,,ii  #aacth ,,congress  #ast ,session  
,s4 #ahfb  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of     
,,the ,,united ,,states  ,december #ai1 
#bjac,mr4 ,blunt 7for himself and ,mr4  
,menendez7 introduced the following     
bill2 which was read twice and referred 
to the ,committee on ,banking1 ,housing1
 and ,urban ,affairs  ,a ,,bill  ,to    
grant the ,congressional ,gold ,medal1  
collectively1 to the ,monuments ,men1 in
 recognition of their heroic role in the
 preservation1 protection1 and          
restitution of monuments1 works of art1 
and artifacts of cultural importance    
during and following ,world ,war ,,ii4  
#a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited
 as the ,monuments ,men ,recognition    
,act of #bjac4  #b4 ,findings ,the      
,congress finds the following3 7#a7 ,on 
,june #bc1 #aidc1 ,president ,franklin  
,d4 ,roosevelt formed the ,american     
,commission for the ,protection and     
,salvage of ,artistic and ,historic     
,monuments in ,war ,areas4  7#b7 ,the   
,commission established the ,monuments1 

,fine ,arts1 and ,archives 7,,mfaa7     
,section under the ,allied ,armies4     
7#c7 ,the men and women serving in the  
,,mfaa ,section were referred to as the 
,monuments ,men4  7#d7 ,these           
individuals had expertise as museum     
directors1 curators1 art historians1    
artists1 architects1 and educators4     
7#e7 ,in ,december #aidc1 ,general      
,dwight ,d4 ,eisenhower empowered the   
,monuments ,men by issuing orders to all
 commanders that stated they must       
respect monuments so far as war allows4 
7#f7 ,initially the ,monuments ,men were
 intended to protect and temporarily    
repair the monuments1 churches1 and     
cathedrals of ,europe suffering damage  
due to combat4  7#g7 ,hitler and the    
,nazis engaged in a pre-meditated1 mass 
theft of art and stored priceless works 
in thousands of art repositories        
throughout ,europe4  7#h7 ,the          
,monuments ,men adapted their mission to
 identify1 preserve1 catalogue1 and     
repatriate almost #e1jjj1jjj artistic   

and cultural items which they           
discovered4  7#i7 ,this magnitude of    
cultural preservation was unprecedented 
during a time of conflict4  7#aj7 ,the  
,monuments ,men grew to no more than    
#cej individuals and joined front line  
military forces2 two ,monuments ,men    
lost their lives in action4  7#aa7      
,following the ,allied victory the      
,monuments ,men remained abroad to      
rebuild cultural life in ,europe through
 organizing art exhibitions and         
concerts4  7#ab7 ,many of the ,monuments
 ,men became renowned directors and     
curators of preeminent international    
cultural institutions1 professors at    
institutions of higher education1 and   
founders of artistic associations both  
before and after the war4  7#ac7 ,the   
,monuments ,men ,foundation for the     
,preservation of ,art was founded in    
#bjjg to honor the legacy of the men and
 women who served as ,monuments ,men4   
7#ad7 ,there are only five surviving    
members of the ,monuments ,men as of    

,december #bjac4  #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  
,monuments ,men1 in recognition of their
 heroic role in the preservation1       
protection1 and restitution of          
monuments1 works of art1 and artifacts  
of cultural importance during and       
following ,world ,war ,,ii4  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 in honor of

 the ,monuments ,men1 the gold medal    
shall be given to the ,smithsonian      
,institution1 where it will 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 ,monuments ,men1 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