II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2756 

To posthumously award a Congressional Gold Medal, in commemoration of 

the service members who perished as a result of the attack in Afghanistan on August 26, 2021, during the evacuation of citizens of the 

United States and Afghan allies at Hamid Karzai International Airport, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 15, 2021 

Mr. DAINES (for himself, Ms. WARREN, Mrs. BLACKBURN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, 

Mr. SCOTT of Florida, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. ROMNEY, Mr. KAINE, Mr. 

LANKFORD, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mrs. CAPITO, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. CRAMER, 

Mr. BENNET, Mr. RISCH, Ms. SMITH, Mrs. HYDE-SMITH, Ms. ROSEN, 

Mr. MARSHALL, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. YOUNG, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. 

HAGERTY, Ms. HASSAN, Mr. CRAPO, Mr. BROWN, Mr. HOEVEN, Mr. 

PADILLA, Ms. LUMMIS, Mr. WARNER, Mr. BARRASSO, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. 

SANDERS, Mr. THUNE, and Mr. HICKENLOOPER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

A BILL 

To posthumously award a Congressional Gold Medal, in commemoration of the service members who perished as a 

result of the attack in Afghanistan on August 26, 2021, 

during the evacuation of citizens of the United States 

and Afghan allies at Hamid Karzai International Airport, 

and for other purposes. 

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


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1 SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) At 9:44 a.m., on August 26, 2021, the Pen4 tagon confirmed that one explosion occurred at the 

5 Hamid Karzai International Airport. 

6 (2) The explosion was confirmed to be a suicide 

7 bombing by ISIS–K terrorist group. 

8 (3) Estimates as high as 200 deaths were re9 ported, including 13 service members of the United 

10 States, as well as hundreds more wounded. 

11 (4) The attack on Thursday, August 26, 2021, 

12 at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, 

13 Afghanistan, killed 13 United States service mem14 bers, making it the deadliest single day of the war 

15 for the United States in more than a decade. 

16 (5) The American service members went above 

17 and beyond the call of duty to protect citizens of the 

18 United States and our allies to ensure they are 

19 brought to safety in an extremely dangerous situa20 tion as the Taliban regained control over Afghani21 stan. 

22 (6) The American service members exemplified 

23 extreme bravery and valor against armed enemy 

24 combatants. 

25 (7) The American service members dedicated 

26 their lives and their heroism deserves great honor. 


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1 (8) Maxton Soviak, Kareem Nikoui, David 

2 Espinoza, Rylee McCollum, Jared Schmitz, Hunter 

3 Lopez, Taylor Hoover, Daegan William-Tyeler Page, 

4 Nicole Gee, Humberto Sanchez, Dylan Merola, 

5 Johanny Rosario Pichardo, and Ryan Knauss have 

6 been identified as the 13 service members who died 

7 from the blast while stationed at Hamid Karzai 

8 International Airport. 

9 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

10 (a) PRESENTATIONS AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 

11 the House of Representatives and the President pro tem12 pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 

13 for the posthumous presentation, on behalf of Congress, 

14 of a single gold medal of appropriate design in commemo15 ration of the 13 service members who perished as a result 

16 of the attack in Afghanistan, on August 26, 2021. 

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

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

19 of the Treasury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Sec20 retary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, 

21 devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Sec22 retary. 

23 (c) SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.— 

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

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


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1 shall be given to the Smithsonian Institution, where 

2 it shall be available for display as appropriate and 

3 made available for research. 

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

5 Congress that the Smithsonian Institution shall 

6 make the gold medal received under paragraph (1) 

7 available for display outside of the District of Co8 lumbia at times, particularly at other locations asso9 ciated with the 13 service members who perished in 

10 Afghanistan on August 26, 2021. 

11 SEC. 3. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

12 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

13 bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 2 at 

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

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

16 SEC. 4. STATUS OF MEDALS. 

17 (a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—The medal struck pursuant 

18 to this Act is a national medal for purposes of chapter 

19 51 of title 31, United States Code. 

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

21 5134 of title 31, United States Code, all medals struck 

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


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

2 SALE. 

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

4 authorized to be charged against the United States Mint 

5 Public Enterprise Fund such amounts as may be nec6 essary to pay for the costs of the medals struck pursuant 

7 to this Act. 

8 (b) PROCEEDS OF SALE.—The amounts received 

9 from the sale of duplicate bronze medals authorized under 

10 section 3 shall be deposited into the United States Mint 

11 Public Enterprise Fund. 

Æ 


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