What This Bill Does
This bill awards a Congressional Gold Medal (a national honor given by Congress) to Colonel Young Oak Kim after his death. The medal recognizes his heroism (exceptional bravery) during military service, his leadership abilities, and his humanitarian work (helping people in need) in his community.
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Who It Affects
The bill affects the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the President pro tempore of the Senate (the senator who leads the Senate when the Vice President is absent), the Secretary of the Treasury, and the Smithsonian Institution.
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Key Provisions
- The Speaker of the House and President pro tempore of the Senate must arrange for Congress to present a gold medal to honor Colonel Young Oak Kim after his death. (Sec. 3(a))
- The Secretary of the Treasury will create the gold medal with designs and words to be decided by the Secretary. (Sec. 3(b))
- After the award, the gold medal goes to the Smithsonian Institution where people can see it on display and researchers can study it. (Sec. 3(c)(1))
- Congress wants the Smithsonian Institution to display the medal, especially at the National Portrait Gallery, or loan it to other places for display. (Sec. 3(c)(2))
- The Secretary of the Treasury may make and sell bronze copies of the gold medal for a price that covers the costs of making them. (Sec. 4)
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What Changes
If this bill becomes law, Congress officially honors Colonel Young Oak Kim with a gold medal that will be placed in the Smithsonian Institution for public viewing and research. The Secretary of the Treasury gains the authority to produce and sell bronze copies of this medal.
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Important Definitions
None defined in the bill text.
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I
118TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 611
To award posthumously a Congressional Gold Medal to Colonel Young Oak
Kim in recognition of his extraordinary heroism, leadership, and humani-
tarianism.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY 27, 2023
Ms. STRICKLAND (for herself, Mr. KIM of New Jersey, Mrs. KIM of California,
and Mrs. STEEL) 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 within
the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To award posthumously a Congressional Gold Medal to Colo-
nel Young Oak Kim in recognition of his extraordinary
heroism, leadership, and humanitarianism.
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 ‘‘Colonel Young Oak
4
Kim Congressional Gold Medal Act’’.
5
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
6
The Congress finds the following:
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•HR 611 IH
(1) Young Oak Kim was born in Los Angeles
1
in 1919 to Korean American immigrants, where his
2
family faced numerous challenges. After high school,
3
Kim enrolled in Los Angeles City College, but
4
dropped out after a year to find work to help sup-
5
port his family.
6
(2) Because of racial discrimination, Kim strug-
7
gled to keep employed. With the outbreak of World
8
War II (WWII), Kim tried to enlist in the United
9
States Army, but that opportunity was closed off to
10
him, too, as an Asian American. However, after
11
Congress extended conscription to Asian Americans,
12
Kim was drafted into the Army, entering the service
13
on January 31, 1941.
14
(3) From the earliest days of Kim’s service in
15
the United States Army, he distinguished himself as
16
a leader, being selected for the Infantry Officer Can-
17
didate School at Fort Benning, Georgia. Upon his
18
commission as a second lieutenant in 1943, Kim was
19
assigned to the all-Japanese American 100th Infan-
20
try Battalion/442nd Regimental Combat Team.
21
(4) Young Oak Kim was assigned as an officer
22
of the 100th Infantry Battalion that was formed on
23
June 5, 1942, comprised of predominantly second-
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•HR 611 IH
generation Americans of Japanese ancestry from the
1
Hawaiian Islands.
2
(5) When Kim reported to duty, his com-
3
manding officer gave Kim the option to transfer due
4
to the historical conflicts between the Japanese and
5
Koreans, but Kim stated, ‘‘Sir, they’re Americans
6
and I am an American. And we’re going to fight for
7
America.’’.
8
(6) The 100th Infantry Battalion was deployed
9
to the Mediterranean and entered combat in Italy on
10
September 26, 1943. The 100th Battalion fought at
11
Cassino, Italy, in January 1944, and later accom-
12
panied the 34th Infantry Division to Anzio, Italy.
13
(7) Kim’s most notable feat occurred at the
14
Battle of Anzio. During broad daylight he volun-
15
teered to capture German soldiers for intelligence in-
16
formation. He and another soldier crawled more
17
than 600 yards located directly under German obser-
18
vation posts with no cover. They captured two pris-
19
oners and obtained information that significantly
20
contributed to the fall of Rome. For his actions, Kim
21
received the Distinguished Service Cross from the
22
United States and the Military Valor Cross, the
23
highest military decoration in Italy.
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•HR 611 IH
(8) The 100th Infantry Battalion was formally
1
made an integral part of the 442nd Regimental
2
Combat Team on June 15, 1944, and fought for the
3
last 11 months of the war with distinction in Italy,
4
southern France, and Germany. The 442nd Regi-
5
mental Team became the most decorated unit in
6
United States military history for its size and length
7
of service. The 100th Battalion and the 442nd Regi-
8
mental Combat Team, received 7 Presidential Unit
9
Citations, 21 Medals of Honor, 29 Distinguished
10
Service Crosses, 560 Silver Stars, 4,000 Bronze
11
Stars, 22 Legion of Merit Medals, 15 Soldier’s Med-
12
als, and over 4,000 Purple Hearts, among numerous
13
additional distinctions.
14
(9) When the Korean war broke out in 1950,
15
Kim rejoined the United States Army and partici-
16
pated in the United Nations Forces’ last drive into
17
Korea. As commander of the First Battalion, 31st
18
Infantry Regiment, he became the first officer of
19
color in United States history to command an Army
20
battalion on the battlefield.
21
(10) In Seoul, he led his battalion in sponsoring
22
an orphanage of more than 500 children. The bat-
23
talion was the only United Nations military unit to
24
sponsor an orphanage during the war.
25
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•HR 611 IH
(11) In 1972, Kim retired from the Army at
1
the rank of Colonel. By the end of his career, Kim
2
had earned the Distinguished Service Cross, two Sil-
3
ver Stars, two Bronze Stars, three Purple Hearts,
4
two Legions of Merit, and several military com-
5
mendations
from
foreign
governments—Italy’s
6
Bronze Medal of Military Valor and Military Valor
7
Cross, France’s La Legion D’Honneur, and the Re-
8
public of Korea’s Taeguk Order of Military Merit.
9
(12) Kim returned to his native Los Angeles
10
and became a civic leader. In 1975, he established
11
the Koreatown Youth and Community Center in Los
12
Angeles to support recently immigrated Korean
13
youth who were struggling with poverty and lan-
14
guage barriers, which today serves a broad multi-
15
ethnic population of 11,000 people in the greater
16
Los Angeles area.
17
(13) In 1978, Kim helped establish the Center
18
for the Pacific Asian Family (CPAF), an organiza-
19
tion providing culturally and linguistically appro-
20
priate domestic violence and sexual assault services
21
to the pan-Asian immigrant community. Under his
22
leadership as CPAF’s chairman, the organization be-
23
came the largest women’s shelter in Southern Cali-
24
fornia in the 1990s.
25
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•HR 611 IH
(14) In 1986, Kim founded the Korean Health,
1
Education,
Information
and
Research
Center
2
(KHEIR), a nonprofit service agency providing cul-
3
turally and linguistically sensitive health care and
4
human services to the uninsured and underserved
5
residents of Los Angeles. Today KHEIR operates
6
two clinics that can accommodate more than 75,000
7
patient visits annually and is the only federally
8
qualified health center in the United States that
9
serves a majority Korean patient base, with all serv-
10
ices available in English, Korean, and Spanish.
11
(15) In 1985, Kim co-founded the Japanese
12
American National Museum (JANM), which pro-
13
motes understanding and appreciation of America’s
14
ethnic and cultural diversity by sharing the Japa-
15
nese American experience.
16
(16) In 1989, Kim founded and served as the
17
Chairman of the 100th/442nd/MIS WWII Memorial
18
Foundation, which is now known as the Go for
19
Broke National Education Center. Kim led a cam-
20
paign with veterans of the 100th Infantry Battalion,
21
442nd RCT and Military Intelligence Service to
22
build the Go for Broke Monument, in downtown Los
23
Angeles, which serves as a tribute to the Japanese
24
American soldiers of World War II.
25
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•HR 611 IH
(17) Kim’s contributions in the 1980s and
1
1990s also included founding the Korean American
2
Museum and the Korean American Coalition, both
3
entities dedicated to understanding the Korean
4
American experience and addressing its issues and
5
needs.
6
SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.
7
(a) PRESENTATION AUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of
8
the House of Representatives and the President pro tem-
9
pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements
10
for the posthumous presentation, on behalf of the Con-
11
gress, of a gold medal of appropriate design, in commemo-
12
ration of Colonel Young Oak Kim, in recognition of his
13
achievements and contributions to heroism, leadership,
14
and humanitarianism.
15
(b) DESIGN AND STRIKING.—For the purposes of the
16
presentation referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary
17
of the Treasury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Sec-
18
retary’’) shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems,
19
devices, and inscriptions to be determined by the Sec-
20
retary.
21
(c) SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION.—
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(1) IN GENERAL.—Following the award of the
23
gold medal under subsection (a), the gold medal
24
shall be given to the Smithsonian Institution, where
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•HR 611 IH
it shall be available for display as appropriate and
1
made available for research.
2
(2) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of
3
Congress that the Smithsonian Institution shall
4
make the gold medal received under paragraph (1)
5
available for—
6
(A) display, particularly at the National
7
Portrait Gallery; or
8
(B) loan, as appropriate, so that the medal
9
may be displayed elsewhere.
10
SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS.
11
The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in
12
bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 3
13
under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, at
14
a price sufficient to cover the cost thereof, including labor,
15
materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses.
16
SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS.
17
(a) NATIONAL MEDALS.—The medals struck pursu-
18
ant this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter
19
51 of title 31, United States Code.
20
(b) NUMISMATIC ITEMS.—For purposes of section
21
5134 of title 31, United States Code, all medals struck
22
under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic items.
23
Æ
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