I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4197 
To authorize the Gold Star Mothers National Monument Foundation to 
establish a national monument in the District of Columbia. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 3, 2009 
Mr. ADLER of New Jersey (for himself, Mr. HALL of New York, Ms. KIL-
PATRICK of Michigan, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. MCNERNEY, Mrs. MCMORRIS 
RODGERS, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, and Ms. KOSMAS) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 
A BILL 
To authorize the Gold Star Mothers National Monument 
Foundation to establish a national monument in the 
District of Columbia. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Gold Star Mothers Na-
tional Monument Act of 2009’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds as follows: 
(1) During World War I, mothers of sons and 
daughters who served in the Armed Forces displayed 
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flags bearing a blue star to represent their pride in 
their sons and daughters and their hope that their 
sons and daughters would return home safely. 
(2) For more than 60,000 of these mothers, 
that hope was shattered, and many of them, both 
during and after World War I, began displaying 
flags bearing a gold star to represent the sacrifice 
that their sons and daughters made for freedom and 
this country. 
(3) Over the years, the gold star has come to 
represent a child who was killed while serving in the 
Armed Forces, whether that service was during war-
time or not. 
(4) In 1929, Congress passed a law authorizing 
the Federal Government to disburse funds for Gold 
Star Mothers, and widows of those who were killed 
while serving in the Armed Forces during World 
War I, to travel to the battlefields of Europe to visit 
the burial sites of their loved ones. 
(5) On June 23, 1936, Congress passed Senate 
Joint Resolution 115 (74th Congress), which estab-
lished the last Sunday in September as Gold Star 
Mother’s Day. 
(6) Gold Star Mothers, a most deserving group, 
should be honored to commemorate the sacrifices 
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that they, and their sons and daughters, made for 
this country. 
SEC. 3. GOLD STAR MOTHERS NATIONAL MONUMENT. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Gold Star Mothers Na-
tional Monument Foundation (a nonprofit corporation es-
tablished under the laws of the District of Columbia) is 
authorized to establish a monument on Federal land in 
the District of Columbia or its environs, as a unit of the 
National Park System. The monument shall be known as 
the ‘‘Gold Star Mothers National Monument’’. 
(b) COMPLIANCE WITH STANDARDS FOR COMMEMO-
RATIVE WORKS.—The establishment of the monument 
shall be carried out in accordance with the Commemora-
tive Works Act (40 U.S.C. 8901 et seq.). 
(c) PAYMENT OF EXPENSES.—The Gold Star Moth-
ers National Monument Foundation shall be solely respon-
sible for acceptance of contributions for, and payment of 
the expenses of, the establishment of the monument, and 
no Federal funds may be used to pay such expenses. 
Æ 
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