I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2226 To rescind each Medal of Honor awarded for acts at Wounded Knee Creek on December 29, 1890, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 26, 2021 Mr. KAHELE (for himself, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. HASTINGS, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. GALLEGO, Mr. HUFFMAN, and Ms. NORTON) introduced the following bill; which was re- ferred to the Committee on Armed Services A BILL To rescind each Medal of Honor awarded for acts at Wound- ed Knee Creek on December 29, 1890, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Remove the Stain 4 Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds as follows: 7 (1) The Medal of Honor is the highest military 8 award of the United States. 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:56 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2226.IH H2226 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2226 IH (2) Congress found that to earn the Medal of 1 Honor ‘‘the deed of the person . . . must be so out- 2 standing that it clearly distinguishes his gallantry 3 beyond the call of duty from lesser forms of brav- 4 ery’’. 5 (3) The actions of Medal of Honor recipients 6 inspire bravery in those currently serving in the 7 Armed Forces and those who will come to serve in 8 the future. 9 (4) Those listed on the Medal of Honor Roll 10 have come to exemplify the best traits of members 11 of the Armed Forces, a long and proud lineage of 12 those who went beyond the call of service to the 13 United States of America. 14 (5) To date the Medal of Honor has been 15 awarded only 3,522 times, including only 145 times 16 for the Korean War, 126 times in World War I, 23 17 times during the Global War on Terror, and 20 18 times for the massacre at Wounded Knee. 19 (6) The Medal of Honor is awarded in the 20 name of Congress. 21 (7) As found in Senate Concurring Resolution 22 153 of the 101st Congress, on December 29, 1890 23 the 7th Cavalry of the United States engaged a trib- 24 al community ‘‘resulting in the tragic death and in- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:56 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2226.IH H2226 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2226 IH jury of approximately 350–375 Indian men, women, 1 and children’’ led by Lakota Chief Spotted Elk of 2 the Miniconjou band at ‘‘Cankpe’ Opi Wakpa’’ or 3 ‘‘Wounded Knee Creek’’. 4 (8) This engagement became known as the 5 ‘‘Wounded Knee Massacre’’, and took place between 6 unarmed Native Americans and soldiers, heavily 7 armed with standard issue army rifles as well as 8 four ‘‘Hotchkiss guns’’ with five 37 mm barrels ca- 9 pable of firing 43 rounds per minute. 10 (9) Nearly two-thirds of the Native Americans 11 killed during the Massacre were unarmed women 12 and children who were participating in a ceremony 13 to restore their traditional homelands prior to the 14 arrival of European settlers. 15 (10) Poor tactical emplacement of the soldiers 16 meant that most of the casualties suffered by the 17 United States troops were inflicted by friendly fire. 18 (11) On January 1st, 1891, Major General Nel- 19 son A. Miles, Commander of the Division of Mis- 20 souri, telegraphed Major General John M. Schofield, 21 Commander-in-Chief of the Army notifying him that 22 ‘‘[I]t is stated that the disposition of four hundred 23 soldiers and four pieces of artillery was fatally defec- 24 tive and large number of soldiers were killed and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:56 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2226.IH H2226 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2226 IH wounded by the fire from their own ranks and a very 1 large number of women and children were killed in 2 addition to the Indian men’’. 3 (12) The United States awarded 20 Medals of 4 Honor to soldiers of the U.S. 7th Cavalry following 5 their participation in the Wounded Knee Massacre. 6 (13) In 2001, the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, 7 a member Tribe of the Great Sioux Nation, upon in- 8 formation provided by Lakota elders and by vet- 9 erans, passed Tribal Council Resolution No. 132–01, 10 requesting that the Federal Government revoke the 11 Medals of Honor from the soldiers of the United 12 States Army, 7th Cavalry issued following the mas- 13 sacre of unarmed men, women, children, and elderly 14 of the Great Sioux Nation on December 29, 1890, 15 on Tribal Lands near Wounded Knee Creek. 16 (14) The National Congress of American Indi- 17 ans requested in a 2007 Resolution that the Con- 18 gress ‘‘renounce the issuance of said medals, and/or 19 to proclaim that the medals are null and void, given 20 the atrocities committed upon unarmed men, women, 21 children and elderly of the Great Sioux Nation’’. 22 (15) General Miles contemporaneously stated 23 that a ‘‘[w]holesale massacre occurred and I have 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:56 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2226.IH H2226 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2226 IH never heard of a more brutal, cold-blooded massacre 1 than that at Wounded Knee’’. 2 (16) Allowing any Medal of Honor, the United 3 States highest and most prestigious military decora- 4 tion, to recognize a member of the Armed Forces for 5 distinguished service for participating in the mas- 6 sacre of hundreds of unarmed Native Americans is 7 a disservice to the integrity of the United States and 8 its citizens, and impinges on the integrity of the 9 award and those who have earned the Medal since. 10 SEC. 3. RESCISSION OF MEDALS OF HONOR AWARDED FOR 11 ACTS AT WOUNDED KNEE CREEK ON DECEM- 12 BER 29, 1890. 13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Each Medal of Honor awarded for 14 acts at Wounded Knee Creek, Lakota Pine Ridge Indian 15 Reservation, South Dakota, on December 29, 1890, is re- 16 scinded. 17 (b) MEDAL OF HONOR ROLL.—The Secretary con- 18 cerned shall remove the name of each individual awarded 19 a Medal of Honor for acts described in subsection (a) from 20 the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard Medal of 21 Honor Roll maintained under section 1134a of title 10, 22 United States Code. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:56 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2226.IH H2226 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2226 IH (c) RETURN OF MEDAL NOT REQUIRED.—No person 1 may be required to return to the Federal Government a 2 Medal of Honor rescinded under subsection (a). 3 (d) NO DENIAL OF BENEFITS.—This Act shall not 4 be construed to deny any individual any benefit from the 5 Federal Government. 6 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:56 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2226.IH H2226 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS