I 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 865 
To posthumously award a Congressional Gold Medal, collectively, to the Afri-
can Americans who served with Union forces during the Civil War, 
in recognition of their bravery and outstanding service. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 7, 2023 
Ms. NORTON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on House 
Administration, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speak-
er, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the ju-
risdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To posthumously award a Congressional Gold Medal, collec-
tively, to the African Americans who served with Union 
forces during the Civil War, in recognition of their brav-
ery and outstanding service. 
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 ‘‘United States Colored 
Troops Congressional Gold Medal Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
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(1) Since the colonial era, African Americans 
have served the United States in times of war. 
(2) During the Civil War, approximately 
200,000 African-American men served in the Union 
Army and 19,000 African-American men served in 
the Union Navy. 
(3) During the Civil War, African-American 
women were not allowed to formally enlist as soldiers 
or sailors, though they served as nurses, cooks, 
spies, and scouts for the Union Army and the Union 
Navy. 
(4) While African-American men served in the 
Navy since its establishment, there was resistance to 
enlisting them to take up arms for the Union Army 
at the start of the Civil War. 
(5) As the Civil War dragged on, President 
Lincoln broke from the previous policy of his admin-
istration and determined that liberating enslaved 
persons ‘‘was a military necessity absolutely essen-
tial for the salvation of the Union’’. 
(6) The Act entitled ‘‘An Act to suppress insur-
rection, to punish treason and rebellion, to seize and 
confiscate the property of rebels, and for other pur-
poses’’, approved July 17, 1862 (commonly known 
as the ‘‘Second Confiscation Act’’) (12 Stat. 589; 
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chapter 195), and the Act of July 17, 1862 (com-
monly known as the ‘‘Military Act of 1862’’) (12 
Stat. 597; chapter 201), were the first official au-
thorizations to employ African Americans in the 
Union Army. 
(7) It was not until January 1, 1863, the effec-
tive date of the Emancipation Proclamation issued 
by President Lincoln, that the Union Army was or-
dered to receive African-American men. 
(8) On May 22, 1863, the United States War 
Department issued General Order Number 143, 
which established the Bureau of Colored Troops for 
the recruitment and organization of regiments of the 
Union Army composed of African-American men, 
called the United States Colored Troops (referred to 
in this section as ‘‘USCT’’). 
(9) Leaders such as Frederick Douglass encour-
aged African Americans to enlist to advance the 
cause of citizenship. ‘‘Once let the black man get 
upon his person the brass letters, ‘U.S.’, let him get 
an eagle on his button, and a musket on his shoul-
der and bullets in his pocket, there is no power on 
[E]arth that can deny that he has earned the right 
to citizenship.’’, wrote Douglass. 
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(10) African-American sailors constituted a sig-
nificant segment of the Union Navy, making up 20 
percent of the total enlisted force of the Navy. 
(11) Although there were rank restrictions on 
African Americans in the Navy before the Civil War, 
this policy changed after the establishment of the 
USCT, when the Union Navy started to compete 
with the Union Army for enlistment of African 
Americans. 
(12) Yet, in practice, most African Americans 
could not advance beyond lowest ranks of ‘‘boy’’ and 
‘‘landsman.’’ 
(13) African-American soldiers and sailors 
served with distinction, honor, and bravery amid ra-
cial discrimination and adverse circumstances, in-
cluding the risk of enslavement and torture if cap-
tured. 
(14) Eighteen members of the USCT and 8 Af-
rican-American sailors were awarded the Medal of 
Honor, the highest honor in the United States for 
bravery in combat. 
(15) For generations after the Civil War, the 
contributions of African Americans in the Civil War 
were excluded from historical memory. 
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(16) Public Law No. 102–412 (106 Stat. 2104) 
authorized the establishment of a memorial on Fed-
eral land in the District of Columbia to honor Afri-
can Americans who served with Union forces during 
the Civil War. 
(17) This memorial, featuring a bronze statue 
of USCT soldiers, an African-American sailor and 
family, is surrounded by the Wall of Honor, which 
lists the names of the members of the USCT. 
(18) The African American Civil War Museum 
is located in the District of Columbia. 
(19) Patriots and heroes who rose in service to 
a Nation that would not fully recognize them, the 
African Americans who served the Union during the 
Civil War deserve our recognition for their contribu-
tions to the grant of emancipation and citizenship 
for nearly 4,000,000 enslaved people and the preser-
vation of the Union. 
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 to the African Amer-
icans who served with Union forces during the Civil War, 
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