Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman Congressional Gold Medal Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7578 To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, in recognition of his service to the United States and his courage to testify in the impeachment inquiry of President Donald J. Trump. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 13, 2020 Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on the Budget, 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 Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, in recognition of his service to the United States and his courage to testify in the impeach- ment inquiry of President Donald J. Trump. 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 ‘‘Lieutenant Colonel 4 Alexander Vindman Congressional Gold Medal Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:46 Aug 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7578.IH H7578 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7578 IH SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 1 Congress finds the following: 2 (1) On December 19, 2019, the House of Rep- 3 resentatives passed two articles of impeachment 4 against President Donald J. Trump for abuse of 5 power and obstruction of Congress. 6 (2) Numerous public servants provided testi- 7 mony to support the impeachment inquiry, including 8 Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, a decorated 9 veteran who was on the call between President 10 Trump and Ukraine President Volodymr Zelensky 11 on July 25, 2019, which served as the basis for the 12 impeachment inquiry. 13 (3) Lieutenant Colonel Vindman served mul- 14 tiple tours of combat duty and was wounded during 15 a tour in Iraq, for which he received a Purple Heart 16 medal. 17 (4) Lieutenant Colonel Vindman, despite 18 threats to his family and his career, testified to the 19 following on October 28, 2019: 20 (A) The July 25th call was ‘‘improper’’ 21 and ‘‘unusual’’. 22 (B) Lieutenant Colonel Vindman was con- 23 cerned by the call: ‘‘I did not think it was prop- 24 er to demand that a foreign government inves- 25 tigate a U.S. citizen, and I was worried about 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:46 Aug 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7578.IH H7578 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7578 IH the implications for six of the U.S. Govern- 1 ment’s support of Ukraine. I realized that if 2 Ukraine pursued an investigation into the 3 Bidens and Burisma, it would likely be inter- 4 preted as a partisan play which would undoubt- 5 edly result in Ukraine losing the bipartisan sup- 6 port it has thus far maintained. This would all 7 undermine U.S. national security.’’. 8 (5) Lieutenant Colonel Vindman further stated: 9 ‘‘Dad, I’m sitting here today in the U.S. Capitol 10 talking to our elected professionals is proof that you 11 made the right decision 40 years ago to leave the 12 Soviet Union and come here to the United States of 13 America in search of a better life for our family.’’, 14 Vindman said: ‘‘Do not worry. I will be fine for tell- 15 ing the truth.’’. 16 (6) Lieutenant Colonel Vindman faced unsub- 17 stantiated claims questioning his loyalty to the 18 United States because he was born in Ukraine and 19 other forms of retribution. 20 (7) On February 7, 2019, Lieutenant Colonel 21 Vindman was reassigned from his duties as Director 22 for European Affairs at the National Security Coun- 23 cil. He was escorted from the White House by secu- 24 rity. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:46 Aug 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7578.IH H7578 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7578 IH (8) President Trump stated on February 7, 1 2019: ‘‘Well, I’m not happy with him [Vindman]. 2 You think I’m supposed to be happy with him? I’m 3 not.’’ He further accused Lieutenant Colonel 4 Vindman of being ‘‘insubordinate’’ for testifying 5 against the President truthfully. 6 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 7 It is the sense of Congress that Lieutenant Colonel 8 Vindman— 9 (1) is a patriot who defended American ideals 10 on the battlefield and in the impeachment inquiry by 11 telling the truth; 12 (2) faced retribution from the President of the 13 United States as a result of his testimony in the im- 14 peachment inquiry; and 15 (3) upholds the highest values of the United 16 States and should be honored for his actions. 17 SEC. 4. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 18 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 19 the House of Representatives and the President pro tem- 20 pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 21 for the presentation, on behalf of Congress, of a gold 22 medal of appropriate design to Lieutenant Colonel Alex- 23 ander Vindman, in recognition of his service to the United 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:46 Aug 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7578.IH H7578 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7578 IH States and his courage to testify in the impeachment in- 1 quiry of President Donald J. Trump. 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 SEC. 5. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 9 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 10 bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 4 11 under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, at 12 a price sufficient to cover the cost thereof, including labor, 13 materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses, 14 and the cost of the gold medal. 15 SEC. 6. STATUS OF MEDALS. 16 (a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—The medals struck pursu- 17 ant to this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 18 51 of title 31, United States Code. 19 (b) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of sections 20 5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all medals 21 struck under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic 22 items. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:46 Aug 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7578.IH H7578 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 7578 IH SEC. 7. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS. 1 The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of 2 complying with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, 3 shall be determined by reference to the latest statement 4 titled ‘‘Budgetary Effects of PAYGO Legislation’’ for this 5 Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional Record 6 by the Chairman of the House Budget Committee, pro- 7 vided that such statement has been submitted prior to the 8 vote on passage. 9 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:46 Aug 03, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7578.IH H7578 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS