Heroes of the Warsaw Ghetto Congressional Gold Medal Act
Bill: H.R.9104 | Sponsor: Rep. Keating, William R. (D-MA)
Policy area: Congress

Summary:
Heroes of the Warsaw Ghetto Congressional Gold Medal Act
This bill provides for the award of a Congressional Gold Medal posthumously to commemorate the participants in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising who led an armed resistance against Nazi occupiers.

To award a Congressional Gold Medal to the group of heroic participants 
in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising who led an armed resistance against Nazi 
    occupiers and fought to preserve and protect the Jewish culture.

    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 ``Heroes of the Warsaw Ghetto 
Congressional Gold Medal Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Jewish people have long formed an integral part of 
        the culture and history of Europe and of Poland.
            (2) Europeans Jews contribute to the rich diversity of 
        society and culture across Europe.
            (3) For centuries, prior to World War II, Poland 
        represented a center of Jewish life in Europe and was home to 
        millions of Jews.
            (4) Prior to World War II, 350,000 Jews lived in Warsaw, 
        representing about 30 percent of the city's population.
            (5) Following the Nazi takeover of Poland, the Germans 
        established the Warsaw ghetto in October 1940, and unlawfully 
        confined Jewish civilians to the ghetto in November 1940, with 
        the population of the ghetto reaching a height of 400,000 Jews.
            (6) Life in the Warsaw ghetto was marked by widespread 
        starvation, disease, physical violence, and deplorable 
        conditions unsuitable for life, leading to the deaths of 83,000 
        Jews between 1940 and mid-1942.
            (7) In less than two months in 1942, German units deported 
        about 265,000 Jews from Warsaw to the Treblinka death camp and 
        killed an additional 35,000 Jews inside the ghetto.
            (8) In early 1943, German and SS units intended to deport 
        the remaining Jewish population of the ghetto to forced labor 
        camps, but many Jews resisted deportation.
            (9) The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising began on April 19, 1943, 
        when SS and police forces appeared outside the walls of the 
        Warsaw ghetto with the intent of liquidating the ghetto and 
        deporting its remaining inhabitants.
            (10) Aided in part by arms from the Polish underground and 
        relying on clandestinely organized Jewish self-defense groups, 
        the ghetto heroically resisted German forces, mounting an 
        organized armed resistance against SS and police units and 
        fighting against impossible odds.
            (11) Jews in the ghetto continued to fend off their German 
        occupiers for almost one month, fighting to the last.
            (12) After weeks of resistance, the Germans systematically 
        destroyed the ghetto, burning buildings and razing city blocks 
        in an attempt to erase the memory and existence of the Jewish 
        people.
            (13) By May 16, 1943, German forces had suppressed the 
        uprising and deported the ghetto's surviving inhabitants to 
        concentration camps and killing centers.
            (14) The heroes of the Warsaw ghetto who bravely defended 
        themselves in the face of unimaginable crimes set an example 
        for other occupied cities and for other Jewish communities.
            (15) In total, over 3,000,000 Polish Jews were murdered by 
        the Nazis during the Holocaust, with only about 380,000 Polish 
        Jews still alive in Poland, the Soviet Union, or in 
        concentration camps by the end of the war.
            (16) Genocide involves the erasure and elimination of the 
        memory and culture of a people, and therefore the United States 
        must work to preserve the historical record of Jewish people 
        around the world, many of whom now live in the United States.
            (17) Current and future generations benefit from the 
        preservation and memorialization of their history and culture.
            (18) Millions of Jewish people whose ancestors came from 
        Poland now live in the United States, Israel, and around the 
        world.
            (19) Preservation of the history and culture of Jewish 
        people in Poland is essential to learning the lessons of 
        history and ensuring the prosperity of the Jewish people for 
        future generations.
            (20) Museums are an important contributor to the historical 
        preservation of human memory, providing cultural, education and 
        civic centers where people can learn about the life and record 
        of individuals or groups of people from the past.
            (21) Museums dedicated to the historical memory of Jewish 
        people or the struggle for survival of the Jewish people during 
        the Holocaust play a critical role in preserving the memory of 
        Jewish people.
            (22) The construction of further museums, including the 
        Warsaw Ghetto Museum, would be a welcoming place for all 
        visitors who want to better understand the fate of Jews 
        incarcerated in the Warsaw ghetto.
            (23) The POLIN Museum of the History of the Polish Jews is 
        a central location for Jewish people around the world to learn 
        about the life, history, and culture of their ancestors.
            (24) The POLIN Museum is an important educational hub for 
        all people to learn about the rich history of Jewish people who 
        were targeted and heroically fought back against the Nazis in 
        their attempt to erase the memory of Jewish life in Europe.
            (25) The POLIN Museum in Warsaw should be celebrated for 
        the important role it plays in the preservation of the memory 
        of Jewish life as it documents the long history of Jewish life 
        in Poland and Europe both before and after the war, and sits on 
        the site of the former Warsaw ghetto where so many heroic Jews 
        fought against the erasure of the memory of the Jewish people.

SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.

    (a) Presentations 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 collective 
commemoration of the group of heroic participants in the Warsaw Ghetto 
Uprising who led an armed resistance against Nazi occupiers and fought 
to preserve and protect the Jewish culture.
    (b) Location of Presentation.--The presentation described under 
subsection (a) shall take place at the POLIN Museum of the History of 
Polish Jews.
    (c) 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 the gold 
medal with suitable emblems, devices, and inscriptions, to be 
determined by the Secretary.
    (d) United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.--
            (1) In general.--Following the award of the gold medal 
        under subsection (a), the gold medal shall be given to the 
        United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, where it shall be 
        available in accordance with the Museum's policies regarding 
        materials in the Museum's care.
            (2) Sense of congress.--It is the sense of Congress that 
        the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum should make the 
        gold medal received under paragraph (1) available for display 
        elsewhere, in accordance with the Museum's policies regarding 
        materials in the Museum's care, at other appropriate locations, 
        including those associated with commemoration of the Holocaust 
        and other relevant entities such as the POLIN Museum of the 
        History of the Polish Jews, that may make such a request.

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 medal struck pursuant to this Act is a 
national medal 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.

SEC. 6. AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS; PROCEEDS OF SALE.

    (a) Authority To Use Fund Amounts.--There is authorized to be 
charged against the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund such 
amounts as may be necessary to pay for the costs of the medals struck 
pursuant to this Act.
    (b) Proceeds of Sale.--The amounts received from the sale of 
duplicate bronze medals authorized under section 3 shall be deposited 
into the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund.
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