II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4988 

To award a Congressional Gold Medal, collectively, to the individuals who 

fought for or with the United States against the armed forces of Imperial 

Japan in the Pacific theater and the impacted Saskinaxˆ people on Attu, 

whose lives, culture, and community were irrevocably changed from December 8, 1941, to August 15, 1945. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 1, 2024 

Mr. HEINRICH (for himself, Mr. BENNET, Mr. HOEVEN, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, 

Mr. LUJA ́N, Mr. MERKLEY, Ms. SMITH, Ms. STABENOW, and Mr. 

WHITEHOUSE) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To award a Congressional Gold Medal, collectively, to the 

individuals who fought for or with the United States 

against the armed forces of Imperial Japan in the Pacific 

theater and the impacted Saskinaxˆ people on Attu, whose 

lives, culture, and community were irrevocably changed 

from December 8, 1941, to August 15, 1945. 

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 ‘‘Defenders of Bataan, 

5 Corregidor, and Attu Congressional Gold Medal Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) Hours after the attacks on Pearl Harbor, 

4 Hawaii Territory, on December 7, 1941, Imperial 

5 Japanese forces launched coordinated attacks 

6 throughout Asia, striking Malaya, Thailand, Singa7 pore, Shanghai, Hong Kong, the Philippines, and 

8 the United States territories of Guam, Midway Is9 land, Wake Island, and Howland Island. 

10 (2) For the next 7 months, undermanned 

11 United States forces in the Pacific fought with out12 dated weapons, expired ammunition, and without re13 inforcement or resupply to their besieged island 

14 posts. 

15 (3) On the first day of United States participa16 tion in World War II, December 8, 1941, the ‘‘first 

17 to fire’’ in the Philippines at the Imperial Japanese 

18 were the New Mexico National Guardsmen from the 

19 200th and 515th Coast Artillery (AA) regiments, the 

20 successors to the famed ‘‘Rough Riders’’ of the 

21 Spanish-American War, who had only recently ar22 rived in the Philippines where they were stationed at 

23 Fort Stotsenburg north of Manila with the mission 

24 of defending Clark Field. 


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1 (4) Filipino soldiers and civilians valiantly 

2 fought alongside and as part of the United States 

3 Armed Forces and were integral to their war efforts. 

4 (5) By the end of December 1941, all United 

5 States forces on Luzon Island in the Philippines 

6 withdrew to the Bataan Peninsula of the island, 

7 where, for the next 4 months, with neither air nor 

8 sea defenses, an estimated 12,000 United States and 

9 at least 63,000 Filipino troops and 20,000 Filipino 

10 civilians endured siege conditions. 

11 (6) On April 9, 1942, Major General Edward 

12 P. King, Jr. surrendered the United States and Fili13 pino forces on the Bataan Peninsula. The Imperial 

14 Japanese Army forced thousands of troops and civil15 ians to assemble at the port of Mariveles at the tip 

16 of Bataan and other locations along the peninsula 

17 for a 65-mile forced march. This forced trek came 

18 to be known as the ‘‘Bataan Death March’’. 

19 (7) During the Bataan Death March, approxi20 mately 700 people of the United States and 6,000 

21 to 10,000 Filipinos were killed. Survivors were sent 

22 to Camp O’Donnell where 26,000 more Filipino pris23 oners died. 

24 (8) On May 6, 1942, Lieutenant General Jona25 than Wainwright surrendered the fortress islands of 


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1 Corregidor (Fort Mills), Fort Drum, Fort Frank, 

2 and Fort Hughes in Manila Bay. The complete sur3 render of the remaining United States and Filipino 

4 forces in the Philippines occurred on June 9, 1942. 

5 (9) Included in the surrenders in the Phil6 ippines were female nurses of the United States 

7 Army and Navy and the Philippine Army and civil8 ian volunteers who became the first large group of 

9 United States women in combat and, counted with 

10 the Army and Navy nurses surrendered on Guam in 

11 December 1941, comprised the first group of United 

12 States military women taken captive and imprisoned 

13 by an enemy. 

14 (10) On June 7, 1942, the Imperial Japanese 

15 invaded Attu, homeland of the impacted Saskinaxˆ

16 people, who were all subsequently taken prisoner by 

17 the Japanese troops on Attu for 3 months and held 

18 as imprisoned slaves for 3 years and 3 months in 

19 Otaru, Japan. After the war, the impacted Saskinaxˆ

20 people were not allowed to return to Attu. 

21 (11) On May 11, 1943, 12,500 United States 

22 Armed Forces personnel entered Attu, which was oc23 cupied by about 2,500 Japanese military personnel. 

24 Between this date and May 29, 1943, those brave 

25 members of the United States Armed Forces fought 


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1 to reclaim Attu. This victory cost the United States 

2 about 550 of its very finest, who laid down their 

3 lives in the service of their nation. 

4 (12) Between January 1942 and August 1945, 

5 thousands of prisoners of war from the United 

6 States who had survived the surrenders throughout 

7 the Pacific were shipped in unmarked freighters and 

8 vessels. 

9 (13) It is time to recognize the defenders of Ba10 taan, Corregidor, Attu and other places throughout 

11 the Pacific who were ordinary men and women who 

12 found uncommon courage in extraordinary cir13 cumstances. 

14 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

15 In this Act: 

16 (1) IMPACTED SASKINAXˆ PEOPLE.—The term 

17 ‘‘impacted Saskinaxˆ people’’ refers to the indigenous 

18 peoples of the Near Islands, which includes Attu and 

19 the westernmost Alaskan islands, who were on the 

20 islands during the period beginning on December 8, 

21 1941, and ending on August 15, 1945. 

22 (2) INDIVIDUALS WHO FOUGHT FOR OR WITH

23 THE UNITED STATES.—The term ‘‘individuals who 

24 fought for or with the United States’’— 

25 (A) includes any individual who— 


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1 (i) was in the Pacific theater at any 

2 time during the period beginning on De3 cember 8, 1941, and ending on August 15, 

4 1945; and 

5 (ii)(I) served honorably as a member 

6 of the United States Armed Forces or at 

7 the command of the United States Armed 

8 Forces in the defensive battles in the Pa9 cific from December 8, 1941 to June 9, 

10 1942; or 

11 (II) became a prisoner of war of Im12 perial Japan during World War II until 

13 August 15, 1945, including civilians who 

14 the Imperial Japanese Armed Forces con15 sidered military prisoners of war and re16 ceived veterans status after the war; and 

17 (B) does not include a member of the Pa18 cific Fleet or the Hawaiian Department. 

19 (3) PACIFIC THEATER.—The term ‘‘Pacific the20 ater’’ means Shanghai, the Central Pacific Area, the 

21 Southwest Pacific Area, and the Aleutian Islands. 

22 (4) RESISTANCE OR BATTLE.—The term ‘‘re23 sistance or battle’’ includes an action in and around 

24 Shanghai, Tientsin, Guam, Wake Island, the Dutch 


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1 East Indies, Borneo, the Philippines, Midway Island, 

2 or the Aleutian Islands. 

3 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

4 the Secretary of the Treasury. 

5 SEC. 4. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

6 (a) AWARD AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of the 

7 House of Representatives and the President pro tempore 

8 of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements for the 

9 collective award, on behalf of Congress, of a gold medal 

10 of appropriate design to the individuals who fought for 

11 or with the United States to defend Bataan, Corregidor, 

12 Attu, and other places in the Pacific theater, and to the 

13 impacted Saskinaxˆ people, in recognition of their personal 

14 sacrifice and service during World War II. 

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

16 award under subsection (a), the Secretary shall strike the 

17 gold medal with suitable emblems, devices, and inscrip18 tions, to be determined by the Secretary. 

19 (c) SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.— 

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

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

22 shall be given to the National Museum of American 

23 History of the Smithsonian Institution, where it 

24 shall be displayed as appropriate and made available 

25 for research. 


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

2 Congress that the National Museum of American 

3 History of the Smithsonian Institution should make 

4 the gold medal received under paragraph (1) avail5 able for display at other locations, particularly at lo6 cations that are associated with— 

7 (A) the defensive battles of World War II 

8 in the Pacific theater from December 8, 1941, 

9 to August 15, 1945; 

10 (B) the prisoners of war of Imperial 

11 Japan; 

12 (C) the impacted Saskinaxˆ people; and 

13 (D) the defense of the Philippines, Guam, 

14 Wake Island, Midway Island, Java, and the 

15 Aleutian Islands. 

16 SEC. 5. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

17 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

18 bronze of the gold medal struck under section 4, at a price 

19 sufficient to cover the costs of the medals, including labor, 

20 materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses. 

21 SEC. 6. STATUS OF MEDALS. 

22 (a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—Medals struck under this 

23 Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 51 of title 

24 31, United States Code. 


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

2 5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all medals 

3 struck under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic 

4 items. 

5 SEC. 7. AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS; PROCEEDS OF 

6 SALE. 

7 (a) AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS.—There is 

8 authorized to be charged against the United States Mint 

9 Public Enterprise Fund such amounts as may be nec10 essary to pay for the costs of the medals struck under 

11 this Act. 

12 (b) PROCEEDS OF SALE.—Amounts received from the 

13 sale of duplicate bronze medals authorized under section 

14 5 shall be deposited into the United States Mint Public 

15 Enterprise Fund. 

Æ 


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