H. R. 3658 
One Hundred Thirteenth Congress 
of the 
United States of America 
AT THE SECOND SESSION 
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Friday, 
the third day of January, two thousand and fourteen 
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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Monuments Men Recognition 
Act of 2014’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
(1) On June 23, 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt 
formed the ‘‘American Commission for the Protection and Sal-
vage of Artistic and Historic Monuments in War Areas’’. 
(2) The Commission established the Monuments, Fine Arts, 
and Archives (‘‘MFAA’’) Section under the Allied Armies. 
(3) The men and women serving in the MFAA Section 
were referred to as the ‘‘Monuments Men’’. 
(4) These individuals had expertise as museum directors, 
curators, art historians, artists, architects, and educators. 
(5) In December 1943, General Dwight D. Eisenhower 
empowered the Monuments Men by issuing orders to all com-
manders that stated they must respect monuments ‘‘so far 
as war allows’’. 
(6) Initially the Monuments Men were intended to protect 
and temporarily repair the monuments, churches, and cathe-
drals of Europe suffering damage due to combat. 
(7) Hitler and the Nazis engaged in a pre-meditated, mass 
theft of art and stored priceless works in thousands of art 
repositories throughout Europe. 
(8) The Monuments Men adapted their mission to identify, 
preserve, catalogue, and repatriate almost 5,000,000 artistic 
and cultural items which they discovered. 
(9) This magnitude of cultural preservation was unprece-
dented during a time of conflict. 
(10) The Monuments Men grew to no more than 350 
individuals and joined front line military forces; two Monu-
ments Men lost their lives in action. 
(11) Following the Allied victory, the Monuments Men 
remained abroad to rebuild cultural life in Europe through 
organizing art exhibitions and concerts.
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(12) Many of the Monuments Men became renowned direc-
tors and curators of preeminent international cultural institu-
tions, professors at institutions of higher education, and 
founders of artistic associations both before and after the war. 
(13) The Monuments Men Foundation for the Preservation 
of Art was founded in 2007 to honor the legacy of the men 
and women who served as Monuments Men. 
(14) There are only five surviving members of the Monu-
ments Men as of December 2013. 
SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 
(a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of the House 
of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate 
shall make appropriate arrangements for the presentation, on 
behalf of the Congress, of a gold medal of appropriate design in 
commemoration to 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 fol-
lowing World War II. 
(b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For purposes of the presentation 
referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury (referred 
to in this Act as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall strike a gold medal with 
suitable emblems, devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by 
the Secretary. 
(c) SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Following the award of the gold medal 
in honor of the Monuments Men, the gold medal shall be 
given to the Smithsonian Institution, where it will be available 
for display as appropriate and available for research. 
(2) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.—It is the sense of the Con-
gress that the Smithsonian Institution should make the gold 
medal awarded pursuant to this Act available for display else-
where, particularly at appropriate locations associated with 
the Monuments Men, and that preference should be given to 
locations affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution. 
SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 
The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the 
gold medal struck pursuant to section 3 under such regulations 
as the Secretary may prescribe, at a price sufficient to cover the 
cost thereof, including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, 
and overhead expenses, and the cost of the gold medal. 
SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 
(a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—The medals struck pursuant to this 
Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, 
United States Code.
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(b) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of section 5134 of title 
31, United States Code, all medals struck under this Act shall 
be considered to be numismatic items. 
Speaker of the House of Representatives. 
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.