II 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 3658 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 20, 2014 

Received 

AN ACT 

To grant the Congressional Gold Medal, collectively, to the 

Monuments Men, in recognition of their heroic role in 

the preservation, protection, and restitution of monuments, works of art, and artifacts of cultural importance 

during and following World War II. 

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. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Monuments Men Rec3 ognition Act of 2014’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 The Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) On June 23, 1943, President Franklin D. 

7 Roosevelt formed the ‘‘American Commission for the 

8 Protection and Salvage of Artistic and Historic 

9 Monuments in War Areas’’. 

10 (2) The Commission established the Monu11 ments, Fine Arts, and Archives (‘‘MFAA’’) Section 

12 under the Allied Armies. 

13 (3) The men and women serving in the MFAA 

14 Section were referred to as the ‘‘Monuments Men’’. 

15 (4) These individuals had expertise as museum 

16 directors, curators, art historians, artists, architects, 

17 and educators. 

18 (5) In December 1943, General Dwight D. Ei19 senhower empowered the Monuments Men by issuing 

20 orders to all commanders that stated they must re21 spect monuments ‘‘so far as war allows’’. 

22 (6) Initially the Monuments Men were intended 

23 to protect and temporarily repair the monuments, 

24 churches, and cathedrals of Europe suffering dam25 age due to combat. 


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1 (7) Hitler and the Nazis engaged in a pre-medi2 tated, mass theft of art and stored priceless works 

3 in thousands of art repositories throughout Europe. 

4 (8) The Monuments Men adapted their mission 

5 to identify, preserve, catalogue, and repatriate al6 most 5,000,000 artistic and cultural items which 

7 they discovered. 

8 (9) This magnitude of cultural preservation was 

9 unprecedented during a time of conflict. 

10 (10) The Monuments Men grew to no more 

11 than 350 individuals and joined front line military 

12 forces; two Monuments Men lost their lives in action. 

13 (11) Following the Allied victory, the Monu14 ments Men remained abroad to rebuild cultural life 

15 in Europe through organizing art exhibitions and 

16 concerts. 

17 (12) Many of the Monuments Men became re18 nowned directors and curators of preeminent inter19 national cultural institutions, professors at institu20 tions of higher education, and founders of artistic 

21 associations both before and after the war. 

22 (13) The Monuments Men Foundation for the 

23 Preservation of Art was founded in 2007 to honor 

24 the legacy of the men and women who served as 

25 Monuments Men. 


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1 (14) There are only five surviving members of 

2 the Monuments Men as of December 2013. 

3 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

4 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 

5 the House of Representatives and the President pro tem6 pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 

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

8 medal of appropriate design in commemoration to Monu9 ments Men, in recognition of their heroic role in the pres10 ervation, protection, and restitution of monuments, works 

11 of art, and artifacts of cultural importance during and fol12 lowing World War II. 

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

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

15 of the Treasury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Sec16 retary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, 

17 devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Sec18 retary. 

19 (c) SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.— 

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

21 gold medal in honor of the Monuments Men, the 

22 gold medal shall be given to the Smithsonian Insti23 tution, where it will be available for display as ap24 propriate and available for research. 


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

2 of the Congress that the Smithsonian Institution 

3 should make the gold medal awarded pursuant to 

4 this Act available for display elsewhere, particularly 

5 at appropriate locations associated with the Monu6 ments Men, and that preference should be given to 

7 locations affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution. 

8 SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

9 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

10 bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 3 

11 under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, at 

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

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

14 and the cost of the gold medal. 

15 SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 

16 (a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—The medals struck pursu17 ant to this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 

18 51 of title 31, United States Code. 


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

2 5134 of title 31, United States Code, all medals struck 

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

Passed the House of Representatives May 19, 2014. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 

By ROBERT F. REEVES, 

Deputy Clerk. 


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