Escuadrón 201 Congressional Gold Medal Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1889 To award a Congressional Gold Medal to the members of Escuadro´n 201. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 26, 2019 Ms. SA´NCHEZ (for herself, Mr. SOTO, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mrs. TORRES of Cali- fornia, Ms. ESCOBAR, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, and Mrs. NAPOLITANO) 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 with- in the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To award a Congressional Gold Medal to the members of Escuadro´n 201. 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 ‘‘Escuadro´n 201 Con- 4 gressional Gold Medal Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:07 Apr 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1889.IH H1889 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1889 IH (1) Escuadro´n 201, or the 201st Squadron, of 1 the Mexican Expeditionary Air Force fought along- 2 side United States forces in the South Pacific during 3 World War II. 4 (2) Nicknamed the Aztec Eagles, Escuadro´n 5 201 integrated with United States forces including 6 the U.S. 5th Air Force and the 58th Fighter Group 7 to provide close air support for American and Phil- 8 ippine ground forces as well as long range strikes 9 using Republic P–47D Thunderbolt fighter aircraft. 10 (3) Following Mexico’s declaration of war on 11 Japan, Germany, and Italy on May 28, 1942, Mex- 12 ico entered into agreements with the United States 13 to collaborate through the reciprocal use of airfields 14 and facilities and the training of Mexican personnel 15 by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF). 16 (4) With the assistance of USAAF, Mexican 17 Expeditionary Air Force pilots were trained in Gua- 18 dalajara, Mexico and later moved to USAAF schools 19 in the United States for additional individual and 20 unit training. 21 (5) In July 1944, 36 pilots and 264 support 22 personnel formed Escuadro´n 201, Mexico’s first 23 squadron that would be deployed overseas to fight 24 alongside United States forces. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:07 Apr 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1889.IH H1889 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1889 IH (6) In February 1945, Escuadro´n 201 and the 1 headquarters of the Mexican Expeditionary Air 2 Force moved to the Philippine Islands and began 3 combat operations with the 58th Fighter Group in 4 Porac, Luzon. 5 (7) Deployed to Okinawa in July 1945, 6 Escuadro´n 201 provided close in ground support for 7 the U.S. 25th ‘‘Tropic Lightning’’ Division and Phil- 8 ippine Army units as well as long-range strikes into 9 Japanese-held territory in Taiwan. 10 (8) Mexico was prepared to send additional 11 squadrons to fight with Allied forces had Japan not 12 offered its unconditional surrender following the at- 13 tacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. 14 (9) Seven Escuadro´n 201 pilots lost their lives 15 fighting Axis forces. 16 (10) During its 795 combat sorties and 2,000 17 hours of combat flying, Escuadro´n 201 exemplified 18 valor and was indispensable to the war effort and an 19 Allied victory. 20 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 21 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 22 the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tem- 23 pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 24 for the presentation, on behalf of Congress, of a single 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:07 Apr 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1889.IH H1889 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1889 IH gold medal of appropriate design to the members of 1 Escuadro´n 201. 2 (b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For purposes of the 3 presentation referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary 4 of the Treasury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Sec- 5 retary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, 6 devices, and inscriptions to be determined by the Sec- 7 retary. 8 (c) SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.— 9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Following the award of the 10 gold medal in honor of Escuadro´n 201, the gold 11 medal shall be given to the Smithsonian Institution, 12 where it shall be available for display as appropriate 13 and available for research. 14 (2) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.—It is the sense 15 of the Congress that the Smithsonian Institution 16 should make the gold medal awarded pursuant to 17 this Act available for display elsewhere, particularly 18 at appropriate locations associated with Escuadro´n 19 201, and that preference should be given to locations 20 affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution. 21 SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 22 Under such regulations as the Secretary may pre- 23 scribe, the Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 24 bronze of the gold medal struck under section 3, at a price 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:07 Apr 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1889.IH H1889 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1889 IH sufficient to cover the costs of the medals, including labor, 1 materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses. 2 SEC. 5. NATIONAL MEDALS. 3 (a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—The medals struck pursu- 4 ant to this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 5 51 of title 31, United States Code. 6 (b) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of section 7 5134 of title 31, United States Code, all medals struck 8 under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic items. 9 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:07 Apr 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1889.IH H1889 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS