I 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 438 
To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Joanne King Herring and post-
humously to each of Charles ‘‘Charlie’’ Wilson and Gustav Lascaris 
‘‘Gust’’ Avrakotos, in recognition of their personal sacrifice and service 
to the country. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 21, 2015 
Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas (for himself, Mr. MCCAUL, Ms. JACKSON LEE, 
and Ms. DELAURO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
the Committee on Financial Services 
A BILL 
To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Joanne King Her-
ring and posthumously to each of Charles ‘‘Charlie’’ Wil-
son and Gustav Lascaris ‘‘Gust’’ Avrakotos, in recogni-
tion of their personal sacrifice and service to the country. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Charlie Wilson, Gust Avrakotos and Joanne 
King Herring played a critical role in ending the So-
viet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan, which ulti-
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mately was a factor leading to the collapse of the 
Soviet Union. 
(2) Charlie Wilson was elected to Congress in 
1972 from the 2nd Congressional District of Texas 
and served until he retired in 1996. He was a mem-
ber of the House Appropriations Committee. 
(3) Gust Avrakotos joined the Central Intel-
ligence Agency (‘‘CIA’’) in 1962 and his assign-
ments included a mission in Greece and duty in the 
CIA’s Langley, Virginia, headquarters. While at 
Langley, Gust Avrakotos oversaw the largest covert 
operation in the CIA’s history to defeat the Soviet 
Union in Afghanistan. 
(4) Joanne King Herring is a private citizen 
and humanitarian who currently resides in Houston, 
Texas. 
(5) A few months after the Soviet invasion of 
Afghanistan in 1979, Joanne King Herring risked 
her life by traveling to Afghanistan to film the atroc-
ities that the Soviet soldiers were inflicting on the 
Afghan people. 
(6) Joanne King Herring shared her film with 
prominent current and former public officials, in-
cluding then Vice President George H.W. Bush, 
then CIA chief William Casey and Henry Kissinger. 
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(7) Congressman Charlie Wilson was a vocal 
opponent of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and 
secured appropriations over several years for the 
CIA’s covert operation to fund the Afghan resist-
ance. 
(8) Joanne King Herring arranged for Charlie 
Wilson to travel with her to Pakistan to visit Afghan 
refugee camps in 1982. After witnessing the physical 
harm caused by the Soviets to the Afghan people, 
Charlie Wilson was further determined to secure 
funding for the resistance movement. 
(9) In 1984, CIA officer Gustav Avrakotos con-
tacted Charlie Wilson, breaking the CIA’s policy 
against lobbying Congress for money, and asked 
Wilson for additional funding to support the CIA’s 
covert operation in Afghanistan, which Gustav 
Avrakotos was leading. 
(10) The covert operation was successful and 
the Soviet Union withdrew from Afghanistan in 
1989. 
(11) The heroic efforts of Charlie Wilson, Jo-
anne King Herring and Gustav Avrakotos played a 
key role in leading to the collapse of the Soviet 
Union in 1991. 
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SEC. 2. 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 presentation, on behalf of the Congress, of a gold 
medal of appropriate design to Joanne King Herring, and 
posthumous presentation of such a medal to each of 
Charles ‘‘Charlie’’ Wilson and Gustav Lascaris ‘‘Gust’’ 
Avrakotos, in recognition of their personal sacrifice and 
service to the country. 
(b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For the purposes of the 
award referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the 
Treasury (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Sec-
retary’’) shall strike the gold medals with suitable em-
blems, devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the 
Secretary. 
(c) AWARD OF MEDAL.—Following the presentation 
of the gold medals referred to in subsection (a), the medals 
for Charles Wilson and Gustav Avrakotos shall be awarded 
respectively to Barbara Ablerstadt Wilson and Claudette 
M. Avrakotos, the wives of the deceased. 
SEC. 3. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 
The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 
bronze of the gold medals struck pursuant to section 2 
under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, at 
a price sufficient to cover the cost thereof, including labor, 
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materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses, 
and the cost of the gold medals. 
SEC. 4. STATUS OF MEDALS. 
(a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—Medals struck pursuant to 
this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 51 
of title 31, United States Code. 
(b) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of sections 
5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all medals 
struck under this act shall be considered numismatic 
items. 
Æ 
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