I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1252 
To award posthumously a Congressional Gold Medal to Doris Miller, in 
recognition of his acts of valor while a member of the United States 
Navy during World War II. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 28, 2023 
Mr. MFUME (for himself, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Ms. NORTON, Mr. CARSON, Mr. 
JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Ms. TITUS, 
Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, and Mr. CONNOLLY) 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 con-
cerned 
A BILL 
To award posthumously a Congressional Gold Medal to Doris 
Miller, in recognition of his acts of valor while a member 
of the United States Navy during World War II. 
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 ‘‘Doris Miller Congres-
sional Gold Medal Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Doris Miller, like other African-American 
sailors of his day, was generally relegated to service- 
based roles on ships, as the Navy did not allow sail-
ors of color to enlist in combat roles. 
(2) On December 7, 1941, Doris Miller was 
serving aboard the USS West Virginia in Hawaii 
when Japanese torpedo bombers attacked his ship 
and others at the Pearl Harbor Naval Base—head-
quarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet. During this infa-
mous attack, Doris Miller manned a gun magazine 
amidships. When a torpedo damaged the magazine, 
Doris Miller helped carry the wounded to safety, in-
cluding his ship’s commander, Captain Mervyn S. 
Bennion. Doris Miller then manned a .50 caliber 
antiaircraft gun, for which he had no training, and 
continued firing on the enemy until he ran out of 
ammunition and received the order to abandon ship. 
(3) Doris Miller was acknowledged in the USS 
West Virginia Action Report, individually, along 
with other brave personnel for having ‘‘carried out 
every order promptly and enthusiastically, even when 
it meant danger to themselves. They did not attempt 
to abandon the bridge until ordered to do so.’’. 
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(4) Doris Miller aided other service members 
and ‘‘was instrumental in hauling people along 
through oil and water to the quarterdeck, thereby 
unquestionably saving the lives of a number of peo-
ple who might otherwise have been lost.’’. 
(5) On December 15, 1941, the Navy released 
its commendations for actions in Pearl Harbor 
which included one ‘‘unnamed Negro’’. It wasn’t 
until March of 1942, at the behest of the NAACP, 
that the Navy formally recognized Miller’s heroism. 
(6) Doris Miller was recognized by the Navy 
and awarded the Navy Cross Medal with the citation 
reading ‘‘For distinguished devotion to duty, ex-
traordinary courage and disregard for his own per-
sonal safety during the attack on the Fleet in Pearl 
Harbor, Territory of Hawaii, by Japanese forces on 
December 7, 1941. While at the side of his Captain 
on the bridge, Miller, despite enemy strafing and 
bombing and in the face of a serious fire, assisted 
in moving his Captain, who had been mortally 
wounded, to a place of greater safety, and later 
manned and operated a machine gun directed at 
enemy Japanese attacking aircraft until ordered to 
leave the bridge.’’. 
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(7) On May 27, 1942, Admiral Chester Nimitz 
personally pinned the Navy Cross to Miller’s left 
breast pocket while on board the aircraft carrier 
USS Enterprise. 
(8) Doris Miller died in action on November 24, 
1943, on board the USS Liscome Bay in the Pacific 
Ocean after a single Japanese torpedo sank the ves-
sel off the coast of Butaritari Island. 
SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 
(a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 
the House of Representatives and the President pro tem-
pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 
for the posthumous presentation, on behalf of Congress, 
of a gold medal of appropriate design in commemoration 
of Doris Miller, in recognition of his acts of valor while 
a member of the Navy during World War II. 
(b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For the purposes of the 
presentation referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary 
of the Treasury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the 
‘‘Secretary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable em-
blems, devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the 
Secretary. 
(c) SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Following the award of the 
gold medal under subsection (a), the gold medal 
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shall be given to the Smithsonian Institution, where 
it shall be available for display as appropriate and 
made available for research. 
(2) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of 
Congress that the Smithsonian Institution shall 
make the gold medal received under paragraph (1) 
available for display elsewhere, particularly at other 
appropriate locations associated with Doris Miller. 
SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 
The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 
bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 3, at 
a price sufficient to cover the cost thereof, including labor, 
materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses. 
SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 
(a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—The medals struck pursu-
ant to this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 
51 of title 31, United States Code. 
(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. 
Æ 
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