[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 75 (Monday, May 19, 2014)]
[House]
[Pages H4449-H4451]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 MONUMENTS MEN RECOGNITION ACT OF 2013

  Mr. HUIZENGA of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules 
and pass the bill (H.R. 3658) to grant the Congressional Gold Medal, 
collectively, to the Monuments Men, in recognition of their heroic role 
in the preservation, protection, and restitution of monuments, works of 
art, and artifacts of cultural importance during and following World 
War II.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 3658

       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 ``Monuments Men Recognition 
     Act of 2013''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       The Congress finds the following:
       (1) On June 23, 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt 
     formed the ``American Commission for the Protection and 
     Salvage of Artistic and Historic Monuments in War Areas''.
       (2) The Commission established the Monuments, Fine Arts, 
     and Archives (``MFAA'') Section under the Allied Armies.
       (3) The men and women serving in the MFAA Section were 
     referred to as the ``Monuments Men''.
       (4) These individuals had expertise as museum directors, 
     curators, art historians, artists, architects, and educators.
       (5) In December 1943, General Dwight D. Eisenhower 
     empowered the Monuments Men by issuing orders to all 
     commanders that stated they must respect monuments ``so far 
     as war allows''.
       (6) Initially the Monuments Men were intended to protect 
     and temporarily repair the monuments, churches, and 
     cathedrals of Europe suffering damage due to combat.
       (7) Hitler and the Nazis engaged in a pre-meditated, mass 
     theft of art and stored priceless works in thousands of art 
     repositories throughout Europe.
       (8) The Monuments Men adapted their mission to identify, 
     preserve, catalogue, and repatriate almost 5,000,000 artistic 
     and cultural items which they discovered.
       (9) This magnitude of cultural preservation was 
     unprecedented during a time of conflict.
       (10) The Monuments Men grew to no more than 350 individuals 
     and joined front line military forces; two Monuments Men lost 
     their lives in action.
       (11) Following the Allied victory, the Monuments Men 
     remained abroad to rebuild cultural life in Europe through 
     organizing art exhibitions and concerts.
       (12) Many of the Monuments Men became renowned directors 
     and curators of preeminent international cultural 
     institutions, professors at institutions of higher education, 
     and founders of artistic associations both before and after 
     the war.
       (13) The Monuments Men Foundation for the Preservation of 
     Art was founded in 2007 to honor the legacy of the men and 
     women who served as Monuments Men.
       (14) There are only five surviving members of the Monuments 
     Men as of December 2013.

     SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.

       (a) Presentation Authorized.--The Speaker of the House of 
     Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate 
     shall make appropriate arrangements for the presentation, on 
     behalf of the Congress, of a gold medal of appropriate design 
     in commemoration to Monuments Men, in recognition of their 
     heroic role in the preservation, protection, and restitution 
     of monuments, works of art, and artifacts of cultural 
     importance during and following World War II.
       (b) Design and Striking.--For purposes of the presentation 
     referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury 
     (referred to in this Act 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 in 
     honor of the Monuments Men, the gold medal shall be given to 
     the Smithsonian Institution, where it will be available for 
     display as appropriate and available for research.
       (2) Sense of the congress.--It is the sense of the Congress 
     that the Smithsonian Institution should make the gold medal 
     awarded pursuant to this Act available for display elsewhere, 
     particularly at appropriate locations associated with the 
     Monuments Men, and that preference should be given to 
     locations affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution.

     SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS.

       The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of 
     the gold medal struck pursuant to section 3 under such 
     regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, at a price 
     sufficient to cover the cost thereof, including labor, 
     materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses, and 
     the cost of the gold medal.

     SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS.

       (a) National Medals.--The medals struck pursuant to this 
     Act are national medals 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.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Michigan (Mr. Huizenga) and the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. 
Capuano) each will control 20 minutes.

                              {time}  1700


                             General Leave

  Mr. HUIZENGA of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that 
all Members have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend 
their remarks and submit extraneous materials for the Record on H.R. 
3658, currently under consideration.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Michigan?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. HUIZENGA of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I 
may consume.
  I rise today in support of H.R. 3658, the Monuments Men Recognition 
Act of 2013, introduced by the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Granger). 
This bill authorizes the minting and award of a single gold medal 
collectively in honor of the heroic role played by the men and women of 
that group in ensuring the preservation, protection, and restitution of 
monuments, works of art, and artifacts of cultural importance during 
and following World War II. The medal would be given to the Smithsonian 
Institution, where it would be available for display or loan as 
appropriate.
  Mr. Speaker, even before the stain of World War II began to spread 
across Europe, priceless cultural objects were being damaged or 
appropriated from their rightful owners by corrupt governments. When 
the horrific carnage of war descended over the continent, many other 
works--paintings, monuments, cathedrals and other buildings--were 
threatened, damaged, or destroyed, marring or obliterating centuries of 
incredibly beautiful handiwork.
  Recognizing this disaster, President Roosevelt formed the American 
Commission for the Protection and Salvage of Artistic and Historic 
Monuments in War Areas in 1943, and the Commission facilitated the 
formation of the monuments, fine arts, and archives section under the 
Allied armies. The men and women who worked tirelessly at the 
Commission, at home but mostly abroad, were empowered by General Dwight 
D. Eisenhower to carry out their work throughout Europe, even on the 
front lines, and became known as the Monuments Men.
  As I had noted earlier as we were talking about one of the other 
medals,

[[Page H4450]]

my father happened to serve in Italy during World War II. I know that 
was one of his concerns as he was going around seeing the damage and 
the carnage that had happened there, what had been lost to that war. Of 
course some of those artworks were irreparably damaged or some never 
even recovered. As we have seen in headlines as recently as the last 
couple of weeks, some are still even being recovered. Without the 
heroic work of the Monuments Men, much of Europe's cultural heritage 
would have been lost or forever remain hidden after it was stolen.
  After the war, many of the Monuments Men stayed in the business of 
preserving and displaying art. Many became renowned directors and 
curators of preeminent international cultural institutions, professors 
at institutions of higher education, and founders of artistic 
associations.
  If we did not know this story before, most of us now know the 
outlines thanks to a pair of books by Robert Edsel detailing the 
Monuments Men's work and, of course, the George Clooney film of the 
same name released earlier this year. Some of us may have seen a 
documentary on their work produced about a decade ago, called, ``The 
Rape of Europa.'' I do want to thank the gentlewoman from Texas for 
hosting a screening of that movie that I think sort of brought that to 
the attention of many here in Washington a few months ago.
  Mr. Speaker, of the 350 Monuments Men, two of whom died in actual 
combat, only a few of the men and women we know today as the Monuments 
Men are still alive. We and the world owe them an incalculable debt. 
One way we can acknowledge their contributions is to award them the 
Congressional Gold Medal in recognition of their work. The bill has 297 
cosponsors in the House, and a companion bill introduced by Senator 
Blunt has 77 cosponsors. I ask for immediate passage of this important 
legislation.
  I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. CAPUANO. Mr. Speaker, though I intend to speak, I want to reserve 
the balance of my time and allow the gentlewoman from Texas, who was 
the lead sponsor on this bill, to speak before I do.
  With that, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. HUIZENGA of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, at this time I yield such time 
as she may consume to the gentlelady from Texas (Ms. Granger).
  Ms. GRANGER. Mr. Speaker, I have been looking forward to this day 
ever since I first learned about the greatest untold story of World War 
II, and that was 8 years ago.
  For me, my journey with the Monuments Men began at the Kimbell Art 
Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, in 2006 when I met Robert Edsel, who had 
just published his first book, ``Rescuing Da Vinci,'' and who later 
wrote ``The Monuments Men: Allied Heros, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest 
Treasure Hunt in History.'' It was that evening when I realized how 
critical these men and women were in preserving European cultural 
history and how remarkable their task was during the Second World War.
  While death and destruction surrounded them, their mission was the 
complete opposite: to protect cultural treasures so far as war allowed. 
This special military unit was tasked with helping to locate works of 
art confiscated by the Nazis and return them to their rightful owners. 
The Monuments Men and women were able to locate, preserve, and return 
almost 5 million cultural items, including many of the world's greatest 
works of art.
  Today, there are only six surviving members--five men and one woman--
of the Monuments Men. As Memorial Day approaches, I believe the 
veterans who participated in these daring missions are certainly worthy 
and deserving of the recognition of Congress' highest expression of 
appreciation.
  Mr. Speaker, the medal authorized in this bill will be given to the 
Smithsonian for safekeeping and available for display, as well as 
available for loan as appropriate. In my view and that of many other 
Members, one very appropriate place would be the National World War II 
Museum in New Orleans, which is building a permanent exhibit on the 
Monuments Men and expected to open in 2016.

  Before I close, there are several people I want to thank who helped 
make this possible: of course, Robert Edsel for uncovering this story 
and sharing it with the world; Congressman Michael Capuano for 
sponsoring this legislation with me; Congressman Steve Cohen for his 
tireless efforts to help build the support needed to bring this bill to 
the floor for a vote. I also want to thank Senators Roy Blunt and 
Robert Menendez for taking the lead on this bill in the Senate.
  While we can never say thank you enough, I believe the Congressional 
Gold Medal is a worthy token of appreciation from a grateful nation to 
these members of the Greatest Generation.
  I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.
  Mr. CAPUANO. Mr. Speaker, I yield as much time as he may consume to 
the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Cohen).
  Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from 
Massachusetts for the time.
  I rise in strong support of the Monuments Men Recognition Act. I want 
to thank the gentlewoman from Texas for her work on this bill, Ms. 
Granger, and for her kind thoughts and expressions of appreciation. It 
was a great honor to work with her and the gentleman from Massachusetts 
on this particular bill.
  I also had the opportunity to have some interchange with Robert 
Edsel, and not a finer gentleman and American is there. He wrote the 
original book that kind of talked about the Monuments Men, and he also, 
I guess, had something to do with the movie with George Clooney. That 
helped to bring a measure of fame to these brave men and women, but the 
United States Congress should go further and bring this official honor 
to them for their work in preserving our cultural heritage.
  Over the last few years since I have been in Congress, and my first 
term was 2007, the Monuments Men seemed to be a continual presence in 
my service. In 2007, my first year, I was proud to support a resolution 
honoring them. In a ceremony on the Senate side that I went to, I had 
the fortune to meet Mr. Edsel, who told their story, but also to meet a 
few of the surviving Monuments Men.
  Then I saw the movie this past year and my admiration and interest in 
what they had done, their courage and their contribution to the world's 
culture was deepened. I went back and I looked at my book, and I saw 
Mr. Edsel's card and a letter he had sent me after we had spoken, and I 
called him and said I wanted to help. Then I contacted Ms. Granger and 
went to work to help line up sponsors for this particular bill.
  The mass genocide carried out by Hitler and the Nazis is incomparable 
and their crimes unimaginable. We think of concentration camps and mass 
killings, but their efforts to destroy cultural artifacts was an 
extension of that tragedy and that horror.
  It is important to remember that Hitler didn't want to just 
annihilate the Jews and other disfavored populations; he wanted to 
erase all traces of these people from the planet. That included their 
so-called ``degenerate'' art. Art which I saw in the book included some 
of the great artists of all time. I think it was Toulouse-Lautrec maybe 
had a coloring of how he did his colors. Hitler thought that it was 
degenerate because the grass was blue and the sky was green, and he 
thought for some reason that was degenerate. Well, it was art. 
Fortunately, the Monuments Men had the foresight and heroism to prevent 
them from being successful.
  As we recognize the Monuments Men, it is a good time to reflect on 
what art means to us in our lives. Art shines a spotlight on who we are 
and who we wish to be and how we want to be remembered. When we destroy 
it, we destroy an essential part of ourselves, our culture, and our 
society, and we destroy that for future generations to learn of us.
  The Monuments Men did more than just preserve these paintings that 
could hang in a museum; they preserved our heritage, and for that we 
are forever grateful. With only five members of the Monuments Men alive 
today, we should act quickly to give them the honor and recognition 
they richly deserve.
  I urge my colleagues to support this legislation. Again, I thank Ms.

[[Page H4451]]

Granger and Mr. Capuano for their leadership.
  Mr. HUIZENGA of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close and 
reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. CAPUANO. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I would like to thank Ms. Granger in particular for bringing this 
bill forward. I was proud to be a small part in supporting this and 
trying to help push it forward. I am glad we are here today.
  I want to be real clear. A lot of people think of war as nothing more 
than destruction, which that is the main function is to destroy your 
enemy. They don't think sometimes what it is all about, particularly in 
the case of World War II. In the case of World War II, it was about a 
way of life. It was about a whole set of societal values. One set 
valued art and culture, even the art and culture we may not understand. 
I am not understanding of many of the fine works of art, but I 
appreciate how difficult they are, and I appreciate others 
appreciating.
  In a war, it would be the easiest thing in the world to simply 
destroy everything, steal everything, and just move forward. In this 
particular case, the United States of America took the lead, but we 
weren't alone. The Monuments Men was made up of people from 13 
different countries simply trying to preserve a piece of our culture, 
our shared culture.
  The Monuments Men was not made up of warriors, yet they became 
warriors. They were made up of artists; they were made up of museum 
directors; they were made up of curators--people who had been taught 
the value and understood the value of fine art. They went to war to 
protect and preserve it, because without that continuing link of 
culture, you would have to ask: Wouldn't we be a little less than who 
we are today?

  Their memory today is very important, particularly those who still 
survive. The mention has already been made about how many pieces of 
art--5 million pieces of art. They weren't just pictures on a wall. 
They were also figurines. There were religious artifacts, across the 
board. Five million pieces protected, kept for future generations, 
recovered from people who would otherwise steal them for their own 
personal use, probably would have destroyed them when they saw the end 
of their own culture.
  I want to speak today of the one American who served in what I think 
is a pretty typical story of who these people were. The one American 
who was killed in action in this particular unit, his name was Walter 
Huchthausen. He was born in Perry, Oklahoma, educated at the University 
of Minnesota and Harvard University, where he earned a master's degree 
in architecture in 1930. He wasn't ROTC. He wasn't militarily trained. 
He was an instructor at RPI in Troy, New York, and then director of the 
department of design at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 
in my own district, from 1935 to 1939. Then he went to the faculty at 
the University of Minnesota until he enlisted in 1942--not got drafted, 
enlisted--yes, to protect America, but also to take his special 
expertise, to do something special in a difficult situation. He was 
killed in action when he was caught in a firefight. As usual, in many 
military actions, it wasn't supposed to happen then and there.
  I think that tells you something about who these people were. They 
were there trying to help the next generation and generations to come 
maintain that line of connection, and they did it. For that, they 
deserve this honor; they deserve our undying gratitude.
  With that, I want to add my thanks for their actions, my thanks to 
Representative Granger for allowing us do this, and I yield back the 
balance of my time.

                              {time}  1715

  Mr. HUIZENGA of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate my friend sharing 
that story and personalizing it. I had a chance to tour much of Europe 
and Eastern Europe back when I was in school, and seeing the 
devastation that hit cities like St. Petersburg and Leningrad; Warsaw, 
which was completely leveled; Prague; Budapest; Berlin, it is amazing 
that there was really almost anything that was preserved. I think we 
are better for it as a world and as a culture to have that.
  With that, I urge passage of the bill, and I yield back the balance 
of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Huizenga) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 3658.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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