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[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1050 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        S.1050

                     One Hundred Fifteenth Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America

                          AT THE SECOND SESSION

         Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday,
           the third day of January, two thousand and eighteen

                                 An Act

 
   To award a Congressional Gold Medal, collectively, to the Chinese-
  American Veterans of World War II, in recognition of their dedicated 
                      service during World War II.

    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 ``Chinese-American World War II 
Veteran Congressional Gold Medal Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
    Congress finds that--
        (1) Chinese Americans served the United States in every 
    conflict since the Civil War, and distinguished themselves in World 
    War II, serving in every theater of war and every branch of 
    service, earning citations for their heroism and honorable service, 
    including the Medal of Honor;
        (2) Chinese nationals and Chinese Americans faced institutional 
    discrimination in the United States since before World War II, 
    limiting the size of their population and their ability to build 
    thriving communities in the United States;
        (3) the Act entitled ``An Act to execute certain treaty 
    stipulations relating to Chinese'', approved May 6, 1882 (commonly 
    known as the ``Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882'') (22 Stat. 58, 
    chapter 126), was the first Federal law that broadly restricted 
    immigration and a specific nationality, making it illegal for 
    Chinese laborers to immigrate to the United States and limiting the 
    Chinese population in the United States for over 60 years;
        (4) major court decisions such as the decisions in Lum v. Rice, 
    275 U.S. 78 (1927), and People v. Hall, 4 Cal. 399 (1854), found 
    ``yellow'' races to be equal to African Americans with regard to 
    ``separate but equal'' school facilities, and prohibited Chinese 
    Americans, along with ``Black, mulatto, or Indian'' persons, from 
    testifying against White men;
        (5) Chinese Americans were harassed, beaten, and murdered 
    because of their ethnicity, including the Chinese Massacre of 1871, 
    where 17 Chinese immigrants in Los Angeles, California, were 
    tortured and murdered, the Rock Springs Massacre of 1885 where 
    White rioters killed 28 Chinese miners and burned 75 of their homes 
    in Rock Springs, Wyoming, and the Hells Canyon Massacre of 1887 
    where 34 Chinese gold miners were ambushed and murdered in Hells 
    Canyon, Oregon;
        (6) there were only 78,000 Chinese Americans living on the 
    United States mainland, with 29,000 living in Hawaii, at the start 
    of World War II as result of Federal and State legislation and 
    judicial decisions;
        (7) despite the anti-Chinese discrimination at the time, as 
    many as 20,000 Chinese Americans served in the Armed Forces during 
    World War II, of whom, approximately 40 percent were not United 
    States citizens due to the laws that denied citizenship to persons 
    of Chinese descent;
        (8) Chinese Americans, although small in numbers, made 
    important contributions to the World War II effort;
        (9) of the total Chinese Americans serving, approximately 25 
    percent served in the United States Army Air Force, with some sent 
    to the China-Burma-India Theater with the 14th Air Service Group;
        (10) the remainder of Chinese Americans who served in World War 
    II served in all branches of the Armed Forces in all 4 theaters of 
    war;
        (11) the first all Chinese-American group was the 14th Air 
    Service Group in the China-Burma-India Theater which enabled 
    extensive and effective operations against the Japanese military in 
    China;
        (12) Chinese Americans are widely acknowledged for their role 
    in the 14th Air Force, widely known as the Flying Tigers;
        (13) Chinese Americans assigned to the China-Burma-India 
    Theater made transoceanic journeys through hostile territories and 
    were subject to enemy attack while at sea and in the air;
        (14) in the Pacific Theater, Chinese Americans were in ground, 
    air, and ocean combat and support roles throughout the Pacific 
    including New Guinea, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, Iwo Jima, 
    Okinawa, Philippines, Mariana Islands, and Aleutian Islands;
        (15) throughout the Pacific and China-Burma-India theaters, 
    Chinese Americans performed vital functions in translating, 
    coordinating Nationalist Chinese and United States combat 
    operations, servicing and repairing aircraft and armaments, 
    training Nationalist Chinese troops and sailors, delivering medical 
    care, providing signal and communication support, gathering and 
    analyzing intelligence, participating in ground and air combat, and 
    securing and delivering supplies;
        (16) Chinese Americans also served in combat and support roles 
    in the European and African theaters, serving in North Africa, 
    Sicily, Italy, the Normandy D-Day invasion, which liberated Western 
    Europe, and the Battle of the Bulge, occupying Western Germany 
    while helping to liberate Central Europe;
        (17) Chinese Americans flew bomber missions, served in infantry 
    units and combat ships in the Battle of the Atlantic, including 
    aboard Merchant Marines convoys vulnerable to submarine and air 
    attacks;
        (18) many Chinese-American women served in the Women's Army 
    Corps, the Army Air Forces, and the United States Naval Reserve 
    Women's Reserve, and some became pilots, air traffic controllers, 
    flight trainers, weather forecasters, occupational therapists, and 
    nurses;
        (19) Captain Francis B. Wai is the only Chinese American who 
    served in World War II to have been awarded the Medal of Honor, the 
    highest military award given by the United States
        (20) Chinese Americans also earned Combat Infantry Badges, 
    Purple Hearts, Bronze Stars, Silver Stars, Distinguished Service 
    Cross, and Distinguished Flying Cross;
        (21) units of the Armed Forces with Chinese Americans were also 
    awarded unit citations for valor and bravery;
        (22) the United States remains forever indebted to the bravery, 
    valor, and dedication that the Chinese-American Veterans of World 
    War II displayed; and
        (23) the commitment and sacrifice of Chinese Americans 
    demonstrates a highly uncommon and commendable sense of patriotism 
    and honor in the face of discrimination.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
    In this Act--
        (1) the term ``Chinese-American Veterans of World II'' includes 
    individuals of Chinese ancestry who served--
            (A) honorably at any time during the period December 7, 
        1941, and ending December 31, 1946; and
            (B) in an active duty status under the command of the Armed 
        Forces; and
        (2) the term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of the Treasury.
SEC. 4. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.
    (a) Award Authorized.--The President Pro Tempore of the Senate and 
the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall make appropriate 
arrangements for the award, on behalf of Congress, of a single gold 
medal of appropriate design to the Chinese-American Veterans of World 
War II, in recognition of their dedicated service during World War II.
    (b) Design and Striking.--For the purposes of the award referred to 
in subsection (a), the Secretary shall strike the gold medal with 
suitable emblems, devices, and inscriptions to be determined by the 
Secretary.
    (c) Smithsonian Institute.--
        (1) In general.--Following the award of the gold medal in honor 
    of the Chinese-American Veterans of World War II, the gold medal 
    shall be given to the Smithsonian Institution, where it 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 for display elsewhere, particularly at 
    other locations associated with the Chinese-American Veterans of 
    World II or with World War II.
    (d) Duplicate Medals.--Under regulations that the Secretary may 
promulgate, the Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of 
the gold medal struck under this Act, at a price sufficient to cover 
the cost of the medals, including labor, materials, dies, use of 
machinery, and overhead expenses.
SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDAL.
    (a) National Medal.--The gold medal struck under this Act shall be 
a national medal for the purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, Unites 
States Code.
    (b) Numismatic Items.--For purpose of section 5134 of title 31, 
United States Code, all medals struck under this Act shall be 
considered to be numismatic items.

                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.
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