General James N. Mattis Congressional Gold Medal Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4867 To award a Congressional Gold Medal to General James N. Mattis, in recognition of his distinguished military career, his steadfast moral char- acter and patriotism, and his unyielding devotion to the protection of this Nation. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OCTOBER 28, 2019 Mr. NEWHOUSE (for himself, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Mrs. RODGERS of Washington, Ms. HERRERA BEUTLER, Ms. DELBENE, Mr. HECK, Mr. KILMER, Ms. JAYAPAL, and Ms. SCHRIER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on House Administration, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speak- er, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the ju- risdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To award a Congressional Gold Medal to General James N. Mattis, in recognition of his distinguished military career, his steadfast moral character and patriotism, and his unyielding devotion to the protection of this Nation. 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 ‘‘General James N. 4 Mattis Congressional Gold Medal Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:53 Nov 01, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4867.IH H4867 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4867 IH SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 1 The Congress finds the following: 2 (1) James N. Mattis was born in Pullman, 3 Washington, on September 8, 1950. 4 (2) James N. Mattis graduated from Columbia 5 High School in 1968 and began his military career 6 the following year, enlisting in the United States 7 Marine Corps Reserve. 8 (3) In 1971, James N. Mattis earned a Bach- 9 elor of Arts in history from Central Washington 10 State College. He earned a Master of Arts in inter- 11 national security affairs from National Defense Uni- 12 versity’s National War College in 1994. 13 (4) On January 1, 1972, James N. Mattis was 14 commissioned as a second lieutenant through the 15 Marine Corps Platoon Leaders Course. As a lieuten- 16 ant, he commanded infantry platoons and, as a cap- 17 tain, commanded both rifle and weapons companies 18 in the 1st Marine Brigade in Hawaii. Promoted to 19 major, he served as battalion officer at the Naval 20 Academy Preparatory School in Newport, Rhode Is- 21 land, and commanded Recruiting Station Portland, 22 Oregon. 23 (5) During the Gulf War, James N. Mattis 24 served as lieutenant colonel and commanded the 1st 25 Battalion, 7th Marines. Promoted to colonel, he 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:53 Nov 01, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4867.IH H4867 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4867 IH commanded the 7th Marine Regiment at Twentynine 1 Palms, California, and served as the Executive Sec- 2 retary to the Department of Defense for Secretaries 3 William Perry and Bill Cohen. 4 (6) Following the September 11, 2001, attacks 5 on America, then-Brigadier General James N. 6 Mattis led Task Force 58 through a series of oper- 7 ations in southern Afghanistan, making him the first 8 United States Marine Corps officer to command a 9 Naval Task Force. 10 (7) James N. Mattis, as major general, com- 11 manded the 1st Marine Division during the 2003 in- 12 vasion of Iraq. He continued in this role until 2004, 13 when he was promoted to lieutenant general and as- 14 sumed command of the Marine Corps Combat Devel- 15 opment Command. The Pentagon announced on 16 May 31, 2006, that he was chosen to take command 17 of the I Marine Expeditionary Force, based out of 18 Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, and all Ma- 19 rines assigned to the United States Central Com- 20 mand. 21 (8) James N. Mattis relinquished command of 22 the I Marine Expeditionary Force on November 5, 23 2007. Four days later, on November 9, 2007, he 24 was promoted to four-star general to command 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:53 Nov 01, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4867.IH H4867 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4867 IH United States Joint Forces Command (JFCOM), 1 concurrently serving as NATO’s Supreme Allied 2 Commander Transformation (SACT). He trans- 3 ferred his role as SACT on September 9, 2009, 4 while continuing to command JFCOM. 5 (9) After a recommendation from Defense Sec- 6 retary Robert Gates, James N. Mattis was formally 7 nominated as commander of United States Central 8 Command by President Barack Obama, effective 9 July 21, 2010. 10 (10) United States Central Command an- 11 nounced the resignation of James N. Mattis on April 12 27, 2012, and his retirement from the United States 13 Marine Corps was finalized on June 1, 2013. 14 (11) On December 1, 2016, President Donald 15 Trump announced that he would nominate James N. 16 Mattis for United States Secretary of Defense. He 17 was confirmed by the United States Senate on Janu- 18 ary 20, 2017, and served until December 31, 2018. 19 (12) James N. Mattis, prior to and since his re- 20 tirement from the United States Marine Corps, has 21 been awarded many awards and commendations, in- 22 cluding— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:53 Nov 01, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4867.IH H4867 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4867 IH (A) the Center for National Policy ‘‘Ed- 1 mund S. Muskie Distinguished Public Service 2 Award’’ (2009); 3 (B) the Atlantic Council ‘‘Distinguished 4 Military Leadership Award’’ (2010); 5 (C) the World Affairs Council of Greater 6 Hampton Roads ‘‘Ryan C. Crocker Global Cit- 7 izen of the Year’’ Award (2013); 8 (D) the Marine Corps University Founda- 9 tion ‘‘Semper Fidelis Award’’ (2014); 10 (E) the Washington Policy Center ‘‘Cham- 11 pion of Freedom Award’’ (2016); 12 (F) the ‘‘Dwight D. Eisenhower Distin- 13 guished Service Award’’ (2019); 14 (G) the OSS Society ‘‘William J. Donovan 15 Award’’ (2019); and 16 (H) the Washington Policy Center ‘‘Co- 17 lumbia Award’’ (2019). 18 (13) James N. Mattis is a native of Washington 19 State and devoted resident of the Pacific Northwest. 20 He exemplifies a deep love and commitment for his 21 hometown of Richland, Washington, and the greater 22 Tri-Cities through his enthusiastic involvement in 23 the community and long-time volunteer service with 24 the Tri-Cities Food Bank. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:53 Nov 01, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4867.IH H4867 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 4867 IH (14) James N. Mattis is the published author 1 of ‘‘Call Sign Chaos: Learning to Lead’’. 2 (15) James N. Mattis demonstrates the Amer- 3 ican principles of hard work, patriotism, and integ- 4 rity. His distinguished military and civilian service 5 and his devotion to defending and upholding the 6 Constitution are an inspiration to all Americans. 7 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 8 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 9 the House of Representatives and the President pro tem- 10 pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 11 for the presentation, on behalf of Congress, of a gold 12 medal of appropriate design to General James N. Mattis, 13 in recognition of his distinguished military career, his 14 steadfast moral character and patriotism, and his 15 unyielding devotion to the protection of this Nation. 16 (b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For the purposes of the 17 presentation referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary 18 of the Treasury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Sec- 19 retary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, 20 devices, and inscriptions to be determined by the Sec- 21 retary. 22 (c) SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.— 23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Following the award of the 24 gold medal under subsection (a), the gold medal 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:53 Nov 01, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4867.IH H4867 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 4867 IH shall be given to the Smithsonian Institution, where 1 it shall be available for display as appropriate and 2 made available for research. 3 (2) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of 4 Congress that the Smithsonian Institution shall 5 make the gold medal received under paragraph (1) 6 available for— 7 (A) display, particularly at the National 8 Portrait Gallery; and 9 (B) loan, as appropriate, so that the medal 10 may be displayed elsewhere. 11 SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 12 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 13 bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 3 14 under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, at 15 a price sufficient to cover the cost thereof, including labor, 16 materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses, 17 and the cost of the gold medal. 18 SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 19 (a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—The medals struck pursu- 20 ant to this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 21 51 of title 31, United States Code. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:53 Nov 01, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4867.IH H4867 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 4867 IH (b) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of section 1 5134 of title 31, United States Code, all medals struck 2 under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic items. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:53 Nov 01, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4867.IH H4867 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS