I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7578 

To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Lieutenant Colonel Alexander 

Vindman, in recognition of his service to the United States and his 

courage to testify in the impeachment inquiry of President Donald J. 

Trump. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 13, 2020 

Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to 

the Committee on the Budget, 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 Lieutenant Colonel 

Alexander Vindman, in recognition of his service to the 

United States and his courage to testify in the impeachment inquiry of President Donald J. Trump. 

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 ‘‘Lieutenant Colonel 

5 Alexander Vindman Congressional Gold Medal Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) On December 19, 2019, the House of Rep4 resentatives passed two articles of impeachment 

5 against President Donald J. Trump for abuse of 

6 power and obstruction of Congress. 

7 (2) Numerous public servants provided testi8 mony to support the impeachment inquiry, including 

9 Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, a decorated 

10 veteran who was on the call between President 

11 Trump and Ukraine President Volodymr Zelensky 

12 on July 25, 2019, which served as the basis for the 

13 impeachment inquiry. 

14 (3) Lieutenant Colonel Vindman served mul15 tiple tours of combat duty and was wounded during 

16 a tour in Iraq, for which he received a Purple Heart 

17 medal. 

18 (4) Lieutenant Colonel Vindman, despite 

19 threats to his family and his career, testified to the 

20 following on October 28, 2019: 

21 (A) The July 25th call was ‘‘improper’’ 

22 and ‘‘unusual’’. 

23 (B) Lieutenant Colonel Vindman was con24 cerned by the call: ‘‘I did not think it was prop25 er to demand that a foreign government inves26 tigate a U.S. citizen, and I was worried about 


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1 the implications for six of the U.S. Govern2 ment’s support of Ukraine. I realized that if 

3 Ukraine pursued an investigation into the 

4 Bidens and Burisma, it would likely be inter5 preted as a partisan play which would undoubt6 edly result in Ukraine losing the bipartisan sup7 port it has thus far maintained. This would all 

8 undermine U.S. national security.’’. 

9 (5) Lieutenant Colonel Vindman further stated: 

10 ‘‘Dad, I’m sitting here today in the U.S. Capitol 

11 talking to our elected professionals is proof that you 

12 made the right decision 40 years ago to leave the 

13 Soviet Union and come here to the United States of 

14 America in search of a better life for our family.’’, 

15 Vindman said: ‘‘Do not worry. I will be fine for tell16 ing the truth.’’. 

17 (6) Lieutenant Colonel Vindman faced unsub18 stantiated claims questioning his loyalty to the 

19 United States because he was born in Ukraine and 

20 other forms of retribution. 

21 (7) On February 7, 2019, Lieutenant Colonel 

22 Vindman was reassigned from his duties as Director 

23 for European Affairs at the National Security Coun24 cil. He was escorted from the White House by secu25 rity. 


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1 (8) President Trump stated on February 7, 

2 2019: ‘‘Well, I’m not happy with him [Vindman]. 

3 You think I’m supposed to be happy with him? I’m 

4 not.’’ He further accused Lieutenant Colonel 

5 Vindman of being ‘‘insubordinate’’ for testifying 

6 against the President truthfully. 

7 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

8 It is the sense of Congress that Lieutenant Colonel 

9 Vindman— 

10 (1) is a patriot who defended American ideals 

11 on the battlefield and in the impeachment inquiry by 

12 telling the truth; 

13 (2) faced retribution from the President of the 

14 United States as a result of his testimony in the im15 peachment inquiry; and 

16 (3) upholds the highest values of the United 

17 States and should be honored for his actions. 

18 SEC. 4. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

19 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 

20 the House of Representatives and the President pro tem21 pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 

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

23 medal of appropriate design to Lieutenant Colonel Alex24 ander Vindman, in recognition of his service to the United 


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1 States and his courage to testify in the impeachment in2 quiry of President Donald J. Trump. 

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

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

5 of the Treasury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Sec6 retary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, 

7 devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Sec8 retary. 

9 SEC. 5. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

10 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

11 bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 4 

12 under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, at 

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

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

15 and the cost of the gold medal. 

16 SEC. 6. STATUS OF MEDALS. 

17 (a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—The medals struck pursu18 ant to this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 

19 51 of title 31, United States Code. 

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

21 5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all medals 

22 struck under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic 

23 items. 


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1 SEC. 7. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS. 

2 The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of 

3 complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, 

4 shall be determined by reference to the latest statement 

5 titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation’’ for this 

6 Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record 

7 by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, pro8 vided that such statement has been submitted prior to the 

9 vote on passage. 

Æ 


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