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]
[S. 1688 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
113th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1688
To award the Congressional Gold Medal to the members of the Office of
Strategic Services (OSS), collectively, in recognition of their
superior service and major contributions during World War II.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
November 13, 2013
Mr. Kirk (for himself and Mr. Rockefeller) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking,
Housing, and Urban Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To award the Congressional Gold Medal to the members of the Office of
Strategic Services (OSS), collectively, 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.
Congress finds the following:
(1) The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was the first
effort by the United States to implement a system of strategic
intelligence during World War II and provided the basis for the
modern-day intelligence and special operations communities of
the United States.
(2) OSS founder General William J. Donovan is the only
person in the history of the United States to receive the 4
highest military decorations of the United States, 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 General
Donovan his ``secret legs'', as an emissary to Great Britain
and continental Europe before the United States entered World
War II.
(3) During World War II, each branch of the Armed Forces of
the United States contributed personnel to the OSS. United
States Coast Guard personnel were recruited for the Maritime
Unit and the Operational Swimmer Group.
(4) The present-day United States special operations forces
trace their lineage to the OSS. The Maritime Unit of the OSS
was a precursor to the Navy SEALs. The OSS Operational Groups
and Jedburghs were forerunners of the United States Army
Special Forces. The 801st/492nd Bombardment Group
(``Carpetbaggers'') were progenitors of the United States Air
Force Special Operations Command. The Marines who served in the
OSS, including the actor Sterling Hayden and Colonel William
Eddy, whom General Donovan described as the ``American Lawrence
of Arabia'', were predecessors of the United States Marine
Corps Forces Special Operations Command.
(5) The OSS organized, trained, supplied, and fought with
resistance organizations throughout Europe and Asia that played
an important role in the victory of the United States 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 the French Resistance having an extra
division.
(6) Four future Directors of Central Intelligence served as
OSS officers: William Casey, William Colby, Allen Dulles, and
Richard Helms.
(7) Women comprised more than \1/3\ of OSS personnel and
played a critical role in the organization. These women
included Virginia Hall, the only civilian female to receive a
Distinguished Service Cross in World War II, and Julia Child.
(8) The OSS recruited Fritz Kolbe, a German diplomat who
became the most important spy of the United States against the
Nazis in World War II.
(9) Leading scientists and scholars in the United States
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. Its ranks also included 7
future presidents of the American Historical Association, 5 of
the American Economic Association, and 2 Nobel laureates. The
Bureau of Intelligence and Research of the United States
Department of State traces its creation to the OSS Research and
Analysis Branch.
(10) The OSS invented and employed new technology through
its Research and Development Branch, including new weapons and
revolutionary communications equipment. Dr. Christian
Lambertsen invented the first underwater breathing apparatus
that was first utilized by the OSS and is known today as
``SCUBA''.
(11) OSS Detachment 101 operated in Burma and pioneered the
art of unconventional warfare. It was the first unit of the
United States to deploy a large guerrilla army deep in enemy
territory. OSS Detachment 101 has been credited with the
highest kill/loss ratio for any infantry-type unit in the
military history of the United States and was awarded a
Presidential Unit Citation.
(12) The X-2 branch of the OSS pioneered
counterintelligence with the British and established the modern
counterintelligence community. The network of contacts built by
the OSS with foreign intelligence services led to enduring Cold
War alliances.
(13) 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 the landings of
the Allies.
(14) OSS Operation Halyard resulted in the rescue of more
than 500 downed airmen trapped behind enemy lines in
Yugoslavia, one of the most daring and successful rescue
operations of World War II.
(15) 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.
(16) 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 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 of 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.
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
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