Title: Harlem Hellfighters Congressional Gold Medal Act
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security

Summary:
Harlem Hellfighters Congressional Gold Medal Act
This bill provides for the award of a single Congressional Gold Medal to the 369th Infantry Regiment, commonly known as the Harlem Hellfighters, in recognition of their bravery and outstanding service during World War I.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3642 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3642

  To award a Congressional gold medal to the 369th Infantry Regiment, 
commonly known as the ``Harlem Hellfighters'', in recognition of their 
          bravery and outstanding service during World War I.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 28, 2021

  Mr. Suozzi (for himself, Mrs. Beatty, Mr. Espaillat, Ms. Adams, Mr. 
   Aderholt, Mr. Aguilar, Mr. Allred, Mr. Amodei, Mr. Arrington, Mr. 
Auchincloss, Mrs. Axne, Mr. Babin, Mr. Baird, Mr. Balderson, Mr. Barr, 
Ms. Barragan, Ms. Bass, Mr. Bera, Mr. Bergman, Ms. Herrera Beutler, Mr. 
 Beyer, Mr. Bishop of Georgia, Mr. Blumenauer, Ms. Bonamici, Mr. Bost, 
 Ms. Bourdeaux, Mr. Bowman, Mr. Brendan F. Boyle of Pennsylvania, Mr. 
Brady, Mr. Brown, Ms. Brownley, Mr. Buck, Mr. Burchett, Ms. Bush, Mrs. 
 Bustos, Mr. Butterfield, Mr. Carbajal, Mr. Cardenas, Mr. Carson, Mr. 
 Carter of Louisiana, Mr. Cartwright, Mr. Case, Ms. Castor of Florida, 
Mr. Castro of Texas, Mr. Cawthorn, Ms. Cheney, Ms. Chu, Mr. Cicilline, 
 Ms. Clark of Massachusetts, Ms. Clarke of New York, Mr. Cleaver, Mr. 
   Cline, Mr. Clyburn, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Cole, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Mr. 
 Connolly, Mr. Cooper, Mr. Correa, Mr. Costa, Mr. Courtney, Ms. Craig, 
 Mr. Crist, Mr. Crow, Mr. Cuellar, Ms. Davids of Kansas, Mr. Danny K. 
Davis of Illinois, Mr. Rodney Davis of Illinois, Ms. Dean, Mr. DeFazio, 
 Ms. DeGette, Ms. DeLauro, Ms. DelBene, Mr. Delgado, Mrs. Demings, Mr. 
DeSaulnier, Mr. Deutch, Mrs. Dingell, Mr. Doggett, Mr. Michael F. Doyle 
  of Pennsylvania, Mr. Duncan, Mr. Dunn, Ms. Escobar, Ms. Eshoo, Mr. 
  Estes, Mr. Evans, Mr. Feenstra, Mr. Ferguson, Mr. Fitzpatrick, Mr. 
   Fleischmann, Mrs. Fletcher, Mr. Foster, Mr. Fortenberry, Ms. Lois 
  Frankel of Florida, Mr. Gallego, Mr. Gallagher, Mr. Garamendi, Mr. 
Garbarino, Mr. Garcia of Illinois, Ms. Garcia of Texas, Mr. Golden, Mr. 
  Gimenez, Mr. Gohmert, Mr. Gomez, Mr. Gonzalez of Ohio, Mr. Vicente 
Gonzalez of Texas, Miss Gonzalez-Colon, Mr. Gosar, Mr. Gottheimer, Ms. 
Granger, Mr. Green of Texas, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Grothman, Mr. Guest, Mr. 
  Hagedorn, Mr. Harder of California, Mrs. Hartzler, Mrs. Hayes, Ms. 
Herrell, Mr. Higgins of New York, Mr. Himes, Mr. Hill, Mrs. Hinson, Mr. 
Horsford, Mr. Hudson, Mr. Huffman, Mr. Huizenga, Mr. Issa, Ms. Jackson 
Lee, Mr. Jacobs of New York, Ms. Jacobs of California, Ms. 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. McGovern, 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. Norton, 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 Rochester, Mr. Rogers of 
Kentucky, Ms. Ross, Ms. Roybal-Allard, Mr. Ruiz, Mr. Ryan, Ms. Sanchez, 
 Mr. Sarbanes, Ms. Scanlon, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Schiff, Mr. Schneider, 
 Mr. Schrader, Ms. Schrier, Mr. Scott of Virginia, Mr. David Scott of 
Georgia, Ms. Sewell, 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. Velazquez, 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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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 outstanding service during World War I.

    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 ``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 soldiers 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 recruitment 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 practice training 
        at Camp Whitman, New York.
            (4) To receive combat training, the 15th reported, 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 remove 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 assigned manual labor tasks, such as loading and 
        unloading supplies, and constructing roads and railroads.
            (8) After receiving pressure from the 369th regimental 
        commander about not having a combat mission, 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.
            (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 offensive, 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.
            (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 February 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 soldiers, who found the men 
        to be incredibly determined and courageous in battle.
            (22) The 369th was the first regiment of African 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.
            (23) The 369th never lost a foot of ground nor had a man 
        taken prisoner, despite suffering a high number of casualties.

SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.

    (a) Award Authorized.--The Speaker of the House of Representatives 
and the President pro tempore of the Senate shall make appropriate 
arrangements for the award, on behalf of the Congress, of a single gold 
medal of appropriate design to the 369th Infantry Regiment, commonly 
known as the ``Harlem Hellfighters'', in recognition of their bravery 
and outstanding service during World War I.
    (b) Design and Striking.--For the purposes of the award referred to 
in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury shall strike the 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 will be displayed 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 this Act available for display elsewhere, particularly at 
        other locations and events associated with the Harlem 
        Hellfighters.

SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS.

    Under such regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury may 
prescribe, the Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of 
the gold medal struck under section 3(b), at a price sufficient to 
cover the costs of the medals, including labor, materials, dies, use of 
machinery, and overhead expenses.

SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS.

    Medals struck pursuant to this Act are national medals for purposes 
of chapter 51 of title 31, United States Code.
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