[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2226 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2226
To rescind each Medal of Honor awarded for acts at Wounded Knee Creek
on December 29, 1890, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 26, 2021
Mr. Kahele (for himself, Mr. Kildee, Mr. Khanna, Mr. Cleaver, Mr.
Hastings, Mr. Grijalva, Ms. McCollum, Mr. Gallego, Mr. Huffman, and Ms.
Norton) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Armed Services
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To rescind each Medal of Honor awarded for acts at Wounded Knee Creek
on December 29, 1890, and for other purposes.
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 ``Remove the Stain Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds as follows:
(1) The Medal of Honor is the highest military award of the
United States.
(2) Congress found that to earn the Medal of Honor ``the
deed of the person . . . must be so outstanding that it clearly
distinguishes his gallantry beyond the call of duty from lesser
forms of bravery''.
(3) The actions of Medal of Honor recipients inspire
bravery in those currently serving in the Armed Forces and
those who will come to serve in the future.
(4) Those listed on the Medal of Honor Roll have come to
exemplify the best traits of members of the Armed Forces, a
long and proud lineage of those who went beyond the call of
service to the United States of America.
(5) To date the Medal of Honor has been awarded only 3,522
times, including only 145 times for the Korean War, 126 times
in World War I, 23 times during the Global War on Terror, and
20 times for the massacre at Wounded Knee.
(6) The Medal of Honor is awarded in the name of Congress.
(7) As found in Senate Concurring Resolution 153 of the
101st Congress, on December 29, 1890 the 7th Cavalry of the
United States engaged a tribal community ``resulting in the
tragic death and injury of approximately 350-375 Indian men,
women, and children'' led by Lakota Chief Spotted Elk of the
Miniconjou band at ``Cankpe' Opi Wakpa'' or ``Wounded Knee
Creek''.
(8) This engagement became known as the ``Wounded Knee
Massacre'', and took place between unarmed Native Americans and
soldiers, heavily armed with standard issue army rifles as well
as four ``Hotchkiss guns'' with five 37 mm barrels capable of
firing 43 rounds per minute.
(9) Nearly two-thirds of the Native Americans killed during
the Massacre were unarmed women and children who were
participating in a ceremony to restore their traditional
homelands prior to the arrival of European settlers.
(10) Poor tactical emplacement of the soldiers meant that
most of the casualties suffered by the United States troops
were inflicted by friendly fire.
(11) On January 1st, 1891, Major General Nelson A. Miles,
Commander of the Division of Missouri, telegraphed Major
General John M. Schofield, Commander-in-Chief of the Army
notifying him that ``[I]t is stated that the disposition of
four hundred soldiers and four pieces of artillery was fatally
defective and large number of soldiers were killed and wounded
by the fire from their own ranks and a very large number of
women and children were killed in addition to the Indian men''.
(12) The United States awarded 20 Medals of Honor to
soldiers of the U.S. 7th Cavalry following their participation
in the Wounded Knee Massacre.
(13) In 2001, the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, a member
Tribe of the Great Sioux Nation, upon information provided by
Lakota elders and by veterans, passed Tribal Council Resolution
No. 132-01, requesting that the Federal Government revoke the
Medals of Honor from the soldiers of the United States Army,
7th Cavalry issued following the massacre of unarmed men,
women, children, and elderly of the Great Sioux Nation on
December 29, 1890, on Tribal Lands near Wounded Knee Creek.
(14) The National Congress of American Indians requested in
a 2007 Resolution that the Congress ``renounce the issuance of
said medals, and/or to proclaim that the medals are null and
void, given the atrocities committed upon unarmed men, women,
children and elderly of the Great Sioux Nation''.
(15) General Miles contemporaneously stated that a
``[w]holesale massacre occurred and I have never heard of a
more brutal, cold-blooded massacre than that at Wounded Knee''.
(16) Allowing any Medal of Honor, the United States highest
and most prestigious military decoration, to recognize a member
of the Armed Forces for distinguished service for participating
in the massacre of hundreds of unarmed Native Americans is a
disservice to the integrity of the United States and its
citizens, and impinges on the integrity of the award and those
who have earned the Medal since.
SEC. 3. RESCISSION OF MEDALS OF HONOR AWARDED FOR ACTS AT WOUNDED KNEE
CREEK ON DECEMBER 29, 1890.
(a) In General.--Each Medal of Honor awarded for acts at Wounded
Knee Creek, Lakota Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, South Dakota, on
December 29, 1890, is rescinded.
(b) Medal of Honor Roll.--The Secretary concerned shall remove the
name of each individual awarded a Medal of Honor for acts described in
subsection (a) from the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard Medal of
Honor Roll maintained under section 1134a of title 10, United States
Code.
(c) Return of Medal Not Required.--No person may be required to
return to the Federal Government a Medal of Honor rescinded under
subsection (a).
(d) No Denial of Benefits.--This Act shall not be construed to deny
any individual any benefit from the Federal Government.
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