[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5044 Introduced in House (IH)]
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116th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 5044
To grant a Congressional Gold Medal, collectively, to the men and women
of the United States Armed Forces and Merchant Marine, as well as
citizen and non-citizen civilians who served honorably with the U.S.
military, who were surrendered, captured, or abandoned to become
prisoners of war (POWs) of Imperial Japan throughout the Japanese
Empire in the Pacific Theater of World War II from December 7, 1941, to
September 2, 1945.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
November 12, 2019
Mr. Bost (for himself, Mr. Lowenthal, Mr. Brindisi, Mr. Banks, Mr.
Cisneros, Mr. Bilirakis, Mr. Pappas, Mr. Cox of California, and Mr.
Rodney Davis of Illinois) 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 grant a Congressional Gold Medal, collectively, to the men and women
of the United States Armed Forces and Merchant Marine, as well as
citizen and non-citizen civilians who served honorably with the U.S.
military, who were surrendered, captured, or abandoned to become
prisoners of war (POWs) of Imperial Japan throughout the Japanese
Empire in the Pacific Theater of World War II from December 7, 1941, to
September 2, 1945.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``World War II Pacific War Heroes
Congressional Gold Medal Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The United States POWs held by Imperial Japan in the
Pacific Theater during World War II, with most held in
captivity for more than three years, are Pacific War heroes who
represent the American spirit of courage, tenacity, and faith.
(2) Imperial Japan did not abide by the Geneva and Hague
Conventions for the humane treatment of POWs.
(3) The United States POWs held by Imperial Japan during
World War II numbered more than 27,000 with more than 11,000 or
40 percent perishing before the end of War.
(4) On December 7, 1941, Imperial Japan attacked not only
Pearl Harbor in the United States Territory of Hawaii, but also
the other United States possessions and military installations
in the Pacific of the Philippines, Guam, Wake Island, Howland
Island, and Midway as preludes to full-scale invasions and
military occupation throughout the Asia-Pacific region.
(5) By the end of day, December 8, 1941, more than 300
United States Marines, sailors, diplomats, and Mariners in
China became the first United States prisoners of war of
Imperial Japan with most held for the full duration of the war;
(6) Ninety-eight percent of the United States POWs of
Imperial Japan fought in the heroic battles of Guam, Wake
Island, Sunda Strait, Halsey-Doolittle Raid, Bataan, and
Corregidor, all within the first six months of World War II.
(7) Most of the United States airmen, infantrymen, sailors,
and Marines surrendered in defense of the Netherlands East
Indies in March 1942 were sent to be slave laborers on the
Thai-Burma Death Railway or at construction projects in Changi,
Singapore.
(8) On April 9, 1942, approximately 12,000 United States
military personnel and 66,000 Filipino soldiers became POWs
with the surrender of the American-Filipino forces on the
Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines.
(9) April 9, 1942, marked the beginning of the infamous
Bataan Death March where the Imperial Japanese Army forced all
American and Filipino forces from Marviveles or Bagac up the
Bataan Peninsula on a three-part, three-province, nearly 100-
mile trek north to the makeshift POW facility Camp O'Donnell at
Capas, Tarlac. An estimated 650 American and 5,000-10,000
Filipino soldiers died on the Bataan Death March, while
hundreds of men remain unaccounted for.
(10) On May 6, 1942, Corregidor Island, then operating as
the military command center for all the Philippines, United
States Forces in the Philippines (USFIP), was surrendered.
Nearly 10,000 American soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines
as well as more than 3,000 Filipino soldiers and nurses became
POWs of Imperial Japan.
(11) The May 6, 1942, fall of Corregidor Island and
subsequent surrender of all the Philippines Islands marked the
end of the U.S. Asiatic Fleet; the U.S. Army Forces in the Far
East (USAFFE), and the U.S. Far East Air Force (USFEAF).
(12) Included in the surrenders the Philippines were female
nurses of United States Army, Navy, Philippine Army, and
civilian volunteers who became the first large group of
American women in combat and, counted with the Army and Navy
nurses surrendered on Guam in December 1941, comprised the
first group of American military women taken captive and
imprisoned by an enemy.
(13) More than 14,000 Americans POWs were transported
aboard ``hellships''--in the holds of unmarked merchant ships--
from Pacific battle sites to be used as slave laborers; one-
third of all POW deaths resulted from attacks on the
``hellships'' by ``friendly fire'' from American submarines or
aircraft.
(14) More than 600 members of the United States Merchant
Marine including one female Mariner, became prisoners of
Imperial Japan, many of whom were turned over to Japanese
control after being first captured by Nazi Germany's naval
forces. Fifteen percent were killed by either Imperial Japan
Navy officers during capture or died in Japanese POW camps.
(15) Throughout World War II, the Imperial Japanese
military maintained approximately 775 POW camps throughout the
Empire: 185 POW camps on the Home Islands of Japan and 590 in
other areas of the Pacific Theater, which includes an unknown
number of temporary camps.
(16) A priority of International Military Tribunal for the
Far East (IMTFE), also known as the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal
and the ad hoc American and Allied military tribunals
throughout the Asia Pacific from 1945 to 1951 was to obtain
justice for the maltreatment of POWs. Approximately seventy-
five percent of the more than 5,600 defendants were charged
with offenses against POWs. This reflects the July 26, 1945,
Potsdam Declaration's warning that, ``stern justice shall be
meted out to all war criminals, including those who have
visited cruelties upon our prisoners''.
(17) President Ronald Reagan first proclaimed National
Former Prisoner of War Recognition Day in 1988, which was
established to coincide with April 9, the anniversary of the
start of the Bataan Death March.
(18) In 2009, the Government of Japan issued an official,
Cabinet of Japan approved apology saying ``We extend a
heartfelt apology for our country having caused tremendous
damage and suffering to many people, including prisoners of
wars, those who have undergone tragic experiences in the Bataan
Peninsula, Corregidor Island, in the Philippines, and other
places''.
(19) In 2010, the Government of Japan initiated an annual
visitation program for former United States POWs of Japan and
family members to visit Japan for remembrance, reconciliation,
and healing.
(20) It is time to recognize the ordinary men and women who
found uncommon courage in extraordinary circumstances to fight
the impossible and endure the unimaginable for freedom from
tyranny and oppression.
(21) The Congressional Gold Medal is an appropriate way to
honor the service of the United States POWs held by Imperial
Japan in World War II and to highlight the unique imprisonment
of these Pacific War heroes and their poignant history of
sacrifice, perseverance, patriotism, and faith.
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act--
(a) the term ``prisoners of war of Imperial Japan'' includes any
individual who--
(1) was taken prisoner--
(A) by Japan while serving honorably in the service
of the United States at any time during the period
beginning on December 8, 1941, and ending on September
2, 1945;
(B) was taken prisoner by the Japanese while
serving in an active-duty status under the command of
the United States Army Forces in the Far East (USAFFE),
United States Forces in the Philippines (USFIP),
American-British-Dutch-Australian (ABDA) Command,
Southwest Pacific Area (SWPA), Pacific Ocean Area
(POA), China-Burma-India (CBI), Southeast Asia Command
(SEAC), 1st Defense Battalion, Wake Island (Marines),
Guam Battalion (Marines), 4th Marines, Marine Raiders,
U.S. Asiatic Fleet, Twentieth Air Force, Far East Air
Force, United States Army Air Forces, and the War
Shipping Administration; or
(C) was taken prisoner on Attu Island in the
Aleutians part of Alaska on June 7, 1942;
(2) was not granted ``parole'' (release) by Imperial
Japanese forces during World War II; and
(3) holds ``veterans' status'' or a ``certificate of
honorable service'' for their service in the Pacific Theater of
World War II when taken prisoner by Japan;
(b) the term ``Pacific Theater'' means China, the Central Pacific,
Southeast Asia, and the Southwest Pacific of World War II; and
(c) the term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary of the Treasury.
SEC. 4. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.
(a) Presentation Authorized.--The Speaker of the House of
Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate shall make
appropriate arrangements for the award, on behalf of Congress, of a
single gold medal of appropriate design to the United States to the men
and women of the United States military and merchant marine as well as
citizen and non-citizen civilians who fought with the U.S. military and
were surrendered, captured, or abandoned to become prisoners of war of
Imperial Japan during World War II, in recognition of their dedicated
and vital service during World War II.
(b) Design and Striking.--For the purposes of the award described
in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury (in this Act referred
to as the ``Secretary'') shall strike the gold medal with suitable
emblems, devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Secretary.
(c) Smithsonian Institution.--
(1) In general.--Following the award of the gold medal
under subsection (a), the gold medal shall be given to the
Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History,
where it shall be displayed as appropriate and made available
for research.
(2) Sense of congress.--It is the sense of Congress that
the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American
History should make the gold medal received under paragraph (1)
available for display at other locations, particularly at
locations that are associated with the prisoners of war of
Imperial Japan during World War II, such as The Harry S. Truman
Library and Museum, The MacArthur Memorial, National Prisoner
of War Museum; National Museum of the Pacific War, and New
Mexico Military Museum.
SEC. 5. DUPLICATE MEDALS.
Under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, the
Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the gold medal
struck under section 4, at a price sufficient to cover the costs of the
medals, including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and
overhead expenses.
SEC. 6. STATUS OF MEDALS.
(a) National Medals.--Medals struck under this Act are national
medals for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States Code.
(b) Numismatic Items.--For purposes of section 5134 and 5136 of
title 31, United States Code, all medals struck under this Act shall be
considered to be numismatic items.
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