II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 3271 

To award a Congressional Gold Medal to the Hmong people, in recognition 

of their highly distinguished service in the Vietnam war and the fight 

against communism. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 9, 2023 

Mr. PETERS (for himself, Mr. JOHNSON, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. TILLIS, and Ms. 

KLOBUCHAR) 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 to the Hmong people, 

in recognition of their highly distinguished service in 

the Vietnam war and the fight against communism. 

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 ‘‘Hmong Congressional 

5 Gold Medal Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) As the Vietnam war spread south and west 

9 into Laos, the Central Intelligence Agency recruited 


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1 and trained Hmong tribesmen to fight back against 

2 the communist North Vietnamese and Pathet Lao. 

3 (2) Over 30,000 Hmong men fought the ground 

4 war, flew combat missions, gathered intelligence on 

5 North Vietnamese troop movements, interrupted the 

6 Ho-Chi-Min Supply Trail, and rescued American pi7 lots downed behind enemy lines. 

8 (3) The Hmong people suffered heavy casual9 ties, and their soldiers died at a rate ten times as 

10 high as that of American soldiers in Vietnam. 

11 (4) Following the Vietnam war, many Hmong 

12 were displaced from their villages as they were either 

13 bombed or burned down by the North Vietnamese 

14 and over 150,000 Hmong fled Laos when the nation 

15 fell to communist forces on May 14, 1975. 

16 (5) Due to their ties to the American military, 

17 many Hmong who fled Laos came to the United 

18 States as refugees to start a new life. 

19 (6) Currently, there are over 327,000 Hmong 

20 living in the United States. 

21 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

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

23 House of Representatives and the President pro tempore 

24 of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements for the 

25 award, on behalf of Congress, of a gold medal of approVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:27 Nov 14, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3271.IS S3271

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1 priate design to the Hmong people, in recognition of their 

2 highly distinguished service in the Vietnam war and the 

3 fight against communism. 

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

5 award referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the 

6 Treasury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall 

7 strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, devices, and 

8 inscriptions, to be determined by the Secretary. 

9 (c) SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.— 

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

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

12 shall be given to the Smithsonian Institution, where 

13 it shall be available for display as appropriate and 

14 made available for research. 

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

16 Congress that the Smithsonian Institution should 

17 make the gold medal received under paragraph (1) 

18 available for display elsewhere, particularly at other 

19 appropriate locations associated with the service of 

20 the Hmong people in the Vietnam war, and that 

21 preference should be given to locations affiliated 

22 with the Smithsonian Institution. 

23 SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

24 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

25 bronze of the gold medal struck under section 3, at a price 


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

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

3 SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 

4 (a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—The medals struck pursu5 ant to this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 

6 51 of title 31, United States Code. 

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

8 5134 of title 31, United States Code, all medals struck 

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

Æ 


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