119-s262

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 262 Introduced in Senate

    (IS) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 S. 262

 To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Master Sergeant Roderick 
 ``Roddie'' Edmonds in recognition of his heroic actions during World 
 War II.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

 January 27, 2025

 Mrs. Blackburn (for herself and Mr. Schatz) introduced the following 
 bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, 
 Housing, and Urban Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Master Sergeant Roderick 
 ``Roddie'' Edmonds in recognition of his heroic actions during World 
 War II.

 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 ``Master Sergeant Roddie Edmonds 
Congressional Gold Medal Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

 Congress finds the following:

    (1) Roderick W. Edmonds (in this Act referred to as 
 ``Roddie Edmonds'' or ``Edmonds'') was born in 1919 in South 
 Knoxville, Tennessee, and graduated from Knoxville High School 
 in 1938.

    (2) Roddie Edmonds was a Master Sergeant in the United 
 States Army and a member of the 422nd Infantry Regiment while 
 serving during World War II.

    (3) Roddie Edmonds landed in Europe in 1944 and fought to 
 the border between Belgium and Germany. In December of 1944, 
 while fighting in the Battle of the Bulge, Edmonds was captured 
 by Nazi forces and detained in Stalag IX-A, a prisoner of war 
 camp in Ziegenhain, Germany.

    (4) Stalag IX-A was a site used to identify, segregate, and 
 remove Jewish soldiers from the general population of prisoners 
 of war and many of the Jewish soldiers who were so removed were 
 sent to labor camps or murdered. Members of the Armed Forces 
 were warned of this policy and aware that their fellow 
 servicemen could be at risk.

    (5) As the senior noncommissioned officer in Stalag IX-A, 
 Master Sergeant Edmonds was responsible for 1,292 members of 
 the Armed Forces at the camp. Approximately 1 month after the 
 date on which Edmonds was detained, Edmonds was directed to 
 order the Jewish-American soldiers under his command to fall 
 out in order to separate the Jewish-American soldiers from 
 their fellow prisoners.

    (6) Defying the orders of the Nazis, Roddie Edmonds 
 commanded all of his men to fall out and, the following 
 morning, all of the 1,292 members of the Armed Forces under the 
 command of Edmonds stood outside of their prison barracks.

    (7) Upon seeing the soldiers, a German officer angrily 
 shouted, ``They cannot all be Jews!'', to which Edmonds 
 replied, ``We are all Jews here''.

    (8) The German officer took out his pistol and pointed the 
 gun at the head of Edmonds, but Edmonds refused to identify the 
 Jewish soldiers. Instead, Edmonds responded, ``According to the 
 Geneva Convention, we only have to give our name, rank, and 
 serial number. If you shoot me, you will have to shoot all of 
 us and, after the war, you will be tried for war crimes''.

    (9) The German officer turned away from Edmonds and the 
 other soldiers and left the scene. The actions taken by Edmonds 
 saved the lives of approximately 200 Jewish-American members of 
 the Armed Forces.

    (10) Lester Tanner, a Jewish-American member of the Armed 
 Forces also captured during the Battle of the Bulge, witnessed 
 the incident and stated that, ``There was no question in my 
 mind, or that of Master Sergeant Edmonds, that the Germans were 
 removing the Jewish prisoners from the general population at 
 great risk to their survival. The U.S. Army's standing command 
 to its ranking officers in POW camps is that you resist the 
 enemy and care for the safety of your men to the greatest 
 extent possible. Master Sergeant Edmonds, at the risk of his 
 immediate death, defied the Germans with the unexpected 
 consequences that the Jewish prisoners were saved''.

    (11) Edmonds survived 100 days in captivity and returned 
 home after the war. Later, Edmonds served the United States in 
 Korea as a member of the National Guard. Edmonds died in 1985, 
 but never told his family or anyone else of his brave actions 
 outside the barracks of Stalag IX-A during World War II.

    (12) Edmonds was posthumously recognized by Yad Vashem, the 
 World Holocaust Remembrance Center in Jerusalem, as ``Righteous 
 Among the Nations'', the first member of the Armed Forces and 1 
 of only 5 people of the United States to be so recognized. 
 Avner Shalev, Chairman of Yad Vashem, announced the selection 
 of Edmonds by saying, ``Master Sergeant Roddie Edmonds seemed 
 like an ordinary American soldier, but he had an extraordinary 
 sense of responsibility and dedication to his fellow human 
 beings. . . . The choices and actions of Master Sergeant 
 Edmonds set an example for his fellow American soldiers as they 
 stood united against the barbaric evil of the Nazis''.

    (13) 2025 will mark the 80th anniversary of the conclusion 
 of World War II and the atrocities of the Holocaust as well as 
 the 40th anniversary of the passing of Master Sergeant Roddie 
 Edmonds.

SEC. 3. 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 posthumous presentation, on behalf of 
Congress, of a gold medal of appropriate design to Roddie Edmonds in 
recognition of his achievements and heroic actions during World War II.

    (b) Design and Striking.--For purposes of the presentation 
described in subsection

    (a) , the Secretary of the Treasury (referred to 
in this Act as the ``Secretary'') shall strike a gold medal with 
suitable emblems, devices, and inscriptions to be determined by the 
Secretary.
            (c) Disposition of Medal.--Following the presentation described in 
subsection

    (a) , the gold medal shall be given to Pastor Christopher 
Waring Edmonds, or the next of kin of Roddie Edmonds.

SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS.

 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the gold 
medal struck at a price sufficient to cover the costs thereof, 
including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead 
expenses.

SEC. 5. 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 sections 5134 and 5136 of 
title 31, United States Code, all medals struck under this Act shall be 
considered to be numismatic items.

SEC. 6. AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS; PROCEEDS OF SALE.

    (a) Authority To Use Fund Amounts.--There is authorized to be 
charged against the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund such 
amounts as may be necessary to pay for the costs of the medals struck 
under this Act.

    (b) Proceeds of Sale.--Amounts received from the sale of duplicate 
bronze medals authorized under 

section 4 shall be deposited into the 
United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund.
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