Hmong Congressional Gold Medal Act
Bill: H.R.8110 | Sponsor: Rep. Grothman, Glenn (R-WI)
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
Hmong Congressional Gold Medal Act
This bill provides for the award of a Congressional Gold Medal to the Hmong people in recognition of their highly distinguished service in the Vietnam War and the fight against communism.

To award a Congressional Gold Medal to the Hmong people, in recognition 
of their highly distinguished service in the Vietnam war and the fight 
                           against communism.

    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 ``Hmong Congressional Gold Medal 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) As the Vietnam war spread south and west into Laos, the 
        Central Intelligence Agency recruited and trained Hmong 
        tribesmen to fight back against the communist North Vietnamese 
        and Pathet Lao.
            (2) Over 30,000 Hmong men fought the ground war, flew 
        combat missions, gathered intelligence on North Vietnamese 
        troop movements, interrupted the Ho-Chi-Min Supply Trail, and 
        rescued American pilots downed behind enemy lines.
            (3) The Hmong people suffered heavy casualties, and their 
        soldiers died at a rate ten times as high as that of American 
        soldiers in Vietnam.
            (4) Following the Vietnam war, many Hmong were displaced 
        from their villages as they were either bombed or burned down 
        by the North Vietnamese and over 150,000 Hmong fled Laos when 
        the nation fell to communist forces on May 14, 1975.
            (5) Due to their ties to the American military, many Hmong 
        who fled Laos came to the United States as refugees to start a 
        new life.
            (6) Currently, there are over 327,000 Hmong living in the 
        United States, with the majority residing in California, 
        Minnesota, and Wisconsin.

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 presentation, on behalf of the 
Congress, of a gold medal of appropriate design to the Hmong people, in 
recognition of their highly distinguished service in the Vietnam war 
and the fight against communism.
    (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 should make the gold medal received 
        under paragraph (1) available for display elsewhere, 
        particularly at other appropriate locations associated with the 
        Hmong people's service in the Vietnam war, and that preference 
        should be given to locations affiliated with the Smithsonian 
        Institution.

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 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.
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