II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2004 

To grant the Congressional Gold Medal to the troops who defended Bataan 

during World War II. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 15, 2011 

Mr. UDALL of New Mexico (for himself, Mr. BINGAMAN, Mr. INOUYE, and Ms. 

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

A BILL 

To grant the Congressional Gold Medal to the troops who 

defended Bataan during World War II. 

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

3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 

4 Congress makes the following findings: 

5 (1) Within hours after the attacks on Pearl 

6 Harbor, Hawaii, the Imperial Japanese forces 

7 launched an attack on the Philippines, cutting off 

8 vital lines of communication to United States and 

9 Filipino troops assigned to the United States Army 


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1 Forces in the Far East under the command of Gen2 eral Douglas MacArthur. 

3 (2) On December 8th, 1941, the 200th Coast 

4 Artillery Regiment, successors to the New Mexico 

5 National Guardsmen who made up part of the famed 

6 ‘‘Rough Riders’’ of the Spanish-American War, were 

7 the ‘‘first to fire’’. 

8 (3) Despite being cut off from supply lines and 

9 reinforcements, the United States and Philippine 

10 Forces quickly executed a plan to delay the Japa11 nese invasion and defend the Philippines against the 

12 Japanese invasion. 

13 (4) By April 1942, troops from the United 

14 States and the Philippines had bravely and staunch15 ly fought off enemy attacks in Bataan for more than 

16 4 months under strenuous conditions that resulted 

17 in widespread starvation and disease. 

18 (5) By maintaining their position and engaging 

19 the enemy for as long as they did, the troops at Ba20 taan were able to redefine the momentum of the 

21 war, delaying the Japanese timetable to take control 

22 of the southeast Pacific for needed war materials. 

23 Because of the Bataan defenders’ heroic actions, 

24 United States and Allied forces throughout the PaVerDate Mar 15 2010 20:59 Dec 22, 2011 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2004.IS S2004

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1 cific had time to regroup and prepare for the suc2 cessful liberation of the Pacific and the Philippines. 

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

4 King, his troops suffering from starvation and a lack 

5 of supplies, surrendered the soldiers from the United 

6 States and the Philippines into enemy hands. 

7 (7) Over the next week, troops from the United 

8 States and the Philippines were taken prisoner and 

9 forced to march 65 miles without any food, water, 

10 or medical care in what came to be known as the 

11 ‘‘Bataan Death March’’. 

12 (8) During this forced march, thousands of sol13 diers died, either from starvation, lack of medical 

14 care, sheer exhaustion, or abuse by their captors. 

15 (9) Conditions at the prisoner of war camps 

16 were appalling, leading to increased disease and mal17 nutrition among the prisoners. 

18 (10) The prisoners at Camp O’Donnell would 

19 die at a rate of nearly 400 per day because of its 

20 poor conditions. 

21 (11) On June 6, 1942, the prisoners from the 

22 United States were transferred to Camp Caba23 natuan, north of Camp O’Donnell. 

24 (12) Nearly 26,000 of the 50,000 Filipino Pris25 oners of War died at Camp O’Donnell, and survivors 


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1 were gradually paroled from September through De2 cember 1942. 

3 (13) Between September of 1942 and December 

4 of 1944, American prisoners of war who survived the 

5 horrific death march were shipped north for forced 

6 labor aboard ‘‘hell ships’’ and succumbed in great 

7 numbers because of the abysmal conditions. Many of 

8 the ships were mistakenly targeted by allied Naval 

9 forces because the Japanese military convoys were 

10 not properly labeled as carrying prisoners of war. 

11 The sinking of the Arisan Maru alone, claimed near12 ly 1,800 American lives. 

13 (14) The prisoners who remained in the camps 

14 suffered from continued mistreatment, malnutrition, 

15 lack of medical care, and horrific conditions until 

16 they were liberated in 1945. 

17 (15) The veterans of Bataan represented the 

18 best of America and the Philippines. They hailed 

19 from diverse locales across both countries and rep20 resented a true diversity of Americans. 

21 (16) Over the subsequent decades, these pris22 oners formed support groups, were honored in local 

23 and State memorials, and told their story to all peo24 ple of the United States. 


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1 (17) The United States Navy has continued to 

2 honor their history and stories by naming 2 ships 

3 after the battle including 1 ship still in service, USS 

4 Bataan (LHD–5), in memory of their valor and hon5 orable resistance against Imperial Japanese forces. 

6 (18) Many of the survivors of Bataan have now 

7 passed away, and those who remain continue to tell 

8 their story. 

9 (19) The people of the United States and the 

10 Philippines are forever indebted to these men for— 

11 (A) the courage and tenacity they dem12 onstrated during the first 4 months of World 

13 War II fighting against enemy soldiers; and 

14 (B) the perseverance they demonstrated 

15 during 3 years of capture, imprisonment, and 

16 atrocious conditions, while maintaining dignity, 

17 honor, patriotism, and loyalty. 

18 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

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

20 House of Representatives and the President pro tempore 

21 of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements for the 

22 award, on behalf of the Congress, of a single gold medal 

23 of appropriate design in honor of the troops from the 

24 United States and the Philippines who defended Bataan 

25 and were subsequently prisoners of war, collectively, in 


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1 recognition of their personal sacrifice and service to their 

2 country during World War II. 

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

4 award under subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury 

5 (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall 

6 strike the gold medal with suitable emblems, devices, and 

7 inscriptions, to be determined by the Secretary. 

8 (c) SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.— 

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

10 gold medal in honor of the defenders and prisoners 

11 of war at Bataan under subsection (a), the gold 

12 medal shall be given to the Smithsonian Institution, 

13 where it shall be displayed as appropriate and made 

14 available for research. 

15 (2) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.—It is the sense 

16 of the Congress that the Smithsonian Institution 

17 should make the gold medal received under para18 graph (1) available for display at other locations, 

19 particularly such locations as are associated with the 

20 prisoners of war at Bataan. 

21 SEC. 3. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

22 (a) STRIKING OF DUPLICATES.—Under such regula23 tions as the Secretary may prescribe, the Secretary may 

24 strike duplicates in bronze of the gold medal struck under 

25 section 2. 


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1 (b) SELLING OF DUPLICATES.—The Secretary may 

2 sell such duplicates under subsection (a) at a price suffi3 cient to cover the costs of such duplicates, including labor, 

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

5 SEC. 4. NATIONAL MEDALS. 

6 Medals struck pursuant to this Act are National med7 als for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States 

8 Code. 

9 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS; PROCEEDS 

10 OF SALE. 

11 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

12 authorized to be charged against the United States Mint 

13 Public Enterprise Fund, an amount not to exceed $30,000 

14 to pay for the cost of the medal authorized under section 

15 2. 

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

17 sale of duplicate bronze medals under section 3 shall be 

18 deposited in the United States Mint Public Enterprise 

19 Fund. 

Æ 


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