(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.)
Directs the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives to arrange for the award of a single Congressional Gold Medal to honor collectively the World War II members of the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) in recognition of their military service and exemplary record during World War II.
Requires the Medal's display at the Smithsonian Institution. Expresses the sense of Congress that the Medal should be made available for display elsewhere, particularly at locations associated with the CAP.
Permits the Secretary of the Treasury to strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the gold medal, at a price sufficient to cover the costs of the medals.
Authorizes appropriations.
[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 418 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
112th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 418
To award a Congressional Gold Medal to the World War II members of the
Civil Air Patrol.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
February 28, 2011
Mr. Harkin (for himself, Mr. Crapo, Mr. Inouye, Ms. Snowe, Mr. Wyden,
and Mr. Begich) 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 the World War II members of the
Civil Air Patrol.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. FINDINGS.
Congress makes the following findings:
(1) The volunteer members of the Civil Air Patrol
(hereafter in this Act referred to as the ``CAP'') during World
War II, civilian men and women ranging in age from 18 to 81,
provided extraordinary public and combat services during a
critical time of need for the Nation.
(2) During the war, CAP members used their own aircraft to
perform a myriad of essential tasks for the military and the
Nation within the United States, including attacks on enemy
submarines off the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts of the
United States.
(3) This extraordinary service set the stage for the post-
war CAP to become a valuable nonprofit, public service
organization chartered by Congress and the Auxiliary of the
United States Air Force that provides essential emergency,
operational, and public services to communities, States, the
Federal Government, and the military.
(4) The CAP was established, initially as a part of the
Office of Civil Defense, by air-minded citizens one week before
the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 1,
1941, ``out of the desire of civil airmen of the country to be
mobilized with their equipment in the common defense'' of the
Nation.
(5) Within days of the start of the war, the German Navy
started a massive submarine offensive, known as Operation
Drumbeat, off the east coast of the United States against oil
tankers and other critical shipping that threatened the overall
war effort.
(6) Neither the Navy nor the Army had enough aircraft,
ships, or other resources to adequately patrol and protect the
shipping along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts of the
United States, and many ships were torpedoed within sight of
civilians on shore, including 52 tankers sunk between January
and March 1942.
(7) At that time General George Marshall remarked that
``[t]he losses by submarines off our Atlantic seaboard and in
the Caribbean now threaten our entire war effort''.
(8) From the beginning CAP leaders urged the military to
use its services to patrol coastal waters but met with great
resistance because of the nonmilitary training and status of
CAP pilots.
(9) Finally, in response to the ever-increasing submarine
attacks, the Tanker Committee of the Petroleum Industry War
Council urged the Navy Department and the War Department to
consider the use of the CAP to help patrol the sea lanes off
the coasts of the United States.
(10) While the Navy initially rejected this suggestion, the
Army decided it had merit, and the Civil Air Patrol Coastal
Patrol began in March 1942.
(11) Oil companies and other organizations provided funds
to help pay for some CAP operations, including vitally needed
shore radios that were used to monitor patrol missions.
(12) By late March 1942, the Navy also began to use the
services of the CAP.
(13) Starting with three bases located in Delaware,
Florida, and New Jersey, CAP aircrews immediately started to
spot enemy submarines as well as lifeboats, bodies, and
wreckage.
(14) Within 15 minutes of the first Coast Patrol flight,
the pilot had sighted a torpedoed tanker and was coordinating
rescue operations.
(15) Eventually 21 bases, ranging from Bar Harbor, Maine,
to Brownsville, Texas, were set up for the CAP to patrol the
Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts of the United States, with
40,000 volunteers participating.
(16) The CAP used a wide range of civilian-owned aircraft,
mainly light-weight, single engine aircraft--manufactured by
Cessna, Beech, Waco, Fairchild, Stinson, Piper, Taylorcraft,
and Sikorsky, among others--as well as some twin engine
aircraft such as the Grumman Widgeon.
(17) These aircraft were painted in their civilian prewar
colors (red, yellow, blue, etc.) and carried special markings
(a blue circle with a white triangle) to identify them as CAP
aircraft.
(18) Patrols were conducted up to 100 miles off shore,
generally with 2 aircraft flying together, in aircraft often
equipped with only a compass for navigation and a single radio
for communication.
(19) Due to the critical nature of the situation, CAP
operations were conducted in bad weather as well as good, often
when the military was unable to fly, and in all seasons
(including the winter) when ditching an aircraft in cold water
would likely mean certain death to the aircrew.
(20) Personal emergency equipment was often lacking,
particularly during early patrols where inner tubes and kapok
duck hunter vests were carried as flotation devices since ocean
worthy wet suits, life vests, and life rafts were unavailable.
(21) The initial purpose of the CAP was to spot submarines,
report their position to the military, and force them to dive
below the surface, which limited their operating speed and
maneuverability and reduced their ability to detect and attack
shipping.
(22) It soon became apparent that there were opportunities
for CAP pilots to attack submarines, such as when a Florida CAP
aircrew came across a surfaced submarine that quickly stranded
itself on a sand bar. However, the aircrew could not get any
assistance from armed military aircraft before the submarine
freed itself.
(23) Finally, after a number of these instances, a decision
was made by the military to arm CAP aircraft with 50 and 100
pound bombs, and to arm some larger twin engine aircraft with
325 pound depth charges.
(24) The arming of CAP aircraft dramatically changed the
mission for these civilian aircrews and resulted in more than
57 attacks on enemy submarines.
(25) While CAP volunteers received $8 a day flight
reimbursement, their patrols were accomplished at a great
economic cost to many of the members of the CAP who--
(A) used their own aircraft and other equipment in
defense of the Nation;
(B) paid for much of their own aircraft maintenance
and hangar use; and
(C) often lived in primitive conditions along the
coast, including old barns and chicken coops converted
for sleeping.
(26) More importantly, the CAP Coastal Patrol service came
at the high cost of 26 fatalities, 7 serious injuries, and 90
aircraft lost.
(27) At the conclusion of the 18-month Coastal Patrol, the
heroic CAP aircrews would be credited with the following:
(A) 2 submarines destroyed or damaged.
(B) 57 submarines attacked.
(C) 82 bombs dropped against submarines.
(D) 173 radio reports of submarine positions (with
a number of credited assists for kills made by military
units).
(E) 17 floating mines reported.
(F) 36 dead bodies reported.
(G) 91 vessels in distress reported.
(H) 363 survivors in distress reported.
(I) 836 irregularities noted.
(J) 1,036 special investigations at sea or along
the coast.
(K) 5,684 convoy missions for the Navy.
(L) 86,685 missions flown.
(M) 244,600 total flight hours logged.
(N) More than 24,000,000 miles flown.
(28) At least one high-level German Navy Officer credited
the CAP with being the primary reason that submarine attacks
were withdrawn from the Atlantic coast of the United States in
1943, when he said that ``[i]t was because of those damned
little red and yellow planes!''.
(29) The CAP was dismissed from coastal missions with
little thanks in August 1943 when the Navy took over the
mission completely and ordered the CAP to stand down.
(30) While the Coastal Patrol was ongoing, the CAP was also
establishing itself as a vital wartime service to the military,
States, and communities nationwide by performing a wide range
of missions including--
(A) border patrol;
(B) forest fire patrol;
(C) courier flights for mail, repair and
replacement parts, and urgent deliveries;
(D) emergency transportation of personnel;
(E) target towing (with live ammunition being fired
at the targets and seven lives being lost) and
searchlight tracking training missions;
(F) missing aircraft and personnel searches;
(G) rescue of aircraft crash survivors;
(H) radar training flights;
(I) aerial inspections of camouflaged military and
civilian facilities;
(J) aerial inspections of city and town blackout
conditions;
(K) mock bombing attacks on cities and facilities
to test air defenses;
(L) aerial searches for scrap metal materials;
(M) support of war bond drives;
(N) airport guard duties;
(O) support for State and local emergencies such as
natural disasters;
(P) recruiting for the Army Air Force; and
(Q) a cadet youth program which provided aviation
and military training.
(31) The CAP flew more than 500,000 hours on these
additional missions, including--
(A) 20,500 missions involving target towing (with
live ammunition) and gun/searchlight tracking which
resulted in 7 deaths, 5 serious injuries, and the loss
of 25 aircraft;
(B) a courier service involving 3 major Air Force
Commands over a 2-year period carrying more than
3,500,000 pounds of vital cargo and 543 passengers;
(C) southern border operations flying more than
30,000 hours, with 7,000 reports of unusual sightings
including a vehicle (that was apprehended) with 2 enemy
agents attempting to enter the country;
(D) a week in February 1945 during which CAP units
found seven missing Army and Navy pilots; and
(E) a State in which the CAP flew 790 hours on
forest fire patrol missions and reported 576 fires to
authorities during a single year.
(32) On April 29, 1943, the CAP was transferred to the Army
Air Forces, thus beginning its long association with the United
States Air Force.
(33) Hundreds of CAP-trained women joined military women's
units including the Women's Air Force Service Pilots (WASP)
program.
(34) Many members of the Women's Air Force Service Pilots
program joined or rejoined the CAP during the post-war period
because it provided women opportunities to fly and continue to
serve the Nation that were severely lacking elsewhere.
(35) Due to the exceptional emphasis on safety, unit
discipline, and pilot discipline, and the organization of the
CAP, by the end of the war only 64 members of the CAP had died
in service and only 150 aircraft had been lost (including its
Coastal Patrol loses from early in the war).
(36) There were more than 60,000 adult civilian members of
the CAP in wide range of positions, and CAP aircrews flew a
total of approximately 750,000 hours during the war, most of
which were in their personal aircraft and often at real risk to
their lives.
(37) After the war, at a CAP dinner for Congress, a quorum
of both Houses attended with the Speaker of the House of
Representatives and the President thanking the CAP for its
service.
(38) While air medals were issued for those participating
in the Coastal Patrol, little other recognition was forthcoming
for those efforts or for the other services the CAP volunteers
provided during the war.
(39) Despite efforts to end the organization at the end of
the war, the CAP had proved its capabilities and strengthened
its ties with the Air Force and Congress.
(40) In 1946, Congress chartered the CAP as a nonprofit,
public service organization and in 1948 as the Auxiliary of the
United States Air Force.
(41) Today the CAP conducts many of the same missions it
performed during World War II, including a vital role in
homeland security.
SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.
(a) Award.--
(1) 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 in honor of the
World War II members of the Civil Air Patrol collectively, in
recognition of the military service and exemplary record of the
Civil Air Patrol during World War II.
(2) Design and striking.--For the purposes of the award
referred to in paragraph (1), the Secretary of the Treasury
shall strike the gold medal with suitable emblems, devices, and
inscriptions, to be determined by the Secretary.
(3) Smithsonian institution.--
(A) In general.--Following the award of the gold
medal referred to in paragraph (1) in honor of the
World War II members of the Civil Air Patrol, the gold
medal shall be given to the Smithsonian Institution,
where it shall be displayed as appropriate and made
available for research.
(B) Sense of congress.--It is the sense of Congress
that the Smithsonian Institution should make the gold
medal received under this paragraph available for
display elsewhere, particularly at other locations
associated with the Civil Air Patrol.
(b) 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 this Act, at a price sufficient to cover
the costs of the medals, including labor, materials, dyes, use of
machinery, and overhead expenses.
(c) National Medals.--Medals struck pursuant to this Act are
national medals for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States
Code.
SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS; PROCEEDS OF SALE.
(a) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be
charged against the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund, an
amount not to exceed $30,000 to pay for the cost of the medal
authorized under section 2.
(b) Proceeds of Sale.--Amounts received from the sale of duplicate
bronze medals under section 2(b) shall be deposited in the United
States Mint Public Enterprise Fund.
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs discharged by Unanimous Consent.(consideration: CR S3071-3073)
Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs discharged by Unanimous Consent. (consideration: CR S3071-3073)
Passed/agreed to in Senate: Passed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent.(text: CR S3071-3072)
Passed Senate without amendment by Unanimous Consent. (text: CR S3071-3072)
Message on Senate action sent to the House.
Received in the House.
Held at the desk.
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