I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4867 

To award a Congressional Gold Medal to General James N. Mattis, in 

recognition of his distinguished military career, his steadfast moral character and patriotism, and his unyielding devotion to the protection of 

this Nation. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 28, 2019 

Mr. NEWHOUSE (for himself, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. LARSEN of 

Washington, Mrs. RODGERS of Washington, Ms. HERRERA BEUTLER, 

Ms. DELBENE, Mr. HECK, Mr. KILMER, Ms. JAYAPAL, and Ms. 

SCHRIER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on House 

Administration, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To award a Congressional Gold Medal to General James 

N. Mattis, in recognition of his distinguished military 

career, his steadfast moral character and patriotism, and 

his unyielding devotion to the protection of this Nation. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘General James N. 

5 Mattis Congressional Gold Medal Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 The Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) James N. Mattis was born in Pullman, 

4 Washington, on September 8, 1950. 

5 (2) James N. Mattis graduated from Columbia 

6 High School in 1968 and began his military career 

7 the following year, enlisting in the United States 

8 Marine Corps Reserve. 

9 (3) In 1971, James N. Mattis earned a Bach10 elor of Arts in history from Central Washington 

11 State College. He earned a Master of Arts in inter12 national security affairs from National Defense Uni13 versity’s National War College in 1994. 

14 (4) On January 1, 1972, James N. Mattis was 

15 commissioned as a second lieutenant through the 

16 Marine Corps Platoon Leaders Course. As a lieuten17 ant, he commanded infantry platoons and, as a cap18 tain, commanded both rifle and weapons companies 

19 in the 1st Marine Brigade in Hawaii. Promoted to 

20 major, he served as battalion officer at the Naval 

21 Academy Preparatory School in Newport, Rhode Is22 land, and commanded Recruiting Station Portland, 

23 Oregon. 

24 (5) During the Gulf War, James N. Mattis 

25 served as lieutenant colonel and commanded the 1st 

26 Battalion, 7th Marines. Promoted to colonel, he 


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1 commanded the 7th Marine Regiment at Twentynine 

2 Palms, California, and served as the Executive Sec3 retary to the Department of Defense for Secretaries 

4 William Perry and Bill Cohen. 

5 (6) Following the September 11, 2001, attacks 

6 on America, then-Brigadier General James N. 

7 Mattis led Task Force 58 through a series of oper8 ations in southern Afghanistan, making him the first 

9 United States Marine Corps officer to command a 

10 Naval Task Force. 

11 (7) James N. Mattis, as major general, com12 manded the 1st Marine Division during the 2003 in13 vasion of Iraq. He continued in this role until 2004, 

14 when he was promoted to lieutenant general and as15 sumed command of the Marine Corps Combat Devel16 opment Command. The Pentagon announced on 

17 May 31, 2006, that he was chosen to take command 

18 of the I Marine Expeditionary Force, based out of 

19 Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, and all Ma20 rines assigned to the United States Central Com21 mand. 

22 (8) James N. Mattis relinquished command of 

23 the I Marine Expeditionary Force on November 5, 

24 2007. Four days later, on November 9, 2007, he 

25 was promoted to four-star general to command 


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1 United States Joint Forces Command (JFCOM), 

2 concurrently serving as NATO’s Supreme Allied 

3 Commander Transformation (SACT). He trans4 ferred his role as SACT on September 9, 2009, 

5 while continuing to command JFCOM. 

6 (9) After a recommendation from Defense Sec7 retary Robert Gates, James N. Mattis was formally 

8 nominated as commander of United States Central 

9 Command by President Barack Obama, effective 

10 July 21, 2010. 

11 (10) United States Central Command an12 nounced the resignation of James N. Mattis on April 

13 27, 2012, and his retirement from the United States 

14 Marine Corps was finalized on June 1, 2013. 

15 (11) On December 1, 2016, President Donald 

16 Trump announced that he would nominate James N. 

17 Mattis for United States Secretary of Defense. He 

18 was confirmed by the United States Senate on Janu19 ary 20, 2017, and served until December 31, 2018. 

20 (12) James N. Mattis, prior to and since his re21 tirement from the United States Marine Corps, has 

22 been awarded many awards and commendations, in23 cluding— 


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1 (A) the Center for National Policy ‘‘Ed2 mund S. Muskie Distinguished Public Service 

3 Award’’ (2009); 

4 (B) the Atlantic Council ‘‘Distinguished 

5 Military Leadership Award’’ (2010); 

6 (C) the World Affairs Council of Greater 

7 Hampton Roads ‘‘Ryan C. Crocker Global Cit8 izen of the Year’’ Award (2013); 

9 (D) the Marine Corps University Founda10 tion ‘‘Semper Fidelis Award’’ (2014); 

11 (E) the Washington Policy Center ‘‘Cham12 pion of Freedom Award’’ (2016); 

13 (F) the ‘‘Dwight D. Eisenhower Distin14 guished Service Award’’ (2019); 

15 (G) the OSS Society ‘‘William J. Donovan 

16 Award’’ (2019); and 

17 (H) the Washington Policy Center ‘‘Co18 lumbia Award’’ (2019). 

19 (13) James N. Mattis is a native of Washington 

20 State and devoted resident of the Pacific Northwest. 

21 He exemplifies a deep love and commitment for his 

22 hometown of Richland, Washington, and the greater 

23 Tri-Cities through his enthusiastic involvement in 

24 the community and long-time volunteer service with 

25 the Tri-Cities Food Bank. 


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1 (14) James N. Mattis is the published author 

2 of ‘‘Call Sign Chaos: Learning to Lead’’. 

3 (15) James N. Mattis demonstrates the Amer4 ican principles of hard work, patriotism, and integ5 rity. His distinguished military and civilian service 

6 and his devotion to defending and upholding the 

7 Constitution are an inspiration to all Americans. 

8 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

9 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 

10 the House of Representatives and the President pro tem11 pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 

12 for the presentation, on behalf of Congress, of a gold 

13 medal of appropriate design to General James N. Mattis, 

14 in recognition of his distinguished military career, his 

15 steadfast moral character and patriotism, and his 

16 unyielding devotion to the protection of this Nation. 

17 (b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For the purposes of the 

18 presentation referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary 

19 of the Treasury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Sec20 retary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, 

21 devices, and inscriptions to be determined by the Sec22 retary. 

23 (c) SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Following the award of the 

25 gold medal under subsection (a), the gold medal 


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1 shall be given to the Smithsonian Institution, where 

2 it shall be available for display as appropriate and 

3 made available for research. 

4 (2) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of 

5 Congress that the Smithsonian Institution shall 

6 make the gold medal received under paragraph (1) 

7 available for— 

8 (A) display, particularly at the National 

9 Portrait Gallery; and 

10 (B) loan, as appropriate, so that the medal 

11 may be displayed elsewhere. 

12 SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

13 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

14 bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 3 

15 under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, at 

16 a price sufficient to cover the cost thereof, including labor, 

17 materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses, 

18 and the cost of the gold medal. 

19 SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 

20 (a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—The medals struck pursu21 ant to this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 

22 51 of title 31, United States Code. 


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1 (b) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of section 

2 5134 of title 31, United States Code, all medals struck 

3 under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic items. 

Æ 


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