Office of Strategic Services Congressional Gold Medal Act - Requires the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to arrange for the presentation of a congressional gold medal to the members of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) in recognition of their superior service and major contributions during World War II.
[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3544 Introduced in House (IH)]
113th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3544
To award the Congressional Gold Medal, collectively, to the members of
the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) in recognition of their superior
service and major contributions during World War II.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
November 20, 2013
Mr. Latta (for himself, Ms. Kaptur, Mr. Wolf, Mr. McIntyre, Mr. Jordan,
Mr. Higgins, Mr. Rogers of Michigan, and Mr. Conaway) 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 the Congressional Gold Medal, collectively, to the members of
the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) in recognition of their superior
service and major contributions 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 ``Office of Strategic Services
Congressional Gold Medal Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was America's
first effort to implement a system of strategic intelligence
during World War II and provided the basis for the modern-day
American intelligence and special operations communities.
(2) OSS founder General William J. Donovan is the only
person in American history to receive our Nation's four highest
military decorations, including the Medal of Honor. Upon
learning of his death in 1959, President Eisenhower called
General Donovan the ``last hero''. In addition to founding and
leading the OSS, General Donovan was also selected by President
Roosevelt, who called him his ``secret legs'', as an emissary
to Great Britain and continental Europe before the United
States entered World War II.
(3) All the military branches during World War II
contributed personnel to the OSS. The present-day Special
Operations Forces trace their lineage to the OSS. Its Maritime
Unit was a precursor to the U.S. Navy SEALs. The OSS
Operational Groups and Jedburghs were forerunners to U.S. Army
Special Forces. The 801st/492nd Bombardment Group
(``Carpetbaggers'') were progenitors to the Air Force Special
Operations Command. The Marines who served in the OSS,
including the actor Sterling Hayden and Col. William Eddy, whom
General Donovan described as the ``American Lawrence of
Arabia'', were predecessors to the Marines Special Operations
Command. U.S. Coast Guard personnel were recruited for the
Maritime Unit and the Operational Swimmer Group.
(4) The OSS organized, trained, supplied, and fought with
resistance organizations throughout Europe and Asia that played
an important role in America's victory during World War II.
President Eisenhower credited the work of the OSS with the
French Resistance during the liberation of France as the
equivalent of having an extra division.
(5) Four future directors of central intelligence served as
OSS officers: William Casey, William Colby, Allen Dulles, and
Richard Helms.
(6) Women comprised more than one-third of OSS personnel
and played a critical role in the organization. They included
Virginia Hall, the only civilian female to receive a
Distinguished Service Cross in World War II, and Julia Child.
(7) OSS recruited Fritz Kolbe, a German diplomat who became
America's most important spy against the Nazis in World War II.
(8) America's leading scientists and scholars served in the
OSS Research and Analysis Branch, including Ralph Bunche, the
first African-American to receive the Nobel Peace Prize,
Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.,
Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg, Sherman Kent, John King
Fairbank, and Walt Rostow. It ranks included seven future
presidents of the American Historical Association, five of the
American Economic Association, and two Nobel laureates. The
U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Intelligence and Research
traces its creation to the OSS Research and Analysis Branch.
(9) The OSS invented and employed new technology through
its Research and Development Branch, inventing new weapons and
revolutionary communications equipment. Dr. Christian
Lambertsen invented the first underwater rebreathing apparatus
that was first utilized by the OSS and is known today as SCUBA.
(10) OSS Detachment 101 operated in Burma and pioneered the
art of unconventional warfare. It was the first United States
unit to deploy a large guerrilla army deep in enemy territory.
It has been credited with the highest kill/loss ratio for any
infantry-type unit in American military history and was awarded
a Presidential Unit Citation.
(11) Its X-2 branch pioneered counterintelligence with the
British and established the modern counterintelligence
community. The network of contacts built by the OSS with
foreign intelligence services lead to enduring Cold War
alliances.
(12) Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of French North
Africa in November 1942, was aided by the networks established
and information acquired by the OSS to guide Allied landings.
(13) OSS Operation Halyard rescued more than 500 downed
airmen trapped behind enemy lines in Yugoslavia, one of the
most daring and successful rescue operations of World War II.
(14) OSS ``Mercy Missions'' at the end of World War II
saved the lives of thousands of Allied prisoners of war whom it
was feared would be murdered by the Japanese.
(15) The handful of surviving men and women of the OSS,
whom General Donovan called his ``glorious amateurs'', are
among the greatest generation. They have never been
collectively recognized for their heroic and pioneering service
in World War II.
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 presentation, on behalf of the
Congress, of a gold medal of appropriate design in commemoration to the
members of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), in recognition of
their superior service and major contributions during World War II.
(b) Design and Striking.--For purposes of the presentation referred
to 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) Smithsonian Institution.--
(1) In general.--Following the award of the gold medal in
commemoration to the members of the Office of Strategic
Services under subsection (a), the gold medal shall be given to
the Smithsonian Institution, where it will be displayed 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 other appropriate locations associated with the
Office of Strategic Services.
SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS.
The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the gold
medal struck pursuant to section 3 under such regulations as the
Secretary may prescribe, at a price sufficient to cover the cost
thereof, including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and
overhead expenses, and the cost of the gold medal.
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.
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Introduced in House
Introduced in House
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.
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.
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