,i  #aacth ,,congress  #b;d ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #dfic  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of  
,,representatives  ,may #bj1 #bjad ,ms4 
,tsongas 7for herself1 ,mr4 ,sam        
,johnson of ,texas1 ,mr4 ,tiberi1 and   
,mr4 ,mc,govern7 introduced the         
following bill2 which was referred to   
the ,committee on ,financial ,services1 
and in addition to the ,committee on    
,house ,administration1 for a period to 
be subsequently determined by the       
,speaker1 in each case for consideration
 of such provisions as fall within the  
jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
,a ,,bill  ,to award a gold medal on    
behalf of the ,congress to the ,u4,s4   
,air ,forces ,escape and ,evasion       
,society1 in recognition of the         
ceaseless efforts of ,american aircrew  
members to escape captivity and evade   
capture by the enemy forces in occupied 
countries during our foreign wars1 and  
the brave resistance organizations and  
patriotic nationals of those foreign    
countries who assisted them4  #a4 ,short

 title ,this ,act may be cited as the   
,u4,s4 ,air ,forces ,escape and ,evasion
 ,society ,recognition ,act of #bjad4   
#b4 ,findings ,the ,congress finds the  
following3  7#a7 ,during nearly all     
foreign wars1 members of our ,air ,force
 have been forced to eject1 crash land1 
or abandon their aircraft in an occupied
 country or territory 7referred to in   
this ,act as downed aircrew members74   
7#b7 ,those downed aircrew members had  
to evade capture by enemy forces1       
oftentimes while suffering from critical
 injuries4  7#c7 ,of the downed aircrew 
members that were captured1 many escaped
 from the enemy force that was holding  
them4  7#d7 ,many times1 downed aircrew 
members were aided in evasion and escape
 by resistance organizations and        
patriotic nationals in those occupied   
countries4  7#e7 ,thousands of brave1   
ordinary people in the occupied         
countries took extraordinary risks at   
huge costs to help these aircrew        
members4  7#f7 ,each downed aircrew     

member's story is different2 however1   
the narrative for each member has one   
common thread3 ,american aircrew members
 evading capture or escaping captivity  
with the assistance of brave people     
living in an occupied country4  7#g7 ,in
 #aifd1 the ,u4,s4 ,air ,forces ,escape 
and ,evasion ,society 7,,afees7 was     
created by the downed aircrew members   
who evaded capture by enemy forces      
during foreign wars with the assistance 
of resistance organizations and         
patriotic nationals in occupied         
countries4  7#h7 ,,afees includes downed
 aircrew members and people who directly
 aided them in escape and evasion1 and  
has more than #fjj members1 including   
members from ,world ,war ,,ii1 the      
,korean ,war1 and the ,vietnam ,war4    
#c4 ,congressional gold medal  7a7      
,presentation authorized ,the ,speaker  
of the ,house of ,representatives and   
the ,president pro tempore of the       
,senate shall make appropriate          
arrangements for the presentation1 on   

behalf of the ,congress1 of a gold medal
 of appropriate design in commemoration 
to the ,u4,s4 ,air ,forces ,escape and  
,evasion ,society1 in recognition of the
 ceaseless efforts of ,american aircrew 
members to escape captivity and evade   
capture by the enemy forces in occupied 
countries during our foreign wars1 and  
the brave resistance organizations and  
patriotic nationals of those foreign    
countries who assisted them4  7b7       
,design and striking ,for purposes of   
the presentation referred to in         
subsection 7a71 the ,secretary of the   
,treasury 7referred to in this ,act as  
the ,secretary7 shall strike a gold     
medal with suitable emblems1 devices1   
and inscriptions1 to be determined by   
the ,secretary4  7c7 ,smithsonian       
institution  7#a7 ,in general ,following
 the award of the gold medal under      
subsection 7a71 the gold medal shall be 
given to the ,smithsonian ,institution1 
where it shall be available for display 
as appropriate and available for        

research4  7#b7 ,sense of the ,congress 
,it is the sense of the ,congress that  
the ,smithsonian ,institution should    
make the gold medal awarded pursuant to 
this ,act available for display         
elsewhere1 particularly at appropriate  
locations associated with the ,u4,s4    
,air ,forces ,escape and ,evasion       
,society1 and that preference should be 
given to locations affiliated with the  
,smithsonian ,institution4  #d4         
,duplicate medals ,the ,secretary may   
strike and sell duplicates in bronze of 
the gold medal struck pursuant to       
section #c under such regulations as the
 ,secretary may prescribe1 at a price   
sufficient to cover the cost thereof1   
including labor1 materials1 dies1 use of
 machinery1 and overhead expenses1 and  
the cost of the gold medal4  #e4 ,status
 of medals  7a7 ,national medals ,the   
medals struck pursuant to this ,act are 
national medals for purposes of chapter 
#ea of title #ca1 ,united ,states ,code4
  7b7 ,numismatic items ,for purposes of

 section #eacd of title #ca1 ,united    
,states ,code1 all medals struck under  
this ,act shall be considered to be     
numismatic items4