JAYAPAL, Mr. JEFFRIES, Mr. JOHNSON of Ohio, Mr. JOHNSON of South 
Dakota, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. JONES, Mr. JORDAN, Mr. JOYCE 
of Ohio, Mr. KAHELE, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. KATKO, Mr. KEATING, Mr. 
KELLER, Mr. KELLY of Pennsylvania, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Mr. KELLY 
of Mississippi, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. KILMER, Mr. KIM of New 
Jersey, Mrs. KIM of California, Mr. KIND, Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI, Ms. 
KUSTER, Mr. LAHOOD, Mr. LAMB, Mr. LAMALFA, Mr. LAMBORN, Mr. 
LANGEVIN, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Mr. 
LATTA, Mrs. LAWRENCE, Mr. LAWSON of Florida, Ms. LEE of California, 
Mrs. LEE of Nevada, Mrs. LESKO, Mr. LEVIN of Michigan, Mr. LEVIN 
of California, Mr. LIEU, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. LUCAS, 
Mrs. LURIA, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. MALINOWSKI, Ms. MALLIOTAKIS, Mrs. 
CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of 
New York, Mr. MANN, Ms. MANNING, Mr. MAST, Ms. MATSUI, Mrs. 
MCBATH, Mr. MCCAUL, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. MCEACHIN, Mr. MCGOV-
ERN, Mr. MCKINLEY, Mrs. RODGERS of Washington, Mr. MCNERNEY, 
Mr. MEEKS, Ms. MENG, Mr. MEUSER, Mrs. MILLER of Illinois, Mrs. 
MILLER-MEEKS, Mr. MOOLENAAR, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Mr. MOORE 
of Alabama, Mr. MORELLE, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. MRVAN, Mr. MULLIN, 
Mr. MURPHY of North Carolina, Mr. NADLER, Mr. NEAL, Mr. NEGUSE, 
Mr. NEHLS, Mr. NEWHOUSE, Ms. NEWMAN, Mr. NORCROSS, Ms. NOR-
TON, Mr. NORMAN, Mr. O’HALLERAN, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. PALAZZO, Mr. 
PALMER, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. PERLMUTTER, 
Mr. PETERS, Mr. PFLUGER, Mr. PHILLIPS, Ms. PINGREE, Ms. 
PLASKETT, Mr. POCAN, Ms. PORTER, Mr. POSEY, Ms. PRESSLEY, Mr. 
PRICE of North Carolina, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. REED, Miss 
RICE of New York, Mr. RICE of South Carolina, Ms. BLUNT ROCH-
ESTER, Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky, Ms. ROSS, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. 
RUIZ, Mr. RYAN, Ms. SA´NCHEZ, Mr. SARBANES, Ms. SCANLON, Ms. 
SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. SCHNEIDER, Mr. SCHRADER, Ms. 
SCHRIER, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia, Ms. SE-
WELL, Mr. SHERMAN, Ms. SHERRILL, Mr. SIRES, Ms. SLOTKIN, Mr. 
SMITH of Washington, Mr. SMITH of Missouri, Mr. SMUCKER, Mr. SOTO, 
Ms. SPANBERGER, Mrs. SPARTZ, Ms. SPEIER, Mr. STANTON, Ms. 
STEFANIK, Ms. STEVENS, Ms. STRICKLAND, Mr. SWALWELL, Mr. 
TAKANO, Ms. TENNEY, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. THOMPSON of 
Pennsylvania, Mr. THOMPSON of California, Ms. TITUS, Mr. TONKO, Mr. 
TORRES of New York, Mrs. TRAHAN, Mr. TRONE, Mr. TURNER, Mr. 
UPTON, Mr. VAN DREW, Mr. VARGAS, Mr. VEASEY, Mr. VELA, Ms. 
VELA´ZQUEZ, Mr. WALBERG, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Ms. WATERS, 
Mr. WELCH, Mr. WEBER of Texas, Mr. WENSTRUP, Mr. WESTERMAN, 
Ms. WILD, Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia, Mr. YARMUTH, Mr. YOUNG, and 
Mr. ZELDIN) 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 concerned 
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A BILL 
To award a Congressional gold medal to the 369th Infantry 
Regiment, 
commonly 
known 
as 
the 
‘‘Harlem 
Hellfighters’’, in recognition of their bravery and out-
standing service during World War I. 
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 ‘‘Harlem Hellfighters 
Congressional Gold Medal Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) When the United States officially entered 
World War I in April 1917, the Armed Forces were 
still segregated, even though African-American sol-
diers had served and distinguished themselves in 
every war since the Revolutionary War, and even the 
Colonial Wars preceding the American Revolution. 
(2) After several years of advocacy and debate, 
in 1916 the State of New York authorized the re-
cruitment of the 15th New York National Guard 
Regiment, which was called to Federal service on 
July 25, 1917, soon after arriving for training at 
Camp Whitman, New York. 
(3) The 15th completed its basic military prac-
tice training at Camp Whitman, New York. 
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(4) To receive combat training, the 15th re-
ported, on October 8, 1917, to Camp Wadsworth, in 
Spartanburg, South Carolina, where it experienced 
many incidents of racial discrimination. 
(5) Consequently, the government agreed to re-
move the 15th from Camp Wadsworth, but, instead 
of receiving further training, the regiment began 
preparing for deployment to France in November. 
(6) The 15th arrived in Saint Nazaire, France, 
on January 1, 1918, where it was redesignated the 
369th Infantry Regiment. 
(7) Partly because many White soldiers within 
the American Expeditionary Forces (hereinafter, the 
‘‘AEF’’) refused to perform combat duty with Black 
soldiers, members of the 369th were initially as-
signed manual labor tasks, such as loading and un-
loading supplies, and constructing roads and rail-
roads. 
(8) After receiving pressure from the 369th reg-
imental commander about not having a combat mis-
sion, the AEF attached the 369th to the French 
Fourth Army. 
(9) By mid-March of 1918, the 369th went to 
the Argonne Forest with the French 16th Division 
for training and soon entered the trenches. 
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(10) The 369th encountered its first German 
soldiers in combat in April, 1918. 
(11) In May of 1918, Private Henry Johnson 
of the 369th received the French Croix de Guerre, 
with Palm, for extraordinary valor, becoming one of 
the first American soldiers to be awarded this honor. 
(12) Johnson also belatedly received a Purple 
Heart, was awarded the Distinguished Service 
Cross, and in, 2015, was awarded the Medal of 
Honor. 
(13) Throughout the remainder of the spring 
and into the summer the 369th served at Minacourt, 
in the Champagne-Marne Defensive, and during the 
Aisne-Marne Offensive in support of the French 
161st Infantry Division. 
(14) As summer turned to autumn, the 369th 
went on to participate in the Meuse-Argonne offen-
sive, where it captured the important village of 
Sechault despite sustaining severe losses. 
(15) On October 14, 1918, the 369th advanced 
to Alsace. 
(16) On November 20, 1918, the 369th reached 
the banks of the Rhine River as part of the French 
Army of Occupation, the first Allied unit to do so. 
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(17) The 369th was relieved of its assignment 
with the French 161st Division in December, 1918, 
and elements of the regiment sailed for New York 
in late January and early February, 1919. 
(18) The 369th Infantry Regiment received a 
parade up 5th Avenue in New York City on Feb-
ruary 17, 1919, receiving applause and cheers from 
hundreds of thousands of onlookers. 
(19) The 369th was demobilized on February 
28, 1919. 
(20) Over 170 individual members of the 369th 
received the Croix de Guerre, many were awarded 
the Distinguished Service Cross, and the 369th was 
awarded a unit citation. 
(21) It is generally believed that the 369th was 
dubbed the ‘‘Harlem Hellfighters’’ by German sol-
diers, who found the men to be incredibly deter-
mined and courageous in battle. 
(22) The 369th was the first regiment of Afri-
can Americans to deploy overseas during World War 
I and spent 191 days on the front line in World War 
I, more than any other American regimental sized 
unit. 
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