Benjamin Berell Ferencz Congressional Gold Medal Act
This bill provides for the award of a Congressional Gold Medal to Benjamin Berell Ferencz in recognition of his service to the United States and the international community during the post-World War II Nuremberg trials and his lifelong advocacy for international criminal justice and the rule of law.
[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4587 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
117th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 4587
To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Benjamin Berell Ferencz, in
recognition of his service to the United States and international
community during the post-World War II Nuremberg trials and lifelong
advocacy for international criminal justice and rule of law.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 21, 2022
Mrs. Gillibrand (for herself, Mr. Schumer, and Mr. Cardin) 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 Benjamin Berell Ferencz, in
recognition of his service to the United States and international
community during the post-World War II Nuremberg trials and lifelong
advocacy for international criminal justice and rule of law.
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 ``Benjamin Berell Ferencz
Congressional Gold Medal Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Benjamin ``Ben'' Berell Ferencz was born on March 11,
1920, in Transylvania, now modern day Hungary.
(2) In 1920, Ben and his family fled anti-Semitic
persecution and emigrated to the United States. Ben grew up in
New York City, and in 1940, was awarded a scholarship to
Harvard Law School where he graduated with honors.
(3) After the onset of World War II, Ben enlisted in the
United States Army in 1943, and joined an anti-aircraft
artillery battalion preparing for the invasion of France. As an
enlisted man under General Patton, he fought in most of the
major campaigns in Europe.
(4) As Nazi atrocities were uncovered, Ben was transferred
to a newly created War Crimes Branch of the Army to gather
evidence of war crimes that could be used in a court of law to
prosecute persons responsible for these crimes. Ben documented
the horrors perpetrated by Nazi Germany, visiting concentration
camps as they were liberated.
(5) At the end of 1945, Ben was honorably discharged from
the United States Army with the rank of Sergeant of Infantry.
He had been awarded 5 battle stars.
(6) In 1946, the United States Government recruited Ben to
join the team working on the Nuremberg tribunals, a novel
independent court established to try top-ranking Nazi officials
for crimes perpetrated during the course of the war, including
those crimes we now call the Holocaust. Mr. Ferencz was sent to
Berlin to oversee a team of 50 researchers investigating
official Nazi records, which provided overwhelming evidence to
implicate German doctors, lawyers, judges, generals,
industrialists, and others in genocide.
(7) By 1948, at age 27, Ben had secured enough evidence to
prosecute 22 SS members of Nazi killing squads charged for the
murder of over 1,000,0000 Jewish, Roma, Soviet, and other men,
women, and children in shooting massacres in occupied Soviet
territory. He was appointed chief prosecutor in the
Einsatzgruppen Trial, in what the Associated Press called ``the
biggest murder trial in history''. The court found 20 Nazi
officials guilty of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and
membership in a criminal organization for their roles in the
murder of over a million people. An additional 2 defendants
were found guilty for membership in a criminal organization.
(8) After the Nuremberg trials ended, Ben fought for
compensation for victims and survivors of the Holocaust, the
return of stolen assets, and other forms of restitution for
those who had suffered at the hands of the Nazis.
(9) Since the 1970s, Ben has worked tirelessly to promote
development of international mechanisms to outlaw and punish
aggressive war and the crimes of genocide, crimes against
humanity and war crimes. His efforts contributed to the
establishment of the International Criminal Court and to the
recognition of aggression as an international crime.
(10) Ben is a tireless advocate for international criminal
justice and the conviction that the rule of law offers the
world a sustainable path to stem conflict and reach peaceful
conclusions to geopolitical disputes. His unwavering goal has
been ``to establish a legal precedent that would encourage a
more humane and secure world in the future''.
(11) Ben, at age 101, is still active, giving speeches
throughout the world about lessons learned during his
extraordinary career. He is compelled by the imperative to
``replace the rule of force with the rule of law'', promoting
judicial mechanisms that can resolve conflict. He often tells
young people to ``never give up'' because the fight for peace
and justice is worth the long struggle ahead.
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 to Benjamin Berell
Ferencz, in recognition of his service to the United States and
international community during the post-World War II Nuremberg trials
and lifelong advocacy for international criminal justice and rule of
law.
(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.
SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS.
(a) In General.--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.
(b) United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary shall provide a duplicate
bronze medal described under subsection (a) to the United
States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
(2) Sense of congress.--It is the sense of Congress that
the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum should make the
duplicate medal received under this subsection available for
display to the public whenever the United States Holocaust
Memorial Museum determines that such display is timely,
feasible, and practical.
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.
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Introduced in Senate
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.
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