I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2427 To award a Congressional Gold Medal to the Hmong people, in recognition of their highly distinguished service in the Vietnam war and the fight against communism. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 30, 2023 Mr. GROTHMAN (for himself, Mr. DUARTE, Mr. ZINKE, Mr. LAMALFA, Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana, Mr. HARRIS, Mr. HUDSON, Mr. BERGMAN, Mr. BAIRD, Ms. HAGEMAN, Mr. COMER, Mr. CARTER of Texas, Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota, Mr. MOONEY, Ms. GRANGER, Mr. HILL, Ms. TENNEY, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Mr. GALLAGHER, Mr. HIGGINS of Louisiana, Mr. TIFFANY, Mr. STEIL, Mr. FITZGERALD, Mr. BUCK, Mr. BACON, Mrs. MILLER of West Virginia, Mrs. LESKO, Mr. NEHLS, Mr. CORREA, Mrs. TORRES of California, Mr. VARGAS, Mr. HUNT, Ms. BROWNLEY, Mr. FALLON, Mr. WESTERMAN, Mr. VAN ORDEN, Mr. POCAN, Mr. RESCHENTHALER, Mr. BOST, Mr. VALADAO, Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsyl- vania, Mr. FRY, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. LAMBORN, Mr. KILEY, Mr. COSTA, Ms. PORTER, Mrs. STEEL, and Mr. OWENS) introduced the fol- lowing 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 consider- ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To award a Congressional Gold Medal to the Hmong people, in recognition of their highly distinguished service in the Vietnam war and the fight against communism. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:16 Apr 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2427.IH H2427 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 2427 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Hmong Congressional 2 Gold Medal Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 4 The Congress finds the following: 5 (1) As the Vietnam war spread south and west 6 into Laos, the Central Intelligence Agency recruited 7 and trained Hmong tribesmen to fight back against 8 the communist North Vietnamese and Pathet Lao. 9 (2) Over 30,000 Hmong men fought the ground 10 war, flew combat missions, gathered intelligence on 11 North Vietnamese troop movements, interrupted the 12 Ho-Chi-Min Supply Trail, and rescued American pi- 13 lots downed behind enemy lines. 14 (3) The Hmong people suffered heavy casual- 15 ties, and their soldiers died at a rate ten times as 16 high as that of American soldiers in Vietnam. 17 (4) Following the Vietnam war, many Hmong 18 were displaced from their villages as they were either 19 bombed or burned down by the North Vietnamese 20 and over 150,000 Hmong fled Laos when the nation 21 fell to communist forces on May 14, 1975. 22 (5) Due to their ties to the American military, 23 many Hmong who fled Laos came to the United 24 States as refugees to start a new life. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:16 Apr 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2427.IH H2427 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 2427 IH (6) Currently, there are over 327,000 Hmong 1 living in the United States, with the majority resid- 2 ing in California, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. 3 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 4 (a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 5 the House of Representatives and the President pro tem- 6 pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 7 for the presentation, on behalf of the Congress, of a gold 8 medal of appropriate design to the Hmong people, in rec- 9 ognition of their highly distinguished service in the Viet- 10 nam war and the fight against communism. 11 (b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For the purposes of the 12 presentation referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary 13 of the Treasury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Sec- 14 retary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, 15 devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Sec- 16 retary. 17 (c) SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.— 18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Following the award of the 19 gold medal under subsection (a), the gold medal 20 shall be given to the Smithsonian Institution, where 21 it shall be available for display as appropriate and 22 made available for research. 23 (2) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of 24 Congress that the Smithsonian Institution should 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:16 Apr 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2427.IH H2427 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 2427 IH make the gold medal received under paragraph (1) 1 available for display elsewhere, particularly at other 2 appropriate locations associated with the Hmong 3 people’s service in the Vietnam war, and that pref- 4 erence should be given to locations affiliated with 5 the Smithsonian Institution. 6 SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 7 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 8 bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 3 9 under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, at 10 a price sufficient to cover the cost thereof, including labor, 11 materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses. 12 SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 13 (a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—The medals struck pursu- 14 ant to this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 15 51 of title 31, United States Code. 16 (b) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of section 17 5134 of title 31, United States Code, all medals struck 18 under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic items. 19 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:16 Apr 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2427.IH H2427 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB