I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 347 

To grant the congressional gold medal, collectively, to the 100th Infantry 

Battalion and the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, United States Army, 

in recognition of their dedicated service during World War II. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 8, 2009 

Mr. SCHIFF (for himself, Mr. SKELTON, Mr. HONDA, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Ms. 

BORDALLO, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. INSLEE, and Mr. MCCOTTER) 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 grant the congressional gold medal, collectively, to the 

100th Infantry Battalion and the 442nd Regimental 

Combat Team, United States Army, in recognition of 

their dedicated service during World War II. 

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

3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 

4 Congress makes the following findings: 

5 (1) On January 19, 1942, 6 weeks after the 

6 December 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor by the 


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1 Japanese Navy, the United States Army discharged 

2 all Japanese-Americans in the Reserve Officers 

3 Training Corps and changed their draft status to 

4 ‘‘4C’’—the status of ‘‘enemy alien’’ which is ineli5 gible for the draft. 

6 (2) On January 23, 1942, Japanese-Americans 

7 in the military on the mainland were segregated out 

8 of their units. 

9 (3) Further, on May 3, 1942, General John L. 

10 DeWitt issued Civilian Exclusion Order No. 346, or11 dering all people of Japanese ancestry, whether citi12 zens or noncitizens, to report to assembly centers, 

13 where they would live until being moved to perma14 nent relocation centers. 

15 (4) On June 5, 1942, 1,432 predominantly 

16 Nisei (second generation Americans of Japanese an17 cestry) members of the Hawaii Provisional Infantry 

18 Battalion were shipped from the Hawaiian Islands 

19 to Oakland, CA, where the 100th Infantry Battalion 

20 was activated on June 12, 1942, and then shipped 

21 to train at Camp McCoy, Wisconsin. 

22 (5) The excellent training record of the 100th 

23 Infantry Battalion and petitions from prominent ci24 vilian and military personnel helped convince Presi25 dent Roosevelt and the War Department to re-open 


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1 military service to Nisei volunteers who were incor2 porated into the 442nd Regimental Combat Team 

3 after it was activated in February of 1943. 

4 (6) In that same month, the 100th Infantry 

5 Battalion was transferred to Camp Shelby, Mis6 sissippi, where it continued to train and even though 

7 the battalion was ready to deploy shortly thereafter, 

8 the battalion was refused by General Eisenhower, 

9 due to concerns over the loyalty and patriotism of 

10 the Nisei. 

11 (7) The 442nd Regimental Combat Team later 

12 trained with the 100th Infantry Battalion at Camp 

13 Shelby in May of 1943. 

14 (8) Eventually, the 100th Infantry Battalion 

15 was deployed to the Mediterranean and entered com16 bat in Italy on September 26, 1943. 

17 (9) Due to their bravery and valor, members of 

18 the Battalion were honored with 6 awards of the 

19 Distinguished Service Cross in the first 8 weeks of 

20 combat. 

21 (10) The 100th Battalion fought at Cassino, 

22 Italy in January, 1944, and later accompanied the 

23 34th Infantry Division to Anzio, Italy. 

24 (11) The 442nd Regimental Combat Team ar25 rived in Civitavecchia, Italy on June 7, 1944, and on 


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1 June 15 of the following week, the 100th Infantry 

2 Battalion was formally made an integral part of the 

3 442nd Regimental Combat Team, and fought for the 

4 last 11 months of the war with distinction in Italy, 

5 southern France, and Germany. 

6 (12) The battalion was awarded the Presi7 dential Unit Citation for its actions in battle on 

8 June 26–27, 1944. 

9 (13) The 442nd Regimental became the most 

10 decorated unit in United States military history for 

11 its size and length of service. 

12 (14) The 100th Battalion and the 442nd Regi13 mental Combat Team, received 7 Presidential Unit 

14 Citations, 21 Medals of Honor, 29 Distinguished 

15 Service Crosses, 560 Silver Stars, 4,000 Bronze 

16 Stars, 22 Legion of Merit Medals, 15 Soldier’s Med17 als, and over 4,000 Purple Hearts, among numerous 

18 additional distinctions. 

19 (15) The United States remains forever in20 debted to the bravery, valor, and dedication to coun21 try these men faced while fighting a 2-fronted battle 

22 of discrimination at home and fascism abroad. 

23 (16) Their commitment and sacrifice dem24 onstrates a highly uncommon and commendable 

25 sense of patriotism and honor. 


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1 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 

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

3 House of Representatives and the President pro tempore 

4 of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements for the 

5 award, on behalf of the Congress, of a single gold medal 

6 of appropriate design to the 100th Infantry Battalion and 

7 the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, United States 

8 Army, collectively, in recognition of their dedicated service 

9 during World War II. 

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

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

12 Treasury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Sec13 retary’’) shall strike the gold medal with suitable emblems, 

14 devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Sec15 retary. 

16 (c) SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.— 

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

18 gold medal in honor of the 100th Infantry Battalion 

19 and the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, United 

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

21 shall be given to the Smithsonian Institution, where 

22 it will be displayed as appropriate and made avail23 able for research. 

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

25 that the Smithsonian Institution should make the 

26 gold medal received under paragraph (1) available 


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1 for display elsewhere, particularly at other appro2 priate locations associated with the 100th Infantry 

3 Battalion and the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, 

4 United States Army. 

5 SEC. 3. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 

6 Under such regulations as the Secretary may pre7 scribe, the Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 

8 bronze of the gold medal struck under section 2, at a price 

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

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

11 SEC. 4. NATIONAL MEDALS. 

12 Medals struck pursuant to this Act are national med13 als for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States 

14 Code. 

15 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS; PROCEEDS 

16 OF SALE. 

17 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

18 authorized to be charged against the United States Mint 

19 Public Enterprise Fund, an amount not to exceed $30,000 

20 to pay for the cost of the medal authorized under section 

21 2. 

22 (b) PROCEEDS OF SALE.—Amounts received from the 

23 sale of duplicate bronze medals under section 3 shall be 


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1 deposited in the United States Mint Public Enterprise 

2 Fund. 

Æ 


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