I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2427 

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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 30, 2023 

Mr. GROTHMAN (for himself, Mr. DUARTE, Mr. ZINKE, Mr. LAMALFA, Mr. 

JOHNSON of Louisiana, Mr. HARRIS, Mr. HUDSON, Mr. BERGMAN, Mr. 

BAIRD, Ms. HAGEMAN, Mr. COMER, Mr. CARTER of Texas, Mr. JOHNSON

of South Dakota, Mr. MOONEY, Ms. GRANGER, Mr. HILL, Ms. TENNEY, 

Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Mr. GALLAGHER, Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana, 

Mr. TIFFANY, Mr. STEIL, Mr. FITZGERALD, Mr. BUCK, Mr. BACON, Mrs. 

MILLER of West Virginia, Mrs. LESKO, Mr. NEHLS, Mr. CORREA, Mrs. 

TORRES of California, Mr. VARGAS, Mr. HUNT, Ms. BROWNLEY, Mr. 

FALLON, Mr. WESTERMAN, Mr. VAN ORDEN, Mr. POCAN, Mr. 

RESCHENTHALER, Mr. BOST, Mr. VALADAO, Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania, Mr. FRY, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. LAMBORN, Mr. KILEY, Mr. 

COSTA, Ms. PORTER, Mrs. STEEL, and Mr. OWENS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services, 

and in addition to the Committee on House Administration, 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 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Hmong Congressional 

3 Gold Medal Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 The Congress finds the following: 

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

7 into Laos, the Central Intelligence Agency recruited 

8 and trained Hmong tribesmen to fight back against 

9 the communist North Vietnamese and Pathet Lao. 

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

11 war, flew combat missions, gathered intelligence on 

12 North Vietnamese troop movements, interrupted the 

13 Ho-Chi-Min Supply Trail, and rescued American pi14 lots downed behind enemy lines. 

15 (3) The Hmong people suffered heavy casual16 ties, and their soldiers died at a rate ten times as 

17 high as that of American soldiers in Vietnam. 

18 (4) Following the Vietnam war, many Hmong 

19 were displaced from their villages as they were either 

20 bombed or burned down by the North Vietnamese 

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

22 fell to communist forces on May 14, 1975. 

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

24 many Hmong who fled Laos came to the United 

25 States as refugees to start a new life. 


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

2 living in the United States, with the majority resid3 ing in California, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. 

4 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

5 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 

6 the House of Representatives and the President pro tem7 pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 

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

9 medal of appropriate design to the Hmong people, in rec10 ognition of their highly distinguished service in the Viet11 nam war and the fight against communism. 

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

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

14 of the Treasury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Sec15 retary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, 

16 devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Sec17 retary. 

18 (c) SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.— 

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

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

21 shall be given to the Smithsonian Institution, where 

22 it shall be available for display as appropriate and 

23 made available for research. 

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

25 Congress that the Smithsonian Institution should 


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1 make the gold medal received under paragraph (1) 

2 available for display elsewhere, particularly at other 

3 appropriate locations associated with the Hmong 

4 people’s service in the Vietnam war, and that pref5 erence should be given to locations affiliated with 

6 the Smithsonian Institution. 

7 SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

8 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

9 bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 3 

10 under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, at 

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

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

13 SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 

14 (a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—The medals struck pursu15 ant to this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 

16 51 of title 31, United States Code. 

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

18 5134 of title 31, United States Code, all medals struck 

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

Æ 


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