Ritchie Boys Congressional Gold Medal Act
Bill: H.R.9274 | Sponsor: Rep. Trone, David J. (D-MD)
Policy area: Congress

Summary:
Ritchie Boys Congressional Gold Medal Act
This bill provides for the award of a Congressional Gold Medal to commemorate the Ritchie Boys (men who trained at Camp Ritchie, a War Department military intelligence training center) in recognition of their contributions to the success of the Allied Forces during World War II.

To award a Congressional Gold Medal to the Ritchie Boys, in recognition 
      of their bravery and dedication and the importance of their 
 contributions to the success of the Allied Forces during World War II.

    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 ``Ritchie Boys Congressional Gold 
Medal Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) In 1942, the Federal Government ordered that a Maryland 
        National Guard Training Ground be turned into a War Department 
        Military Intelligence Training Center, which was named Camp 
        Ritchie after the late Governor, Albert C. Ritchie.
            (2) Starting in 1942, more than 19,000 men trained at Camp 
        Ritchie in Maryland and became known as the Ritchie Boys.
            (3) While the approximately 2,800 refugees who had fled 
        Nazi persecution in Germany and Austria and had come to the 
        United States as ``enemy aliens'' prior to the entry of the 
        United States into World War II only constituted approximately 
        14 percent of the total number of Ritchie Boys, they had the 
        strongest motivation to return to Europe and fight for their 
        newly adopted country.
            (4) The Ritchie Boys included--
                    (A) soldiers of many faiths (including Protestant, 
                Jewish, and Catholic soldiers);
                    (B) both soldiers born in the United States and 
                foreign-born soldiers from more than 70 countries;
                    (C) soldiers with German, Japanese (Nisei), and 
                other language skills; and
                    (D) more importantly, soldiers with general 
                intelligence skills suitable for being trained as 
                order-of-battle specialists, counterintelligence 
                operatives, photo interpreters, psychological warfare 
                experts, and other specialists.
            (5) During World War II, Ritchie Boys were assigned to 
        every unit of the Army and the Marines as well as to the Office 
        of Strategic Services and the Counter Intelligence Corps.
            (6) Starting in 1942, the Ritchie Boys were sent as 
        individual specialists to the Supreme Headquarters Allied 
        Expeditionary Force (``SHAEF'') in small elite teams to join 
        combat units in the North African, Mediterranean, European, and 
        Pacific theaters and to military camps, prisoner-of-war camps, 
        and interrogation centers (such as Fort Hunt, Virginia) in the 
        United States.
            (7) The Ritchie Boys accompanied the Army on D-Day in 
        Europe as foot soldiers with all Army divisions and as 
        paratroopers with all airborne divisions and were often 
        selected to be the second soldier to land after the commander 
        in order to provide needed immediate interpretation in 
        languages such as French, German, and Italian.
            (8) The Ritchie Boys served as personal interpreters for 
        General George Patton and other military leaders.
            (9) The Ritchie Boys served honorably in the Pacific in the 
        assaults on Guadalcanal, Okinawa, Iwo Jima, and the 
        Philippines, including 2 Marine Corps Ritchie Boys who died in 
        the initial landing on Iwo Jima and a Ritchie Boy who was 
        awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously for bravery.
            (10) Approximately 140 Ritchie Boys lost their lives during 
        World War II.
            (11) The Ritchie Boys garnered more than 65 Silver Star 
        Medals and numerous Bronze Star Medals as well as at least 5 
        Legion of Honor and many Croix de Guerre Medals.
            (12) Among the 150-man Second Mobile Radio Broadcast 
        Company of the Ritchie Boys, 6 members received the Croix de 
        Guerre Medal and at least 15 received Bronze Star Medals for 
        service and bravery.
            (13) The Ritchie Boys made significant contributions to the 
        success of the Allied Forces on the Western Front through their 
        knowledge and their skills, as demonstrated by a classified 
        postwar report by the Army finding that the Ritchie Boys were 
        the source of nearly 60 percent of the credible intelligence 
        gathered in Europe during World War II.
            (14) Many of the Ritchie Boys continued to serve their 
        country following the conclusion of World War II, including 
        through service as translators or interrogators prosecuting war 
        criminals with the Judge Advocate General's Office during 
        trials at Dachau and Nuremberg.
            (15) The Ritchie Boys include such notable figures as David 
        Rockefeller, Archibald Roosevelt Jr., William Sloane Coffin, 
        Philip Johnson, J.D. Salinger, and William Warfield, as well as 
        Senators John Chafee of Rhode Island and Frank Church of Idaho, 
        and the father of the current senior Senator from Oregon, Ron 
        Wyden.
            (16) The Ritchie Boys also contributed outside of the 
        military through careers as writers, artists, architects, 
        academics, diplomats, economists, financiers, philanthropists, 
        and psychologists.
            (17) Because the roles of the Ritchie Boys remained 
        classified for decades, the public generally lacks awareness of 
        their contributions.
            (18) Camp Ritchie closed in 1998, and a museum and 
        educational center is now being planned for the location.
            (19) Approximately 200 Ritchie Boys are still living, 
        ranging in age between 95 and 107.

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 
Congress, of a gold medal of appropriate design in commemoration of the 
Ritchie Boys, in recognition of their bravery and dedication and the 
importance of their contributions to the success of the Allied Forces 
during World War II.
    (b) 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 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 should make the gold medal received 
        under paragraph (1) available for display elsewhere, 
        particularly at other appropriate locations associated with the 
        Ritchie Boys.

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 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 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 
under this Act.
    (b) Proceeds of Sale.--Amounts received from the sale of duplicate 
bronze medals authorized under section 4 shall be deposited into the 
United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund.
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