[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 120 (Thursday, July 13, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2522-S2523]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 324. Ms. WARREN (for herself and Mr. Merkley) submitted an
amendment intended to be proposed by her to the bill S. 2226, to
authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2024 for military activities
of the Department of Defense, for military construction, and for
defense activities of the Department of Energy, to prescribe military
personnel strengths for such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which
was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:
At the end of subtitle H of title V, add the following:
[[Page S2523]]
SEC. 594. RESCISSION OF MEDALS OF HONOR AWARDED FOR ACTS AT
WOUNDED KNEE CREEK ON DECEMBER 29, 1890.
(a) Short Title.--This section may be cited as the ``Remove
the Stain Act''.
(b) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The Medal of Honor is the highest military award of the
United States.
(2) Congress found that to earn the Medal of Honor ``the
deed of the person . . . must be so outstanding that it
clearly distinguishes his gallantry beyond the call of duty
from lesser forms of bravery''.
(3) The actions of Medal of Honor recipients inspire
bravery in those currently serving in the Armed Forces and
those who will come to serve in the future.
(4) Those listed on the Medal of Honor Roll have come to
exemplify the best traits of members of the Armed Forces, a
long and proud lineage of those who went beyond the call of
service to the United States of America.
(5) To date the Medal of Honor has been awarded only 3,522
times, including only 145 times for the Korean War, 126 times
in World War I, 23 times during the Global War on Terror, and
20 times for the massacre at Wounded Knee.
(6) The Medal of Honor is awarded in the name of Congress.
(7) As found in Senate Concurring Resolution 153 of the
101st Congress, on December 29, 1890 the 7th Cavalry of the
United States engaged a tribal community ``resulting in the
tragic death and injury of approximately 350-375 Indian men,
women, and children'' led by Lakota Chief Spotted Elk of the
Miniconjou band at ``Cankpe' Opi Wakpa'' or ``Wounded Knee
Creek''.
(8) This engagement became known as the ``Wounded Knee
Massacre'', and took place between unarmed Native Americans
and soldiers, heavily armed with standard issue army rifles
as well as four ``Hotchkiss guns'' with five 37 mm barrels
capable of firing 43 rounds per minute.
(9) Nearly two-thirds of the Native Americans killed during
the Massacre were unarmed women and children who were
participating in a ceremony to restore their traditional
homelands prior to the arrival of European settlers.
(10) Poor tactical emplacement of the soldiers meant that
most of the casualties suffered by the United States troops
were inflicted by friendly fire.
(11) On January 1st, 1891, Major General Nelson A. Miles,
Commander of the Division of Missouri, telegraphed Major
General John M. Schofield, Commander-in-Chief of the Army
notifying him that ``[I]t is stated that the disposition of
four hundred soldiers and four pieces of artillery was
fatally defective and large number of soldiers were killed
and wounded by the fire from their own ranks and a very large
number of women and children were killed in addition to the
Indian men''.
(12) The United States awarded 20 Medals of Honor to
soldiers of the U.S. 7th Cavalry following their
participation in the Wounded Knee Massacre.
(13) In 2001, the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, a member
Tribe of the Great Sioux Nation, upon information provided by
Lakota elders and by veterans, passed Tribal Council
Resolution No. 132-01, requesting that the Federal Government
revoke the Medals of Honor from the soldiers of the United
States Army, 7th Cavalry issued following the massacre of
unarmed men, women, children, and elderly of the Great Sioux
Nation on December 29, 1890, on Tribal Lands near Wounded
Knee Creek.
(14) The National Congress of American Indians requested in
a 2007 Resolution that the Congress ``renounce the issuance
of said medals, and/or to proclaim that the medals are null
and void, given the atrocities committed upon unarmed men,
women, children and elderly of the Great Sioux Nation''.
(15) General Miles contemporaneously stated that a
``[w]holesale massacre occurred and I have never heard of a
more brutal, cold-blooded massacre than that at Wounded
Knee''.
(16) Allowing any Medal of Honor, the United States highest
and most prestigious military decoration, to recognize a
member of the Armed Forces for distinguished service for
participating in the massacre of hundreds of unarmed Native
Americans is a disservice to the integrity of the United
States and its citizens, and impinges on the integrity of the
award and those who have earned the Medal since.
(c) Rescission of Medals of Honor Awarded for Acts at
Wounded Knee Creek on December 29, 1890.--
(1) In general.--Each Medal of Honor awarded for acts at
Wounded Knee Creek, Lakota Pine Ridge Indian Reservation,
South Dakota, on December 29, 1890, is rescinded.
(2) Medal of honor roll.--The Secretary concerned shall
remove the name of each individual awarded a Medal of Honor
for acts described in paragraph (1) from the Army, Navy, Air
Force, and Coast Guard Medal of Honor Roll maintained under
section 1134a of title 10, United States Code.
(3) Return of medal not required.--No person may be
required to return to the Federal Government a Medal of Honor
rescinded under paragraph (1).
(4) No denial of benefits.--This section shall not be
construed to deny any individual any benefit from the Federal
Government.
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