Colonel Young Oak Kim Congressional Gold Medal Act
Bill: H.R.2261 | Sponsor: Rep. Strickland, Marilyn (D-WA)
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security

Summary:
Colonel Young Oak Kim Congressional Gold Medal Act
This bill directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to arrange for the posthumous award of a Congressional Gold Medal in commemoration of Colonel Young Oak Kim, in recognition of his achievements and contributions to heroism, leadership, and humanitarianism.

To award posthumously a Congressional Gold Medal to Colonel Young Oak 
   Kim in recognition of his extraordinary heroism, leadership, and 
                            humanitarianism.

    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 ``Colonel Young Oak Kim Congressional 
Gold Medal Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

     The Congress finds the following:
            (1) Young Oak Kim was born in Los Angeles in 1919 to Korean 
        American immigrants, where his family faced numerous 
        challenges. After high school, Kim enrolled in Los Angeles City 
        College, but dropped out after a year to find work to help 
        support his family.
            (2) Because of racial discrimination, Kim struggled to keep 
        employed. With the outbreak of World War II (WWII), Kim tried 
        to enlist in the United States Army, but that opportunity was 
        closed off to him, too, as an Asian American. However, after 
        Congress extended conscription to Asian Americans, Kim was 
        drafted into the Army, entering the service on January 31, 
        1941.
            (3) From the earliest days of Kim's service in the United 
        States Army, he distinguished himself as a leader, being 
        selected for the Infantry Officer Candidate School at Fort 
        Benning, Georgia. Upon his commission as a second lieutenant in 
        1943, Kim was assigned to the all-Japanese American 100th 
        Infantry Battalion/442nd Regimental Combat Team.
            (4) Young Oak Kim was assigned as an officer of the 100th 
        Infantry Battalion that was formed on June 5, 1942, comprised 
        of predominantly second-generation Americans of Japanese 
        ancestry from the Hawaiian Islands.
            (5) When Kim reported to duty, his commanding officer gave 
        Kim the option to transfer due to the historical conflicts 
        between the Japanese and Koreans, but Kim stated, ``Sir, 
        they're Americans and I am an American. And we're going to 
        fight for America.''.
            (6) The 100th Infantry Battalion was deployed to the 
        Mediterranean and entered combat in Italy on September 26, 
        1943. The 100th Battalion fought at Cassino, Italy in January 
        1944, and later accompanied the 34th Infantry Division to 
        Anzio, Italy.
            (7) Kim's most notable feat occurred at the Battle of 
        Anzio, during broad daylight he volunteered to capture German 
        soldiers for intelligence information. He and another soldier 
        crawled more than 600 yards located directly under German 
        observation posts with no cover. They captured two prisoners 
        and obtained information that significantly contributed to the 
        fall of Rome. For his actions, Kim received the Distinguished 
        Service Cross from the United States and the Military Valor 
        Cross, the highest military decoration in Italy.
            (8) The 100th Infantry Battalion was formally made an 
        integral part of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team on June 15, 
        1944, and fought for the last 11 months of the war with 
        distinction in Italy, southern France, and Germany. The 442nd 
        Regimental Team became the most decorated unit in United States 
        military history for its size and length of service. The 100th 
        Battalion and the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, received 7 
        Presidential Unit Citations, 21 Medals of Honor, 29 
        Distinguished Service Crosses, 560 Silver Stars, 4,000 Bronze 
        Stars, 22 Legion of Merit Medals, 15 Soldier's Medals, and over 
        4,000 Purple Hearts, among numerous additional distinctions.
            (9) When the Korean war broke out in 1950, Kim rejoined the 
        United States Army and participated in the United Nations 
        Forces' last drive into Korea. As commander of the First 
        Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, he became the first officer 
        of color in United States history to command an Army battalion 
        on the battlefield.
            (10) In Seoul, he led his battalion in sponsoring an 
        orphanage of more than 500 children. The battalion was the only 
        United Nations military unit to sponsor an orphanage during the 
        war.
            (11) In 1972, Kim retired from the Army at the rank of 
        Colonel. By the end of his career, Kim had earned the 
        Distinguished Service Cross, two Silver Stars, two Bronze 
        Stars, three Purple Hearts, two Legions of Merit, and several 
        military commendations from foreign governments-Italy's Bronze 
        Medal of Military Valor and Military Valor Cross, France's La 
        Legion D'Honneur, and the Republic of Korea's Taeguk Order of 
        Military Merit.
            (12) Kim returned to his native Los Angeles and became a 
        civic leader. In 1975, he established the Koreatown Youth and 
        Community Center in Los Angeles to support recently immigrated 
        Korean youth who were struggling with poverty and language 
        barriers, which today serves a broad multi-ethnic population of 
        11,000 people in the greater Los Angeles area.
            (13) In 1978, Kim helped establish the Center for the 
        Pacific Asian Family (CPAF), an organization providing 
        culturally and linguistically appropriate domestic violence and 
        sexual assault services to the pan-Asian immigrant community. 
        Under his leadership as CPAF's chairman, the organization 
        became the largest women's shelter in Southern California in 
        the 1990s.
            (14) In 1986, Kim founded the Korean Health, Education, 
        Information and Research Center (KHEIR), a nonprofit service 
        agency providing culturally and linguistically-sensitive health 
        care and human services to the uninsured and underserved 
        residents of Los Angeles. Today KHEIR operates two clinics that 
        can accommodate more than 75,000 patient visits annually and is 
        the only federally qualified health center in the United States 
        that serves a majority Korean patient base, with all services 
        available in English, Korean, and Spanish.
            (15) In 1985, Kim co-founded the Japanese American National 
        Museum (JANM), which promotes understanding and appreciation of 
        America's ethnic and cultural diversity by sharing the Japanese 
        American experience.
            (16) In 1989, Kim founded and served as the Chairman of the 
        100th/442nd/MIS WWII Memorial Foundation, which is now known as 
        the Go for Broke National Education Center. Kim led a campaign 
        with veterans of the 100th Infantry Battalion, 442nd RCT and 
        Military Intelligence Service to build the Go for Broke 
        Monument, in downtown Los Angeles, which serves as a tribute to 
        the Japanese American soldiers of World War II.
            (17) Kim's contributions in the 1980s and 1990s also 
        included founding the Korean American Museum and the Korean 
        American Coalition, both entities dedicated to understanding 
        the Korean American experience and addressing its issues and 
        needs.

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 posthumous presentation, on behalf of 
the Congress, of a gold medal of appropriate design, in commemoration 
of Colonel Young Oak Kim, in recognition of his achievements and 
contributions to heroism, leadership, and humanitarianism.
    (b) Design and Striking.--For the 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 
        under subsection (a), the gold medal 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--
                    (A) display, particularly at the National Portrait 
                Gallery; or
                    (B) loan, as appropriate, so that the medal may be 
                displayed elsewhere.

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.

SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS.

    (a) National Medals.--The medals struck pursuant 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.
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