[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 149 (Tuesday, September 24, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6376-S6380]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           TEXT OF AMENDMENTS

  SA 3294. Mr. SCHUMER (for Mr. Carper (for himself and Mrs. Capito)) 
proposed an amendment to the bill H.R. 5009, to reauthorize wildlife 
habitat and conservation programs, and for other purposes; as follows:

        Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the 
     following:

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Wildlife Innovation and 
     Longevity Driver reauthorization Act'' or the ``WILD Act''.

     SEC. 2. PARTNERS FOR FISH AND WILDLIFE ACT.

       Section 5 of the Partners for Fish and Wildlife Act (16 
     U.S.C. 3774) is amended by striking ``2019 through 2023'' and 
     inserting ``2024 through 2028''.

     SEC. 3. AFRICAN ELEPHANT CONSERVATION ACT.

       (a) Provision of Assistance.--Section 2101 of the African 
     Elephant Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 4211) is amended by 
     adding at the end the following:
       ``(g) Multiyear Grants.--
       ``(1) Authorization.--The Secretary may award to a person 
     who is otherwise eligible for a grant under this section a 
     multiyear grant of up to 5 years to carry out a project that 
     the person demonstrates is an effective, long-term 
     conservation strategy for African elephants and the habitat 
     of African elephants.
       ``(2) Effect.--Nothing in this subsection precludes the 
     Secretary from awarding a grant on an annual basis.''.
       (b) Authorization of Appropriations.--Section 2306(a) of 
     the African Elephant Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 4245(a)) is 
     amended by striking ``2019 through 2023'' and inserting 
     ``2024 through 2028''.

     SEC. 4. ASIAN ELEPHANT CONSERVATION ACT OF 1997.

       (a) Asian Elephant Conservation Assistance.--Section 5 of 
     the Asian Elephant Conservation Act of 1997 (16 U.S.C. 4264) 
     is amended by adding at the end the following:
       ``(i) Multiyear Grants.--
       ``(1) Authorization.--The Secretary may award to a person 
     who is otherwise eligible for a grant under this section a 
     multiyear grant of up to 5 years to carry out a project that 
     the person demonstrates is an effective, long-term 
     conservation strategy for Asian elephants and the habitat of 
     Asian elephants.
       ``(2) Effect.--Nothing in this subsection precludes the 
     Secretary from awarding a grant on an annual basis.''.
       (b) Authorization of Appropriations.--Section 8(a) of the 
     Asian Elephant Conservation Act of 1997 (16 U.S.C. 4266(a)) 
     is amended by striking ``2019 through 2023'' and inserting 
     ``2024 through 2028''.

[[Page S6377]]

  


     SEC. 5. RHINOCEROS AND TIGER CONSERVATION ACT OF 1994.

       (a) Rhinoceros and Tiger Conservation Assistance.--Section 
     5 of the Rhinoceros and Tiger Conservation Act of 1994 (16 
     U.S.C. 5304) is amended by adding at the end the following:
       ``(g) Multiyear Grants.--
       ``(1) Authorization.--The Secretary may award to a person 
     who is otherwise eligible for a grant under this section a 
     multiyear grant of up to 5 years to carry out a project that 
     the person demonstrates is an effective, long-term 
     conservation strategy for rhinoceroses or tigers and the 
     habitat of rhinoceroses or tigers.
       ``(2) Effect.--Nothing in this subsection precludes the 
     Secretary from awarding a grant on an annual basis.''.
       (b) Authorization of Appropriations.--Section 10(a) of the 
     Rhinoceros and Tiger Conservation Act of 1994 (16 U.S.C. 
     5306(a)) is amended by striking ``2019 through 2023'' and 
     inserting ``2024 through 2028''.

     SEC. 6. GREAT APE CONSERVATION ACT OF 2000.

       (a) Multiyear Grants.--Section 4(j)(1) of the Great Ape 
     Conservation Act of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 6303(j)(1)) is amended by 
     inserting ``of up to 5 years'' after ``multiyear grant''.
       (b) Authorization of Appropriations.--Section 6 of the 
     Great Ape Conservation Act of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 6305) is 
     amended by striking ``2019 through 2023'' and inserting 
     ``2024 through 2028''.

     SEC. 7. MARINE TURTLE CONSERVATION ACT OF 2004.

       (a) Multiyear Grants.--Section 4 of the Marine Turtle 
     Conservation Act of 2004 (16 U.S.C. 6603) is amended by 
     adding at the end the following:
       ``(h) Multiyear Grants.--
       ``(1) Authorization.--The Secretary may award to a person 
     who is otherwise eligible for a grant under this section a 
     multiyear grant of up to 5 years to carry out a project that 
     the person demonstrates is an effective, long-term 
     conservation strategy for marine turtles, freshwater turtles, 
     or tortoises and the habitat of marine turtles, freshwater 
     turtles, or tortoises.
       ``(2) Effect.--Nothing in this subsection precludes the 
     Secretary from awarding a grant on an annual basis.''.
       (b) Authorization of Appropriations.--Section 7(a) of the 
     Marine Turtle Conservation Act of 2004 (16 U.S.C. 6606(a)) is 
     amended by striking ``2019 through 2023'' and inserting 
     ``2024 through 2028''.

     SEC. 8. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.

       (a) Reports to Congress.--Annually, the Secretary of the 
     Interior shall submit to the appropriate committees of 
     Congress a report on the implementation of--
       (1) the African Elephant Conservation Act (16 U.S.C. 4201 
     et seq.);
       (2) the Asian Elephant Conservation Act of 1997 (16 U.S.C. 
     4261 et seq.);
       (3) the Rhinoceros and Tiger Conservation Act of 1994 (16 
     U.S.C. 5301 et seq.);
       (4) the Great Ape Conservation Act of 2000 (16 U.S.C. 6301 
     et seq.); and
       (5) the Marine Turtle Conservation Act of 2004 (16 U.S.C. 
     6601 et seq.).
       (b) Requirements.--A report submitted under subsection (a) 
     shall include--
       (1) a list of all awards issued each year under the 
     applicable Act;
       (2) the total monetary amount issued to each award 
     recipient;
       (3) the name of each award recipient organization;
       (4) the country where each award will be implemented; and
       (5) a description of the projects to be completed and 
     completed under each award.
                                 ______
                                 
  SA 3295. Mr. SCHUMER (for Mr. Hagerty) proposed an amendment to the 
bill S. 91, to award a Congressional Gold Medal to 60 diplomats, in 
recognition of their bravery and heroism during the Holocaust; as 
follows:

        Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the 
     following:

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Forgotten Heroes of the 
     Holocaust Congressional Gold Medal Act''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS.

       (a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
       (1) The following diplomats will be honored posthumously: 
     Per Anger (Sweden), Jose Maria Barreto Bustios (Peru), Lars 
     Berg (Sweden), Philippe Bernardini (Vatican/Italy), Hiram 
     (Harry) Bingham IV (United States), Friedrich Born 
     (Switzerland), Gilberto Bosques Saldivar (Mexico), Carlos de 
     Liz-Texeira Branquinho (Portugal), Samuel del Campo (Chile), 
     Aracy de Carvalho Guimaraes Rosa (Brazil), Jose Arturo 
     Castellanos Contreras (El Salvador), Carl Ivan Danielsson 
     (Sweden), Luis Martins de Souza Dantas (Brazil), Georg 
     Ferdinand Duckwitz (Germany), Harald Feller (Switzerland), 
     Francis (Frank) Foley (United Kingdom), Jean-Edouard 
     Friedrich (Switzerland), Carlos Almeida Afonseca de Sampaio 
     Garrido (Portugal), Raymond Herman Geist (United States), 
     Feng-Shan Ho (Republic of China), Constantin Karadja 
     (Romania), Alexander Kasser (Sandor Kasza) (Sweden), Elow 
     Kihlgren (Sweden), Joseph Willem (Joop) Kolkman 
     (Netherlands), Julius Kuhl (Poland), Aleksander 4ados 
     (Poland), Valdemar Langlet (Sweden), Charles (Carl) Lutz 
     (Switzerland), George Mandel-Mantello (El Salvador), Florian 
     Manoliu (Romania), Manuel Antonio Munoz Borrero (Ecuador), 
     Salomon Jacob (Sally) Noach (Netherlands), Giorgio (Jorge) 
     Perlasca (Spain/Italy), Ernst Prodolliet (Switzerland), 
     Eduardo Propper de Callejon (Spain), Franjo Puncuch 
     (Yugoslavia/Slovenia), Konstanty Rokicki (Poland), Sebastian 
     de Romero Radigales (Spain), Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli 
     (Vatican/Italy), Angelo Rotta (Vatican/Italy), Albert Emile 
     Routier (Turkey/France), Jose Ruiz Santaella (Spain), Stefan 
     Ryniewicz (Poland), Angel Sanz-Briz (Spain), Abdol-Hossein 
     Sardari (Iran), Henryk Slawik (Poland), Robert Smallbones 
     (United Kingdom), Aristides de Sousa Mendes (Portugal), Jan 
     Spisiak (Slovakia), Chiune (Sempo) Sugihara (Japan), 
     Ireanaeus Typaldos (Spain), Alexander (Sandor) Ujvary 
     (Vatican/Hungary), Selahattin Ulkumen (Turkey), Gennaro 
     Verolino (Vatican/Italy), Vladimir Vochoc (Czech Republic), 
     Ernst Vonrufs (Switzerland), Raoul Wallenberg (Sweden), 
     Guelfo Zamboni (Italy), Peter Zurcher (Switzerland), and Jan 
     Zwartendijk (Netherlands).
       (2) On September 1, 1939, Adolf Hitler and the Nazis began 
     their invasion of Europe, which started World War II and 
     threw the world into chaos. The Nazi plan of mass murder of 
     the Jewish population was in full motion. As battles were 
     being fought between countries, Jews were being rounded up 
     and sent to concentration camps throughout Europe. This 
     process began a mass exodus of people out of Europe, 
     especially those in the Jewish community.
       (3) During the war, members of the Jewish community used 
     every tool and means at their disposal to flee Nazi tyranny. 
     Thousands tried to flee on trains or boats to escape from 
     Europe.
       (4) While the armies of countries were fighting each other, 
     a handful of diplomats, from around the world, stepped 
     forward and took heroic actions to save Jews fleeing Europe. 
     This was an incredibly dangerous process. If the Nazis 
     discovered the actions of these diplomats they would be 
     expelled, as a few of them were. Also, while worrying about 
     the Nazis, diplomats had to worry about their careers and 
     livelihoods back home. Many of them had strict orders from 
     their home countries to not aid the Jewish population in any 
     way.
       (5) These diplomats used every means at their disposal to 
     help Jews fleeing persecution. One of the most powerful tools 
     the diplomats had to use was the issuing of passports and 
     travel visas contrary to the instruction of the governments 
     of the diplomats. This process alone is responsible for 
     saving hundreds of thousands of Jewish families in Europe. 
     This was not the only tool used as many of the diplomats were 
     connected with the local populations and were great 
     communicators for Jews trying to travel underground. They 
     were able set up safehouses and getaways to hide Jews and 
     especially Jewish children from Nazi authorities. In the most 
     dangerous of times, several of these diplomats confronted the 
     Nazis directly on behalf of the Jews and personally put 
     themselves in grave danger.
       (6) Every diplomat knew the dangers and knew what they were 
     up against, and still pushed forward to save those in the 
     most danger.
       (7) The Congressional Gold Medal authorized under this Act 
     will help remind humanity that when the diplomats were faced 
     with terrible crises, they went beyond the fold, including 
     risking their careers and the lives of themselves and their 
     families, to engage in this humanitarian mission. The 
     diplomats of today and future generations can look towards 
     these heroes and be inspired by their lives of heroism and 
     sacrifice.
       (8) Nothing in this Act shall be construed as stating or 
     implying that this group of honorees encompasses everyone who 
     took this type of heroic action during this era. As the title 
     attests, the ``Forgotten Heroes'' performed these deeds out 
     of righteousness, with no expectation of public acclaim. The 
     sponsors of this Act wish to honor this group of individuals 
     for whose deeds the historical record is currently definitive 
     and well-documented. Given that historical research is 
     ongoing, in the event that robust documentation from 
     professional historians, expert stakeholders, and public 
     input identify others worthy of official recognition, future 
     Congresses retain the right to recognize additional forgotten 
     heroes of the Holocaust pursuant to future legislation.

     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 Congress, of a single gold medal of appropriate 
     design in honor of the 60 diplomats identified in section 
     2(1), in recognition of their brave and vital service of 
     saving Jews during 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 
     single gold medal with suitable emblems, devices, and 
     inscriptions, to be determined by the Secretary.
       (c) Presentation of Medal.--The single gold medal presented 
     under subsection (a) shall be presented collectively to the 
     eldest next of kin of each of the 60 diplomats identified in 
     section 2(1), who shall receive the medal as part of a 
     delegation consisting of a senior official representative of 
     the country that each diplomat served and the cochairs of the 
     Forgotten Heroes of the Holocaust Committee.
       (d) United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.--

[[Page S6378]]

       (1) In general.--Following the award of the gold medal in 
     honor of the 60 diplomats identified in section 2(1), the 
     gold medal shall be given to the United States Holocaust 
     Memorial Museum, where it will be available for display as 
     appropriate and available for research.
       (2) Sense of congress.--It is the sense of Congress that 
     the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum should make the 
     gold medal awarded pursuant to this Act available for display 
     elsewhere, particularly at appropriate locations associated 
     with Holocaust remembrance.

     SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS.

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

     SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS.

       (a) National Medal.--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 sections 5134 and 
     5136 of title 31, United States Code, all medals struck under 
     this Act shall be considered to be numismatic items.

     SEC. 6. 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 under this Act.
       (b) Proceeds of Sale.--Amounts received from the sale of 
     duplicate bronze medals authorized under section 4 shall be 
     deposited into the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund.
                                 ______
                                 
  SA 3296. Mr. SCHUMER (for Mr. Tester) proposed an amendment to the 
bill S. 815, to award a Congressional Gold Medal to the female 
telephone operators of the Army Signal Corps, known as the ``Hello 
Girls''; as follows:

        Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the 
     following:

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Hello Girls Congressional 
     Gold Medal Act of 2024''.

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       Congress finds the following:
       (1) On April 6, 1917, the United States declared war 
     against Germany. As a historically neutral nation, the United 
     States was unprepared to fight a technologically modern 
     conflict overseas. The United States called upon American 
     Telephone and Telegraph (referred to in this section as 
     ``AT&T'') to provide equipment and trained personnel for the 
     Army Signal Corps in France. AT&T executives in Army uniform 
     served at home under the provisions of the Act entitled ``An 
     Act for making further and more effectual provision for the 
     national defense, and for other purposes.'', approved June 3, 
     1916 (referred to in this section as the ``National Defense 
     Act of 1916''), which allowed for the induction of 
     individuals with specialized skills into a reserve force.
       (2) When General John Pershing sailed for Europe in May of 
     1917 as head of the American Expeditionary Forces (referred 
     to in this section as the ``AEF''), he took telephone 
     operating equipment with him in recognition of the inadequacy 
     of European circuitry and with the understanding that 
     telephones would play a key role in battlefield 
     communications for the first time in the history of war.
       (3) From May to November of 1917, the AEF struggled to 
     develop the telephone service necessary for the Army to 
     function under battlefield conditions. Monolingual 
     infantrymen from the United States were unable to connect 
     calls rapidly or communicate effectively with their French 
     counterparts to put calls through over toll lines that linked 
     one region of the country with another. The Army found that 
     the average male operator required 60 seconds to make a 
     connection. That rate was unacceptably slow, especially for 
     operational calls between command outposts and the front 
     lines.
       (4) During this time, in the United States, telephone 
     operating was largely sex-segregated. Hired for their speed 
     in connecting calls, women filled 85 percent of the telephone 
     operating positions in the United States. It took the average 
     female operator 10 seconds to make a connection.
       (5) On November 8, 1917, General Pershing cabled the War 
     Department and wrote, ``On account of the great difficulty of 
     obtaining properly qualified men, request organization and 
     dispatch to France a force of women telephone operators all 
     speaking French and English equally well.''. To begin, 
     General Pershing requested 100 women under the command of a 
     commissioned captain, writing that ``All should have 
     allowances of Army nurses and should be uniformed.''.
       (6) The War Department sent press releases to newspapers 
     across the United States to recruit women willing to serve 
     for the duration of the war and face the hazards of submarine 
     warfare and aerial bombardment. These articles emphasized 
     that patriotic women would be ``full-fledged soldier[s] under 
     the articles of war'' and would ``do as much to help win the 
     war as the men in khaki who go `over the top.' ''. All women 
     selected would take the Army oath.
       (7) More than 7,600 women volunteered for the 100 positions 
     described in paragraph (5), and the first recruits took the 
     Army oath on January 15, 1918.
       (8) Like nurses and doctors at the time, female Signal 
     Corps members had relative rather than traditional ranks and 
     were ranked as Operator, Supervisor, or Chief Operator. When 
     promoted, the women were required to swear the Army oath 
     again.
       (9) Telephone operators were the first women to serve as 
     soldiers in non-medical classifications, and the job of the 
     operators was to help win the war, not to mitigate the harms 
     of the war. In popular parlance, they were known as the 
     ``Hello Girls''.
       (10) Signal Corps Operators wore Army uniforms and Army 
     insignia always, as well as standard-issue identity disks in 
     case of death, and were subject to court martial for 
     infractions of the military code.
       (11) Unbeknownst to the women operators and their immediate 
     officers, the legal counsel of the Army ruled internally on 
     March 20, 1918, that the women were not actually soldiers but 
     contract employees, even though the women had not seen or 
     signed any contracts. Military code allowed only for the 
     induction of men, and the code remained unchanged despite the 
     orders of General Pershing. Nevertheless, legal counsel also 
     recognized that the National Defense Act of 1916, which 
     allowed for the induction of members of the telephone 
     industry of the United States into the Armed Forces, imposed 
     no gender restrictions.
       (12) Four days later, on March 24, 1918, the first 
     contingent of operators began their official duties in 
     France. The operators arrived before most infantrymen of the 
     Armed Forces in order to facilitate logistics and deployment 
     and spent their first night in Paris under German 
     bombardment.
       (13) After the arrival of the operators, telephone service 
     in France improved immediately, as calls tripled from 13,000 
     to 36,000 per day.
       (14) The Army quickly recruited, trained, and deployed 5 
     additional contingents of female Signal Corps operators. With 
     these personnel, the number of calls increased to 150,000 per 
     day.
       (15) In addition to standard telephone operating, bilingual 
     Signal Corps members provided simultaneous translation 
     between officers from France and officers from the United 
     States, who were communicating by telephone.
       (16) The AEF fought their first major battles in the last 2 
     months of the war. By that point, the Signal Corps considered 
     the contributions of women to be so essential that, in 
     telephone exchanges closest to the front line, the Army 
     exclusively used women, in rotating 12-hour shifts. In the 
     rear, the Army established rotating 8-hour shifts and gave 
     male soldiers the overnight shift when telephone traffic was 
     slower.
       (17) Seven bilingual operators--
       (A) served at the Battles of St. Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne 
     under the immediate command of General Pershing;
       (B) staffed the Operations Boards through which orders to 
     advance, fire, and retreat were delivered to soldiers in the 
     trenches, to artillery units on alert, and to pilots awaiting 
     orders at French airfields; and
       (C) were awarded a ``Defensive Sector Clasp'' for the 
     Meuse-Argonne operation.
       (18) The Chief Operator supervising the Hello Girls, Grace 
     Banker of Passaic, New Jersey, was awarded the Distinguished 
     Service Medal. Out of 16,000 eligible Signal Corps officers, 
     Banker was one of only 18 individuals so honored.
       (19) Thirty additional operators received special 
     commendations, many signed by General Pershing himself, for 
     ``exceptionally meritorious and conspicuous services'' in 
     ``Advance Sections'' of the conflict.
       (20) The war ended on November 11, 1918. As of that date, 
     223 female operators served in France and had connected 
     26,000,000 calls for the AEF.
       (21) The Chief Signal Officer of the Army Signal Corps 
     wrote in his official report 2 days after the date on which 
     the war ended that ``a large part of the success of the 
     communications of this Army is due to . . . a competent staff 
     of women operators.''.
       (22) After the war ended, some women were ordered to 
     Coblenz in Germany for the occupation of that country and to 
     Paris for the Paris Peace Treaty of 1919 to continue 
     telephone operations, sometimes in direct support of 
     President Woodrow Wilson.
       (23) Two operators, Corah Bartlett and Inez Crittenden, 
     died in France in the service of the United States and were 
     buried there in military cemeteries with military ceremonies. 
     Those operators died of the same influenza pandemic that 
     killed more soldiers of the Armed Forces than combat 
     operations.
       (24) Women of the Army Signal Corps were ineligible for 
     discharge until formal release. Because of their role in 
     logistics, those women were among the last soldiers to come 
     home to the United States. The last Signal Corps operators 
     returned from France in January of 1920.
       (25) Upon arrival in the United States, the Army informed 
     female veterans that they had performed as civilians, not 
     soldiers, even though operators had served in Army uniform in 
     a theater of war surrounded by men who were similarly 
     engaged.
       (26) Despite the objections of General George Squier, the 
     top-ranking officer in the Signal Corps, the Army denied 
     Signal Corps women the veterans' benefits granted to male 
     soldiers and female nurses, such as--
       (A) hospitalization for disabilities incurred in the line 
     of duty;

[[Page S6379]]

       (B) cash bonuses;
       (C) soldiers' pensions;
       (D) flags on their coffins; and
       (E) the Victory Medals promised them in France.
       (27) For the next 60 years, female veterans, led by Merle 
     Egan from Montana, petitioned Congress more than 50 times for 
     their recognition. In 1977, under the sponsorship of Senator 
     Barry Goldwater, Congress passed legislation to retroactively 
     acknowledge the military service of the Women's Airforce 
     Service Pilots (referred to in this section as ``WASPs'') of 
     World War II and ``the service of any person in any other 
     similarly situated group the members of which rendered 
     service to the Armed Forces of the United States in a 
     capacity considered civilian employment or contractual 
     service at the time such service was rendered''.
       (28) On November 23, 1977, President Jimmy Carter signed 
     the legislation described in paragraph (27) into law as the 
     GI Bill Improvement Act of 1977 (Public Law 95-202; 91 Stat. 
     1433).
       (29) The Signal Corps telephone operators applied for, and 
     were granted, status as veterans in 1979.
       (30) Only 33 of the operators who had returned home after 
     the war were still alive to receive their Victory Medals and 
     official discharge papers, which were finally awarded in 
     1979.
       (31) One of the women, Olive Shaw from Massachusetts, 
     returned to the United States after the war, where she worked 
     on the professional staff of Congresswoman Edith Nourse 
     Rogers. Shaw lived to receive her honorable discharge and was 
     the first burial when the Massachusetts National Cemetery 
     opened on October 11, 1980. Shaw's uniform is on display at 
     the National World War I Museum and Memorial in Kansas City, 
     Missouri.
       (32) Upon receipt of her honorable discharge at a ceremony 
     in her home in Marine City, Michigan, ``Hello Girl'' Oleda 
     Joure Christides raised the paper to her lips and kissed it. 
     The only thing Christides ever wanted from the Federal 
     Government was a flag on her coffin.
       (33) On July 1, 2009, President Barack Obama signed into 
     law Public Law 111-40 (123 Stat. 1958), which awarded the 
     WASPs the Congressional Gold Medal for their service to the 
     United States.
       (34) For their role as pioneers who paved the way for all 
     women in uniform, and for service that was essential to 
     victory in World War I, the ``Hello Girls'' merit similar 
     recognition.

     SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.

       (a) Award Authorized.--The Speaker of the House of 
     Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate 
     shall make appropriate arrangements for the award, on behalf 
     of Congress, of a single gold medal of appropriate design in 
     honor of the female telephone operators of the Army Signal 
     Corps (commonly known as the ``Hello Girls''), in recognition 
     of those operators'--
       (1) pioneering military service;
       (2) devotion to duty; and
       (3) 60-year struggle for--
       (A) recognition as soldiers; and
       (B) veterans' benefits.
       (b) Design and Striking.--For the purposes of the award 
     described in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury 
     (referred to in this Act as the ``Secretary'') shall strike 
     the gold medal with suitable emblems, devices, and 
     inscriptions, to be determined by the Secretary.
       (c) Smithsonian Institution.--
       (1) In general.--After the award of the gold medal under 
     subsection (a), the medal shall be given to the Smithsonian 
     Institution, where the medal 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 should make the gold medal 
     received under paragraph (1) available elsewhere, 
     particularly at--
       (A) appropriate locations associated with--
       (i) the Army Signal Corps;
       (ii) the Women in Military Service for America Memorial;
       (iii) the U.S. Army Women's Museum; and
       (iv) the National World War I Museum and Memorial; and
       (B) any other location determined appropriate by the 
     Smithsonian Institution.

     SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS.

       The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of 
     the gold medal struck under section 3 at a price sufficient 
     to cover the costs of the medals, including labor, materials, 
     dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses.

     SEC. 5. NATIONAL MEDALS.

       (a) National Medals.--Medals struck under this Act are 
     national medals for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, 
     United States Code.
       (b) Numismatic Items.--For purposes of sections 5134 and 
     5136 of title 31, United States Code, all medals struck under 
     this Act shall be considered to be numismatic items.

     SEC. 6. 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 under this Act.
       (b) Proceeds of Sale.--Amounts received from the sale of 
     duplicate bronze medals authorized under section 4 shall be 
     deposited into the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund.
                                 ______
                                 
  SA 3297. Mr. SCHUMER (for Mr. McConnell) proposed an amendment to the 
bill H.R. 6513, to amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to confirm 
the requirement that States allow access to designated congressional 
election observers to observe the election administration procedures in 
congressional elections; as follows:

        Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the 
     following:

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Confirmation Of 
     Congressional Observer Access Act of 2024'' or the ``COCOA 
     Act of 2024''.

     SEC. 2. ACCESS FOR CONGRESSIONAL ELECTION OBSERVERS.

       (a) Access Required.--Title III of the Help America Vote 
     Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.) is amended--
       (1) by redesignating section 304 and 305 as sections 305 
     and 306; and
       (2) by inserting after section 303 the following new 
     section:

     ``SEC. 304. ACCESS FOR CONGRESSIONAL ELECTION OBSERVERS.

       ``(a) Finding of Constitutional Authority.--Congress finds 
     that, regardless of legislative action, it has the authority 
     to send congressional election observers to observe polling 
     locations, any location where processing, scanning, 
     tabulating, canvassing, recounting, auditing, or certifying 
     voting results is occurring, or any other part of the process 
     associated with elections for Federal office under the 
     authorities granted under article 1, section 5, clause 1 and 
     article 1, section 4, clause 1 of the Constitution of the 
     United States. Procedures described herein do not establish 
     any new authorities or procedures with respect to Congress' 
     constitutional authority to observe congressional elections 
     but are provided simply to permit a convenient statutory 
     reference for existing congressional authority and activity.
       ``(b) Requiring States To Provide Access for Observers.--
       ``(1) Requirement.--A State shall provide each individual 
     who is acting as a designated congressional election observer 
     for an election for Federal office with full access to 
     clearly observe all elements of election administration 
     procedures, including, but not limited to, access to any area 
     in which a ballot is cast, processed, scanned, tabulated, 
     canvassed, recounted, audited, or certified, including during 
     pre- and post-election procedures.
       ``(2) Restrictions on activities of observers.--No 
     designated congressional election observer may handle a 
     ballot or election equipment (whether voting or nonvoting or 
     whether tabulating or nontabulating), advocate for any 
     position or candidate, take any action to reduce ballot 
     secrecy or voter privacy, take any action to interfere with 
     the ability of a voter to cast a ballot or an election 
     administrator to carry the administrator's duties, or 
     otherwise interfere with the election administration process.
       ``(3) Rule of construction.--Nothing in this section shall 
     prohibit a designated congressional election observer from 
     asking questions of an election administrator, election 
     official, or election worker, or any other State or local 
     official.
       ``(c) Conduct of Observers.--
       ``(1) Removal.--
       ``(A) Authorization removal by election official.--If a 
     State or local election official has a reasonable basis to 
     believe that a designated congressional election observer has 
     engaged in or imminently will engage in intimidation or 
     deceptive practices prohibited by Federal law, or in the 
     disruption of voting, processing, scanning, tabulating, 
     canvassing, or recounting of ballots, or the certification of 
     results, a State or local election official may remove that 
     observer from the area involved.
       ``(B) Notice to committee.--If a designated congressional 
     election observer is removed from an area under subparagraph 
     (A), the election official shall, within 24 hours of the 
     observer's removal--
       ``(i) inform the chair and ranking minority member of the 
     Committee on House Administration of the House of 
     Representatives or the Committee on Rules and Administration 
     of the Senate, as applicable; and
       ``(ii) provide written notice detailing the reason or 
     reasons the designated congressional election observer was 
     removed.
       ``(2) Rule of construction.--For purposes of this 
     subsection, the mere presence of a designated congressional 
     election observer during an observation of election 
     administration procedures, without any additional indicia 
     supporting a reasonable basis for removal, is not a 
     sufficient reason for removal under paragraph (1)(A).
       ``(3) Right to replace observer.--If a designated 
     congressional election observer is properly removed under 
     paragraph (1)(A), the chair or ranking minority member of the 
     Committee on House Administration of the House of 
     Representatives or the Committee on Rules and Administration 
     of the Senate, as appropriate, may send another designated 
     congressional election observer as a replacement for the 
     remaining duration of the observation of election 
     administration procedures.
       ``(d) Designated Congressional Election Observer 
     Described.--In this section, a

[[Page S6380]]

     `designated congressional election observer' is a House or 
     Senate employee who is designated in writing by the chair or 
     ranking minority member of the Committee on House 
     Administration of the House of Representatives or the 
     Committee on Rules and Administration of the Senate, or a 
     successor committee, to gather information with respect to an 
     election, including in the event that the election is 
     contested in the House of Representatives or the Senate and 
     for other purposes permitted by article 1, section 5, clause 
     1 and article 1, section 4, clause 1 of the Constitution of 
     the United States.
       ``(e) State Defined.--In this section, the term `State' 
     means each of the 50 States, the District of Columbia, the 
     Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin 
     Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the 
     Northern Mariana Islands.''.
       (b) Conforming Amendment Relating to Enforcement.--Section 
     401 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21111) is amended by striking 
     ``and 303'' and inserting ``303, and 304''.
       (c) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents of such Act 
     is amended--
       (1) by redesignating the items relating to sections 304 and 
     305 as relating to sections 305 and 306; and
       (2) by inserting after the item relating to section 303 the 
     following:

``Sec. 304. Confirming access for congressional election observers.''.

                          ____________________