119-s498

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 498 Introduced in Senate

    (IS) ]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 S. 498

To posthumously award a Congressional Gold Medal, collectively, to the 
African Americans who served with Union forces during the Civil War, in 
 recognition of their bravery and outstanding service.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

 February 10, 2025

 Mr. Booker (for himself and Mr. Kaine) introduced the following bill; 
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, 
 and Urban Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

To posthumously award a Congressional Gold Medal, collectively, to the 
African Americans who served with Union forces during the Civil War, in 
 recognition of their bravery and outstanding 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 ``United States Colored Troops 
Congressional Gold Medal Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

 Congress finds the following:

    (1) Since the Colonial Era, African Americans have served 
 the United States in times of war.

    (2) During the Civil War, approximately 200,000 African-
 American men served in the Union Army and 19,000 African-
 American men served in the Union Navy.

    (3) During the Civil War, African-American women were not 
 allowed to formally enlist as soldiers or sailors, though they 
 served as nurses, cooks, spies, and scouts for the Union Army 
 and the Union Navy.

    (4) While African-American men served in the Navy since its 
 establishment, there was resistance to enlisting them to take 
 up arms for the Union Army at the start of the Civil War.

    (5) As the Civil War dragged on, President Lincoln broke 
 from the previous policy of his administration and determined 
 that liberating enslaved persons ``was a military necessity 
 absolutely essential for the salvation of the Union''.

    (6) The Act entitled ``An Act to suppress insurrection, to 
 punish treason and rebellion, to seize and confiscate the 
 property of rebels, and for other purposes'', approved July 17, 
 1862 (commonly known as the ``Second Confiscation Act'') (12 
 Stat. 589; chapter 195), and the Act of July 17, 1862 (commonly 
 known as the ``Military Act of 1862'') (12 Stat. 597; chapter 
 201), were the first official authorizations to employ African 
 Americans in the Union Army.

    (7) It was not until January 1, 1863, the effective date of 
 the Emancipation Proclamation issued by President Lincoln, that 
 the Union Army was ordered to receive African-American men.

    (8) On May 22, 1863, the United States War Department 
 issued General Order Number 143, which established the Bureau 
 of Colored Troops for the recruitment and organization of 
 regiments of the Union Army composed of African-American men, 
 called the United States Colored Troops (referred to in this 
 section as ``USCT'').

    (9) Leaders such as Frederick Douglass encouraged African 
 Americans to enlist to advance the cause of citizenship. ``Once 
 let the black man get upon his person the brass letters, 
 `U.S.', let him get an eagle on his button, and a musket on his 
 shoulder and bullets in his pocket, there is no power on 
 [E]arth that can deny that he has earned the right to 
 citizenship.'', wrote Douglass.

    (10) African-American sailors constituted a significant 
 segment of the Union Navy, making up 20 percent of the total 
 enlisted force of the Navy.

    (11) Although there were rank restrictions on African 
 Americans in the Navy before the Civil War, this policy changed 
 after the establishment of the USCT, when the Union Navy 
 started to compete with the Union Army for enlistment of 
 African Americans.

    (12) Yet, in practice, most African Americans could not 
 advance beyond lowest ranks of ``boy'' and ``landsman''.

    (13) African-American soldiers and sailors served with 
 distinction, honor, and bravery amid racial discrimination and 
 adverse circumstances, including the risk of enslavement and 
 torture if captured.

    (14) Eighteen members of the USCT and 8 African-American 
 sailors were awarded the Medal of Honor, the highest honor in 
 the United States for bravery in combat.

    (15) For generations after the Civil War, the contributions 
 of African Americans in the Civil War were excluded from 
 historical memory.

    (16) Public Law No. 102-412 (106 Stat. 2104) authorized the 
 establishment of a memorial on Federal land in the District of 
 Columbia to honor African Americans who served with Union 
 forces during the Civil War.

    (17) This memorial, featuring a bronze statue of USCT 
 soldiers, an African-American sailor and family, is surrounded 
 by the Wall of Honor, which lists the names of the members of 
 the USCT.

    (18) The African American Civil War Museum is located in 
 the District of Columbia.

    (19) Patriots and heroes who rose in service to a Nation 
 that would not fully recognize them, the African Americans who 
 served the Union during the Civil War deserve our recognition 
 for their contributions to the grant of emancipation and 
 citizenship for nearly 4,000,000 enslaved people and the 
 preservation of the Union.

SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.

    (a) Presentation Authorized.--The Speaker of the House of 
Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate and the 
Speaker of the House of Representatives shall make appropriate 
arrangements for the posthumous presentation, on behalf of Congress, of 
a gold medal of appropriate design to the African Americans who served 
with Union forces during the Civil War, collectively, in recognition of 
their bravery and outstanding service during the Civil War.

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

    (a) , the Secretary of the Treasury (hereafter 
in this Act referred to as the ``Secretary'') shall strike a 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 the medal shall 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, 
 particularly at appropriate locations associated with the 
 United States Colored Troops.

SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS.

 The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the gold 
medal struck pursuant to 

section 3 at a price sufficient to cover the 
cost thereof, including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and 
overhead expenses.

SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS.

    (a) National Medals.--The medals struck pursuant to 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.

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.
 <all>