,i  #aafth ,,congress  #ast ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #ibi  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of   
,,representatives  ,january #cj1        
#bjai,ms4 ,velzquez 7for herself1 ,mr4  
,mast1 and ,mr4 ,vela7 introduced the   
following bill2 which was referred to   
the ,committee on ,financial ,services  
,a ,,bill  ,to posthumously award a     
,congressional ,gold ,medal to ,rabbi   
,michoel ,ber ,weissmandl in recognition
 of his acts of valor during ,world ,war
 ,,ii4  #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may 
be cited as the ,rabbi ,michoel ,ber    
,weissmandl ,congressional ,gold ,medal 
,act of #bjai4  #b4 ,findings ,congress 
finds the following3  7#a7 ,rabbi       
,michoel ,ber ,weissmandl was born in   
,hungary on ,october #be1 #aijc1 later  
moving to ,slovakia to study under      
,rabbi ,shumel ,dvoid ,ungar in ,nitra4 
7#b7 ,during his time in ,nitra1 he     
quickly became a senior figure within   
the local ,jewish community and         
,yeshiva4  7#c7 ,weissmandl was         
responsible for some of the daring      

efforts to save the ,jewish people of   
,slovakia from the ,holocaust1 which    
include the establishment of a ,working 
,group1 an underground organization that
 raised funds to negotiate ransom with  
,german and ,slovakian officials in     
order to delay mass deportations4  7#d7 
,during the ,nazi regime1 ,weissmandl   
used his contacts from ,england to      
obtain visas1 becoming one of the first 
to actively protect people of ,jewish   
ancestry in ,europe4  7#e7 ,weissmandl  
also wrote telegrams to generate        
awareness of the ,jewish people's plight
 and encouraged other strategic         
approaches to stop the ,holocaust1      
including the bombing of railroad       
tunnels to prevent the transportation of
 persons to concentration camps4  7#f7  
,weissmandl established a ,working      
,group--a wide variety of people from   
different political and ideological     
spectrums--whose common goal was to save
 people from the ,final ,solution4  7#g7
 ,the ,working ,group was one of the    

first to document in writing the        
accounts of ,auschwitz ,escapees in a   
document widely referred to as the      
,auschwitz ,protocols4  7#h7 ,weissmandl
 himself later translated the initial   
documentation from ,german to ,hebrew   
and included a widely known addendum    
that pleaded for action4  7#i7          
,weissmandl wrote the first known appeal
 for the use of ,allied air resources to
 disrupt the ,holocaust4  7#aj7 ,in     
#aidb when ,slovakia started deportation
 for resettlement1 ,rabbi ,weissmandl   
was the first to inform the ,working    
,group that people were being murdered  
and not sent to work as originally      
claimed4  7#aa7 ,rabbi ,weissmandl also 
played an instrumental role in ,solomon 
,schoenfeld ,kindertransport rescue1    
helping save hundreds of lives4  7#ab7  
,rabbi ,weissmandl came to ,america and 
in #aide immediately got to work to     
establish a home and ,yeshiva for       
,holocaust survivors4 ,the ,yeshiva of  
,nitra he established in ,mount ,kisco1 

,new ,york1 was the first ,yeshiva      
campus in ,america and became an example
 that other institutions followed4      
7#ac7 ,rabbi ,weissmandl has            
significantly influenced the flourishing
 communities of ,talmudic scholars in   
,brooklyn1 ,new ,york1 and generally    
across the ,united ,states4  #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 ,congress1 of a gold medal of 
appropriate design1 to ,rabbi ,michoel  
,ber ,weissmandl in recognition of his  
acts of valor during ,world ,war ,,ii4  
7b7 ,participation by ,weissmandl       
,committee ,for the purpose of the      
presentation referred to in subsection  
7a71 the ,speaker and ,president pro    
tempore shall ensure that the           
,weissmandl ,committee may accept the   
medal on behalf of ,michoel ,ber        

,weissmandl4  7c7 ,design and striking  
,for the purpose of the presentation    
referred to in subsection 7a71 the      
,secretary of the ,treasury 7hereinafter
 in this ,act referred to as the        
,secretary7 shall strike a gold medal   
with suitable emblems1 devices1 and     
inscriptions to be determined by the    
,secretary4  7d7 ,transfer of ,medal    
,after ,presentation ,following the     
presentation of the gold medal in honor 
of ,michoel ,ber ,weissmandl under      
subsection 7a71 the gold medal shall be 
given to ,samuel ,dovid ,weissmandl or1 
should he not be present1 to ,rabbi     
,menachem ,meir ,weissmandl4  #d4       
,duplicate medals ,under such           
regulations as the ,secretary may       
prescribe1 the ,secretary may strike and
 sell duplicates in bronze of the gold  
medal struck pursuant to section #c at a
 price sufficient to cover the cost of  
the bronze medals 7including labor1     
materials1 dies1 use of machinery1 and  
overhead expenses7 and the cost of the  

gold medal4  #e4 ,national medal  7a7   
,national medal ,the gold medal struck  
under this ,act is a national medals for
 purposes of chapter #ea of title #ca1  
,united ,states ,code4  7b7 ,numismatic 
items ,for purposes of sections #eacd   
and #eacf of title #ca1 ,united ,states 
,code1 all medals struck under this ,act
 shall be considered to be numismatic   
items4