also began to use the 
     services of the CAP.
       (13) Starting with 3 bases located in Delaware, Florida, 
     and New Jersey, CAP aircrews (ranging in age from 18 to over 
     80) immediately started to spot enemy submarines as well as 
     lifeboats, bodies, and wreckage.
       (14) Within 15 minutes of starting his patrol on the first 
     Coastal Patrol flight, a pilot had sighted a torpedoed tanker 
     and was coordinating rescue operations.
       (15) Eventually 21 bases, ranging from Bar Harbor, Maine, 
     to Brownsville, Texas, were set up for the CAP to patrol the 
     Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts of the United States, with 
     40,000 volunteers eventually participating.
       (16) The CAP used a wide range of civilian-owned aircraft, 
     mainly light-weight, single-engine aircraft manufactured by 
     Cessna, Beech, Waco, Fairchild, Stinson, Piper, Taylorcraft, 
     and Sikorsky, among others, as well as some twin engine 
     aircraft, such as the Grumman Widgeon.
       (17) Most of these aircraft were painted in their civilian 
     prewar colors (red, yellow, or blue, for example) and carried 
     special markings (a blue circle with a white triangle) to 
     identify them as CAP aircraft.
       (18) Patrols were conducted up to 100 miles off shore, 
     generally with 2 aircraft flying together, in aircraft often 
     equipped with only a compass for navigation and a single 
     radio for communication.
       (19) Due to the critical nature of the situation, CAP 
     operations were conducted in bad weather as well as good, 
     often when the military was unable to fly, and in all 
     seasons, including the winter, when ditching an aircraft in 
     cold water would likely mean certain death to the aircrew.
       (20) Personal emergency equipment was often lacking, 
     particularly during early patrols where inner tubes and kapok 
     duck hunter vests were carried as flotation devices, since 
     ocean worthy wet suits, life vests, and life rafts were 
     unavailable.
       (21) The initial purpose of the Coastal Patrol was to spot 
     submarines, report their position to the military, and force 
     them to dive below the surface, which limited their operating 
     speed and maneuverability and reduced their ability to detect 
     and attack shipping, because attacks against shipping were 
     conducted while the submarines were surfaced.
       (22) It immediately became apparent that there were 
     opportunities for CAP pilots to attack submarines, such as 
     when a Florida CAP aircrew came across a surfaced submarine 
     that quickly stranded itself on a sand bar. However, the 
     aircrew could not get any assistance from armed military 
     aircraft before the submarine freed itself.
       (23) Finally, after several instances when the military 
     could not respond in a timely manner, a decision was made by 
     the military to arm CAP aircraft with 50- and 100-pound 
     bombs, and to arm some larger twin-engine aircraft with 325-
     pound depth charges.
       (24) The arming of CAP aircraft dramatically changed the 
     mission for these civilian aircrews and resulted in more than 
     57 attacks on enemy submarines.
       (25) While CAP volunteers received $8 a day flight 
     reimbursement for costs incurred, their patrols were 
     accomplished at a great economic cost to many CAP members 
     who--
       (A) used their own aircraft and other equipment in defense 
     of the Nation;
       (B) paid for much of their own aircraft maintenance and 
     hangar use; and
       (C) often lived in the beginning in primitive conditions 
     along the coast, including old barns and chicken coops 
     converted for sleeping.
       (26) More importantly, the CAP Coastal Patrol service came 
     at the high cost of 26 fatalities, 7 serious injuries, and 90 
     aircraft lost.
       (27) At the conclusion of the 18-month Coastal Patrol, the 
     heroic CAP aircrews would be credited with--
       (A) 2 submarines possibly damaged or destroyed;
       (B) 57 submarines attacked;
       (C) 82 bombs dropped against submarines;
       (D) 173 radio reports of submarine positions (with a number 
     of credited assists for kills made by military units);
       (E) 17 floating mines reported;
       (F) 36 dead bodies reported;
       (G) 91 vessels in distress reported;
       (H) 363 survivors in distress reported;
       (I) 836 irregularities noted;
       (J) 1,036 special investigations at sea or along the coast;
       (K) 5,684 convoy missions as aerial escorts for Navy ships;
       (L) 86,685 total missions flown;
       (M) 244,600 total flight hours logged; and
       (N) more than 24,000,000 total miles flown.
       (28) It is believed that at least one high-level German 
     Navy Officer credited CAP as one reason that submarine 
     attacks moved away from the United States when he concluded 
     that ``[i]t was because of those damned little red and yellow 
     planes!''.
       (29) The CAP was dismissed from coastal missions with 
     little thanks in August 1943 when the Navy took over the 
     mission completely and ordered CAP to stand down.
       (30) While the Coastal Patrol was ongoing, CAP was also 
     establishing itself as a vital wartime service to the 
     military, States, and communities nationwide by performing a 
     wide range of missions including, among others--
       (A) border patrol;
       (B) forest and fire patrols;
       (C) military courier flights for mail, repair and 
     replacement parts, and urgent military deliveries;
       (D) emergency transportation of military personnel;
       (E) target towing (with live ammunition being fired at the 
     targets and seven lives being lost) and searchlight tracking 
     training missions;
       (F) missing aircraft and personnel searches;
       (G) air and ground search and rescue for missing aircraft 
     and personnel;
       (H) radar and aircraft warning system training flights;
       (I) aerial inspections of camouflaged military and civilian 
     facilities;
       (J) aerial inspections of city and town blackout 
     conditions;
       (K) simulated bombing attacks on cities and facilities to 
     test air defenses and early warning;
       (L) aerial searches for scrap metal materials;
       (M) river and lake patrols, including aerial surveys for 
     ice in the Great Lakes;
       (N) support of war bond drives;
       (O) management and guard duties at hundreds of airports;
       (P) support for State and local emergencies such as natural 
     and manmade disasters;
       (Q) predator control;
       (R) rescue of livestock during floods and blizzards;
       (S) recruiting for the Army Air Force;
       (T) initial flight screening and orientation flights for 
     potential military recruits;
       (U) mercy missions, including the airlift of plasma to 
     central blood banks;
       (V) nationwide emergency communications services; and
       (W) a cadet youth program which provided aviation and 
     military training for tens of thousands.
       (31) The CAP flew more than 500,000 hours on these 
     additional missions, including--
       (A) 20,500 missions involving target towing (with live 
     ammunition) and gun/searchlight tracking which resulted in 7 
     deaths, 5 serious injuries, and the loss of 25 aircraft;
       (B) a courier service involving 3 major Air Force Commands 
     over a 2-year period carrying more than 3,500,000 pounds of 
     vital cargo and 543 passengers;
       (C) southern border patrol flying more than 30,000 hours 
     and reporting 7,000 unusual sightings including a vehicle 
     (that was apprehended) with 2 enemy agents attempting to 
     enter the country;

[[Page S3631]]

       (D) a week in February 1945 during which CAP units rescued 
     seven missing Army and Navy pilots; and
       (E) a State in which the CAP flew 790 hours on forest fire 
     patrol missions and reported 576 fires to authorities during 
     a single year.
       (32) On April 29, 1943, the CAP was transferred to the Army 
     Air Forces, thus beginning its long association with the 
     United States Air Force.
       (33) Hundreds of CAP-trained women pilots joined military 
     women's units including the Women's Air Force Service Pilots 
     (WASP) program.
       (34) Many members of the WASP program joined or rejoined 
     the CAP during the post-war period because it provided women 
     opportunities to fly and continue to serve the Nation that 
     were severely lacking elsewhere.
       (35) Due to the exceptional emphasis on safety, unit and 
     pilot training and discipline, and the organization of the 
     CAP, by the end of the war a total of only 64 CAP members had 
     died in service and only 150 aircraft had been lost 
     (including its Coastal Patrol losses from early in the war).
       (36) It is estimated that up to 100,000 civilians 
     (including youth in its cadet program) participated in the 
     CAP in a wide range of staff and operational positions, and 
     that CAP aircrews flew a total of approximately 750,000 hours 
     during the war, most of which were in their personal aircraft 
     and often at risk to their lives.
       (37) After the war, at a CAP dinner for Congress, a quorum 
     of both Houses attended with the Speaker of the House of 
     Representatives and the President thanking CAP for its 
     service.
       (38) While air medals were issued for some of those 
     participating in the Coastal Patrol, little other recognition 
     was forthcoming for the myriad of services CAP volunteers 
     provided during the war.
       (39) Despite some misguided efforts to end the CAP at the 
     end of the war, the organization had proved its capabilities 
     to the Nation and strengthened its ties with the Air Force 
     and Congress.
       (40) In 1946, Congress chartered the CAP as a nonprofit, 
     public service organization and in 1948 made the CAP an 
     Auxiliary of the United States Air Force.
       (41) Today, the CAP conducts many of the same missions it 
     performed during World War II, including a vital role in 
     homeland security.
       (42) The CAP's wartime service was highly unusual and 
     extraordinary, due to the unpaid civilian status of its 
     members, the use of privately owned aircraft and personal 
     funds by many of its members, the myriad of humanitarian and 
     national missions flown for the Nation, and the fact that for 
     18 months, during a time of great need for the United States, 
     the CAP flew combat-related missions in support of military 
     operations off the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts.

     SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.

       (a) Award.--
       (1) Authorized.--The President pro tempore of the Senate 
     and the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall make 
     appropriate arrangements for the award, on behalf of 
     Congress, of a single gold medal of appropriate design in 
     honor of the World War II members of the Civil Air Patrol 
     collectively, in recognition of the military service and 
     exemplary record of the Civil Air Patrol during World War II.
       (2) Design and striking.--For the purposes of the award 
     referred to in paragraph (1), the Secretary of the Treasury 
     shall strike the gold medal with suitable emblems, devices, 
     and inscriptions, to be determined by the Secretary.
       (3) Smithsonian institution.--
       (A) In general.--Following the award of the gold medal 
     referred to in paragraph (1) in honor of all of its World War 
     II members of the Civil Air Patrol, the gold medal shall be 
     given to the Smithsonian Institution, where it shall be 
     displayed as appropriate and made available for research.
       (B) Sense of congress.--It is the sense of Congress that 
     the Smithsonian Institution should make the gold medal 
     received under this paragraph available for display 
     elsewhere, particularly at other locations associated with 
     the Civil Air Patrol.
       (b) 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 this Act, 
     at a price sufficient to cover the costs of the medals, 
     including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and 
     overhead expenses, and amounts received from the sale of such 
     duplicates shall be deposited in the United States Mint 
     Public Enterprise Fund.
       (c) National 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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