119-hr3830

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3830 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 3830

To award a Congressional Gold Medal to all United States nationals who 
 voluntarily joined the Canadian and British Armed Forces and their 
 supporting entities during World War II, in recognition of their 
 dedicated service.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 June 6, 2025

 Mr. Vindman (for himself and Mr. Kelly of Mississippi) 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 a Congressional Gold Medal to all United States nationals who 
 voluntarily joined the Canadian and British Armed Forces and their 
 supporting entities during World War II, in recognition of their 
 dedicated service.

 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 ``American Patriots of WWII through 
Service with the Canadian and British Armed Forces Gold Medal Act of 
2025''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

 Congress finds the following:

    (1) Americans from across the country served in defense of 
 democracy and freedom during World War II

    (WWII) by 
 volunteering for service with the Canadian and British 
 militaries and other associated organizations that were 
 fighting Nazi and Fascist aggression. Many United States 
 citizens perceived the importance of this war and the severe 
 impact Nazism and Fascism could have on the American way of 
 life. Therefore, prior to the United States entry into the 
 conflict and indeed throughout WWII these patriots 
 independently crossed the border into Canada and entered 
 Canadian and British Armed Forces recruiting offices or sought 
 out representatives based in major United States municipalities 
 and elsewhere.

    (2) When the ``United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern 
 Ireland'' and the ``British Commonwealth of Nations'' were 
 drawn into WWII after Germany invaded Poland in 1939, the 
 Canadian and British Air Forces made a concerted effort to 
 recruit Americans.

    (3) It is documented that thousands of Americans joined the 
 Canadian and British Armed Forces, a large percentage joining 
 the Royal Canadian Air Force

    (RCAF) alone. In a 1942 film Air 
 Marshal William Avery ``Billy'' Bishop, an organizer and 
 promoter of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan

    (BCATP) and Director of the Royal Canadian Air Force, recognized the 
 ``gallant lads from the United States who have come up here to 
 help and serve with us''. Notably, many Americans were also 
 recruited and processed through Canada before being assigned to 
 or detached for the purpose of Royal Air Force

    (RAF) service.

    (4) General of the Army, Army of the United States, Dwight 
 D. Eisenhower, the former Supreme Allied Commander of the 
 Allied Expeditionary Force, referenced, in a speech on January 
 10, 1946, the ``some twelve thousand American citizens'' who 
 crossed into Canada with the goal of entering the Canadian 
 Armed Forces. Although the precise numbers of Americans who 
 were in Canadian and British service are unknown, media 
 accounts published by Allied journalists during the conflict 
 nonetheless detail their legacies of volunteerism, personal 
 sacrifice, and bravery.

    (5) Americans also joined the Canadian Aviation Bureau, and 
 the Home Guard, Air Transport Auxiliary

    (ATA) , and Royal Air 
 Force Ferry Command/Transport Command in Britain. The existence 
 of these ancillaries enabled patriotic citizens, who were, at 
 least initially, unable to join a branch of the United States 
 military due to gender, age, race, health, the lack of 
 sufficient college education, or other reasons, to support the 
 war effort. Those who contributed via these alternative 
 concerns were no less essential to attaining victory.

    (6) The infusion of Americans into Canada helped to reduce 
 shortages of civilian and military pilots in the BCATP, and 
 President Franklin Roosevelt paid tribute to both Canada and 
 the program in a wartime letter to Canadian Prime Minister 
 William Lyon Mackenzie King. Within the correspondence 
 President Roosevelt used the phrase ``the Aerodrome of 
 Democracy''.

    (7) As members of the Canadian and British militaries, the 
 American volunteers served in many capacities. Extant military 
 rolls and individual service records document, and thereby 
 testify to, their contributions.

    (8) A sizable number of Americans lost their lives or were 
 wounded while serving in the RCAF and RAF. The Canadian Army, 
 British Army, Royal Canadian Navy, and Royal Navy also incurred 
 American personnel casualties. Those who perished and the 
 survivors demonstrated the exceptional courage that has been 
 repeatedly displayed in the defense of freedom throughout 
 American history.

    (9) A unique and highly publicized group of Americans, who 
 were members of the RCAF and RAF, were posted to the famous RAF 
 Eagle Squadrons and thereby showcased the important roles 
 American volunteers were undertaking. British Prime Minister 
 Winston Churchill, whose mother was American, played an 
 important role in originally promoting the concept of the Eagle 
 Squadrons to the Air Ministry.

    (10) The early successes of female ferry aircrews paved the 
 way for the formation in the United States of the Women 
 Airforce Service Pilots

    (WASP) in 1943. The exceptional legacy 
 of the Women Airforce Service Pilots, ATA, etc., provided 
 essential support and paved the way for future generations of 
 military women.

    (11) A substantial portion of the Americans serving in 
 Canadian and British aerial forces transferred to the United 
 States Army Air Forces between 1942 and 1944, while others 
 elected to enter other branches of the United States Military.

    (12) The practical experience these veterans of Canadian 
 and British service possessed provided the inexperienced 
 American Forces with an immediate degree of competence and 
 effectiveness. More than a few became accomplished combat 
 pilots, the American Fighter Aces Association possessing many 
 of them within the organization's core membership.

    (13) The bravery and foresight displayed by the Americans 
 who enlisted in the Canadian and British Armed Forces represent 
 a largely unrecognized story of valor, and their initiatives 
 are worthy of official recognition.

    (14) The United States Nationals who volunteered for 
 service with military-associated Canadian and British ancillary 
 entities are to be equally recognized for their volunteerism, 
 contributions, and sacrifices.

SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.

    (a) Award Authorized.--The President pro tempore of the Senate and 
the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall make appropriate 
arrangements for the award, on behalf of Congress, of a single gold 
medal of appropriate design to all United States nationals who 
voluntarily joined the Canadian and British Armed Forces and their 
supporting entities during World War II, in recognition of their 
dedicated service.

    (b) Design and Striking.--For the purposes of the award referred to 
in subsection

    (a) , the Secretary of the Treasury (referred to in this 
Act 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, where it will be available for display 
 as appropriate and made available for research.

    (2) Sense of congress.--It is the sense of Congress that 
 the Smithsonian Institution should make the gold medal received 
 under paragraph

    (1) available for display elsewhere.
            (d) Duplicate Medals.--Under regulations that the Secretary may 
promulgate, the Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of 
the gold medal struck under this Act, at a price sufficient to cover 
the costs of the medals, including labor, materials, dies, use of 
machinery, and overhead expenses.

SEC. 4. 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 of title 31, 
United States Code, all medals struck under this Act shall be 
considered to be numismatic items.
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