Pacific Defenders of World War II Congressional Gold Medal Act

Summary: Pacific Defenders of World War II Congressional Gold Medal Act This bill directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to arrange for the presentation of a Congressional Gold Medal in commemoration of members of the Armed Forces who fought in defense of Guam, Wake Island, and the Philippine Archipelago between December 7, 1941, and May 10, 1942, and who died or were imprisoned by the Japanese military in the Philippines, Japan, Korea, Manchuria, Wake Island, and Guam from April 9, 1942, until September 2, 1945, in recognition of their personal sacrifice and service to the United States.  Following its presentation, the gold medal shall be given to the Smithsonian Institution where it shall be displayed and made available for research.  

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Pacific Defenders of World War II 
Congressional Gold Medal Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) Guam was captured by Imperial Japanese forces on 
        December 10, 1941, 3 days after the attack on Pearl Harbor and 
        remained in the hands of the Japanese until June 1944;
            (2) the prisoners who remained on Guam suffered atrocities 
        at the hands of the Japanese, with some prisoners being 
        transported on hell ships to Japanese prisoner of war camps;
            (3) on December 22, 1941, the Japanese took approximately 
        1,600 prisoners on Wake Island;
            (4) approximately 450 members of the Armed Forces and 1,150 
        civilians were captured on Wake Island and transported on hell 
        ships to prisoner of war camps in China and Japan;
            (5) Major General Edward King led the combined Philippine-
        United States force of 75,000 troops in the defense of the 
        Bataan peninsula, until April 9, 1942, at which point, due to 
        diminishing resources and disease, Major General King 
        surrendered soldiers from the United States and the 
        Commonwealth of the Philippines into enemy hands;
            (6) over the next week, the soldiers from the United States 
        and the Philippine Commonwealth were taken prisoner and forced 
        to march 65 miles without food, water, or medical care in what 
        came to be known as the Bataan Death March, where approximately 
        600 members of the Armed Forces and between 5,000 and 10,000 
        Filipino soldiers died from starvation disease, exposure, 
        exhaustion, and abuse by their captors;
            (7) on May 6, 1942, the resistance reached its limitations 
        after a weeklong siege and Lieutenant General Wainwright, as 
        authorized by President Roosevelt, surrendered the remaining 
        11,000 troops on Corregidor Island;
            (8) on May 10, 1942, the only remaining resistance force in 
        the archipelago, under the command of Major General William F. 
        Sharp, surrendered after fighting the Japanese from April 29, 
        1942, to May 9, 1942, on the island of Mindanao, at which point 
        Lieutenant General Jonathan Wainwright, as Supreme Allied 
        Commander, surrendered all Allied Forces in the Philippine 
        archipelago;
            (9) within the first 40 days 1,600 more United States 
        prisoners died at Camp O'Donnell, a pre-war training camp 
        turned prisoner of war camp, which had substandard conditions, 
        leading to increased disease and malnutrition among the 
        prisoners;
            (10) in May 1942, the Japanese began transferring prisoners 
        of war by sea to Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Manchuria, Sumatra, 
        Burma, and Siam;
            (11) during the transfer, prisoners were crammed into cargo 
        holds with little air, food or water for journeys that would 
        last for weeks on what were to be known as the hell ships;
            (12) many died due to asphyxia, starvation, or dysentery 
        and some prisoners became delirious and unresponsive in an 
        environment of heat, humidity and lack of oxygen, food, and 
        water;
            (13) estimates of more than 126,000 Allied prisoners of war 
        were transported in 156 voyages on 134 Japanese merchant ships, 
        of whom more than 21,000 people of the United States were 
        killed or injured;
            (14) on June 6, 1942, 6,000 United States prisoners of war 
        were transferred to Cabanatuan, north of Camp O'Donnell, where 
        they were assigned to work details and hard labor and where 
        3,000 members of the Armed Forces died from disease, 
        starvation, beatings, and executions;
            (15) the campus of the University of Santo Tomas in Manila 
        was converted to the Santo Tomas Internment Camp by the 
        Japanese during their occupation of the Philippines, from 
        January 1942 until February 1945;
            (16) Santo Tomas became the internment camp for United 
        States Army and Navy nurses also known as ``the Angels of 
        Bataan and Corregidor'', who continued to serve as a nursing 
        unit while imprisoned and until their liberation;
            (17) the prisoners who remained in the camps suffered from 
        continued mistreatment, malnutrition, lack of medical care, and 
        horrific conditions;
            (18) Operation Blacklist began in early 1945 to locate, 
        recover, and repatriate all prisoners of war;
            (19) over the subsequent decades, these prisoners formed 
        support groups, were honored in local and State memorials, and 
        told their story to the people of the United States; and
            (20) the people of the United States are forever indebted 
        to these men and women for--
                    (A) the courage they demonstrated during the first 
                4 months of World War II in fighting against enemy 
                soldiers; and
                    (B) the perseverance they demonstrated during 
                subsequent years of capture and imprisonment under 
                brutal conditions, while maintaining their dignity, 
                honor, patriotism, and loyalty.

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 of 
members of the Armed Forces who fought in defense of Guam, Wake Island, 
and the Philippine archipelago between December 7, 1941, and May 10, 
1942, and who died or were imprisoned by the Japanese military in the 
Philippines, Japan, Korea, Manchuria, Wake Island, and Guam from April 
9, 1942, until September 2, 1945, in recognition of their personal 
sacrifice and service to the United States.
    (b) Design and Striking.--For purposes of the presentation under 
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) Transfer and Display of Medals.--
            (1) In general.--Following the presentation of the gold 
        medal under subsection (a), the gold medal shall be given to 
        the Smithsonian Institution, where it shall be displayed as 
        appropriate and made available for research.
            (2) Sense of congress.--It is the sense of the Congress 
        that the Smithsonian Institution should make the gold medal 
        received under paragraph (1) available for display at other 
        locations, particularly such locations as are associated with 
        the members of the Armed Forces described under subsection (a).

SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS.

    The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the gold 
medal struck under 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. NATIONAL MEDALS.

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