Defenders of Bataan, Corregidor, and Attu Congressional Gold Medal Act

Bill: 118-s-4988
Sponsor: full_name: Sen. Heinrich, Martin [D-NM]
Introduced: 2024-08-01
Policy area: Armed Forces and National Security
Latest action: action_date: 2024-08-01
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.

Summaries:
action_date: 2024-08-01
action_desc: Introduced in Senate
text: <p><strong>Defenders of Bataan, Corregidor, and Attu Congressional Gold Medal Act</strong></p><p>This bill provides for the collective award of a Congressional Gold Medal to the individuals who fought for or with the United States to defend Bataan, Corregidor, Attu, and other places in the Pacific theater (i.e., Shanghai, the Central Pacific Area, the Southwest Pacific Area, and the Aleutian Islands), and to the impacted Saskinax̂ people in recognition of their personal sacrifice and service during World War II.</p>

tv_txt: II 118th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 4988 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES August 1, 2024 Mr. Heinrich (for himself, Mr. Bennet , Mr. Hoeven , Ms. Klobuchar , Mr. Luján , Mr. Merkley , Ms. Smith , Ms. Stabenow , and Mr. Whitehouse ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs A BILL To award a Congressional Gold Medal, collectively, to the individuals who fought for or with the United States against the armed forces of Imperial Japan in the Pacific theater and the impacted Saskinax̂ people on Attu, whose lives, culture, and community were irrevocably changed from December 8, 1941, to August 15, 1945.

1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Defenders of Bataan, Corregidor, and Attu Congressional Gold Medal Act . 2. Findings Congress finds the following: (1) Hours after the attacks on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Territory, on December 7, 1941, Imperial Japanese forces launched coordinated attacks throughout Asia, striking Malaya, Thailand, Singapore, Shanghai, Hong Kong, the Philippines, and the United States territories of Guam, Midway Island, Wake Island, and Howland Island. (2) For the next 7 months, undermanned United States forces in the Pacific fought with outdated weapons, expired ammunition, and without reinforcement or resupply to their besieged island posts. (3) On the first day of United States participation in World War II, December 8, 1941, the first to fire in the Philippines at the Imperial Japanese were the New Mexico National Guardsmen from the 200th and 515th Coast Artillery (AA) regiments, the successors to the famed Rough Riders of the Spanish-American War, who had only recently arrived in the Philippines where they were stationed at Fort Stotsenburg north of Manila with the mission of defending Clark Field. (4) Filipino soldiers and civilians valiantly fought alongside and as part of the United States Armed Forces and were integral to their war efforts. (5) By the end of December 1941, all United States forces on Luzon Island in the Philippines withdrew to the Bataan Peninsula of the island, where, for the next 4 months, with neither air nor sea defenses, an estimated 12,000 United States and at least 63,000 Filipino troops and 20,000 Filipino civilians endured siege conditions. (6) On April 9, 1942, Major General Edward P. King, Jr. surrendered the United States and Filipino forces on the Bataan Peninsula. The Imperial Japanese Army forced thousands of troops and civilians to assemble at the port of Mariveles at the tip of Bataan and other locations along the peninsula for a 65-mile forced march. This forced trek came to be known as the Bataan Death March . (7) During the Bataan Death March, approximately 700 people of the United States and 6,000 to 10,000 Filipinos were killed. Survivors were sent to Camp O’Donnell where 26,000 more Filipino prisoners died. (8) On May 6, 1942, Lieutenant General Jonathan Wainwright surrendered the fortress islands of Corregidor (Fort Mills), Fort Drum, Fort Frank, and Fort Hughes in Manila Bay. The complete surrender of the remaining United States and Filipino forces in the Philippines occurred on June 9, 1942. (9) Included in the surrenders in the Philippines were female nurses of the United States Army and Navy and the Philippine Army and civilian volunteers who became the first large group of United States women in combat and, counted with the Army and Navy nurses surrendered on Guam in December 1941, comprised the first group of United States military women taken captive and imprisoned by an enemy. (10) On June 7, 1942, the Imperial Japanese invaded Attu, homeland of the impacted Saskinax̂ people, who were all subsequently taken prisoner by the Japanese troops on Attu for 3 months and held as imprisoned slaves for 3 years and 3 months in Otaru, Japan. After the war, the impacted Saskinax̂ people were not allowed to return to Attu. (11) On May 11, 1943, 12,500 United States Armed Forces personnel entered Attu, which was occupied by about 2,500 Japanese military personnel. Between this date and May 29, 1943, those brave members of the United States Armed Forces fought to reclaim Attu. This victory cost the United States about 550 of its very finest, who laid down their lives in the service of their nation. (12) Between January 1942 and August 1945, thousands of prisoners of war from the United States who had survived the surrenders throughout the Pacific were shipped in unmarked freighters and vessels. (13) It is time to recognize the defenders of Bataan, Corregidor, Attu and other places throughout the Pacific who were ordinary men and women who found uncommon courage in extraordinary circumstances. 3. Definitions In this Act: (1) Impacted Saskinax̂ people The term impacted Saskinax̂ people refers to the indigenous peoples of the Near Islands, which includes Attu and the westernmost Alaskan islands, who were on the islands during the period beginning on December 8, 1941, and ending on August 15, 1945. (2) Individuals who fought for or with the United States The term individuals who fought for or with the United States — (A) includes any individual who— (i) was in the Pacific theater at any time during the period beginning on December 8, 1941, and ending on August 15, 1945; and (ii) (I) served honorably as a member of the United States Armed Forces or at the command of the United States Armed Forces in the defensive battles in the Pacific from December 8, 1941 to June 9, 1942; or (II) became a prisoner of war of Imperial Japan during World War II until August 15, 1945, including civilians who the Imperial Japanese Armed Forces considered military prisoners of war and received veterans status after the war; and (B) does not include a member of the Pacific Fleet or the Hawaiian Department. (3) Pacific theater The term Pacific theater means Shanghai, the Central Pacific Area, the Southwest Pacific Area, and the Aleutian Islands. (4) Resistance or battle The term resistance or battle includes an action in and around Shanghai, Tientsin, Guam, Wake Island, the Dutch East Indies, Borneo, the Philippines, Midway Island, or the Aleutian Islands. (5) Secretary The term Secretary means the Secretary of the Treasury. 4. 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 collective award, on behalf of Congress, of a gold medal of appropriate design to the individuals who fought for or with the United States to defend Bataan, Corregidor, Attu, and other places in the Pacific theater, and to the impacted Saskinax̂ people, in recognition of their personal sacrifice and service during World War II. (b) Design and striking For purposes of the award under subsection (a), the Secretary 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 National Museum of American History of the Smithsonian Institution, where it shall be displayed as appropriate and made available for research. (2) Sense of congress It is the sense of Congress that the National Museum of American History of the Smithsonian Institution should make the gold medal received under paragraph (1) available for display at other locations, particularly at locations that are associated with— (A) the defensive battles of World War II in the Pacific theater from December 8, 1941, to August 15, 1945; (B) the prisoners of war of Imperial Japan; (C) the impacted Saskinax̂ people; and (D) the defense of the Philippines, Guam, Wake Island, Midway Island, Java, and the Aleutian Islands. 5. Duplicate medals The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the gold medal struck under section 4, at a price sufficient to cover the costs of the medals, including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses. 6. Status of medals (a) National medals Medals struck under this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States Code. (b) Numismatic items For purposes of sections 5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all medals struck under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic items. 7. 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 5 shall be deposited into the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund.