Ritchie Boys Congressional Gold Medal Act

I ★ 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3545 To award a Congressional Gold Medal to the military intelligence professionals at Camp Ritchie, commonly known as the ‘‘Ritchie Boys’’, in recognition of their groundbreaking contributions to the field of human intelligence and their outstanding service during World War II. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 18, 2023 Mr. TRONE (for himself and Mr. TIMMONS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addi- tion to the Committee on House Administration, for a period to be subse- quently 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 the military intel- ligence professionals at Camp Ritchie, commonly known as the ‘‘Ritchie Boys’’, in recognition of their groundbreaking contributions to the field of human intel- ligence and their outstanding service during World War II. 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 ‘‘Ritchie Boys Congres- 4 sional Gold Medal Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:09 Jun 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3545.IH H3545 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 HR 3545 IH1S SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 1 The Congress finds the following: 2 (1) The Ritchie Boys were a group of approxi- 3 mately 15,200 servicemembers who trained in 4 United States Army Intelligence methods at Camp 5 Ritchie, Maryland, during World War II. 6 (2) Most of the men and women assigned to 7 Camp Ritchie possessed critical language skills in 8 German, Polish, Italian, French, and other lan- 9 guages that became an asset to allied forces during 10 the war. 11 (3) Approximately 14 percent of the Ritchie 12 Boys were Jewish refugees from Germany and Aus- 13 tria who had detailed knowledge of German cultural 14 attitudes and communication. 15 (4) The Ritchie Boys were trained in methods 16 of human intelligence, including groundbreaking 17 techniques in interrogation, counterintelligence, and 18 psychological warfare that leveraged cultural knowl- 19 edge as a tool for building rapport with prisoners. 20 (5) Consequently, the Ritchie Boys were able to 21 gather vital intelligence regarding the hierarchy, 22 strategies, motivations, and attitudes of the German 23 military. 24 (6) The Ritchie Boys who completed training at 25 Camp Ritchie went on to serve in units on the front 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:09 Jun 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3545.IH H3545 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 HR 3545 IH1S lines in Europe, conducting human intelligence oper- 1 ations and analyzing German military plans to pro- 2 vide strategic intelligence to commanders in the 3 field. 4 (7) The Ritchie Boys also conducted counter- 5 intelligence operations aimed at demoralizing the 6 enemy and convincing German soldiers to abandon 7 their units. 8 (8) After the war, many of the Ritchie Boys 9 helped shape American culture and society through 10 their continued work in the intelligence community 11 as well as governance, academia, and other fields. 12 (9) A United States Army report found that ap- 13 proximately 60 percent of the actionable intelligence 14 gathered in Europe during the war came from the 15 Ritchie Boys. 16 SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 17 (a) AWARD AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of the 18 House of Representatives and the President pro tempore 19 of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements for the 20 award, on behalf of the Congress, of a gold medal of ap- 21 propriate design to the military intelligence professionals 22 at Camp Ritchie, commonly known as the ‘‘Ritchie Boys’’, 23 in recognition of their groundbreaking contributions to the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:09 Jun 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3545.IH H3545 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 HR 3545 IH1S field of human intelligence and their outstanding service 1 during World War II. 2 (b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For the purposes of the 3 award referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the 4 Treasury shall strike the gold medal with suitable em- 5 blems, devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the 6 Secretary. 7 (c) SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.— 8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Following the award of the 9 gold medal in honor of the military intelligence pro- 10 fessionals, the ‘‘Ritchie Boys’’, the gold medal shall 11 be given to the Smithsonian Institution, where it 12 shall be available for display as appropriate and 13 made available for research. 14 (2) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of 15 Congress that the Smithsonian Institution should 16 make the gold medal received under paragraph (1) 17 available for display elsewhere, particularly at other 18 locations associated with the Ritchie Boys. 19 SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 20 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 21 bronze of the gold medal struck under section 3, at a price 22 sufficient to cover the costs of the bronze medals, includ- 23 ing labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead 24 expenses. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:09 Jun 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3545.IH H3545 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 HR 3545 IH1S SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 1 The gold medal struck pursuant to this Act is a na- 2 tional medal for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United 3 States Code. 4 SEC. 6. AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS; PROCEEDS OF 5 SALE. 6 (a) AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS.—There is 7 authorized to be charged against the United States Mint 8 Public Enterprise Fund such amounts as may be nec- 9 essary to pay for the costs of the medals struck under 10 this Act. 11 (b) PROCEEDS OF SALE.—Amounts received from the 12 sale of duplicate bronze medals authorized under section 13 4 shall be deposited into the United States Mint Public 14 Enterprise Fund. 15 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:09 Jun 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3545.IH H3545 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS