,,ii  #aafth ,,congress  #ast ,session  
,s4 #gdc  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of ,,the
 ,,united ,,states  ,march #ab1         
#bjai,mr4 ,isakson 7for himself1 ,ms4   
,baldwin1 ,mrs4 ,blackburn1 ,mr4        
,boozman1 ,mr4 ,coons1 ,mr4 ,cotton1    
,mr4 ,daines1 ,ms4 ,duckworth1 ,ms4     
,ernst1 ,ms4 ,hassan1 ,mr4 ,inhofe1 ,mr4
 ,jones1 ,mr4 ,kennedy1 ,mr4 ,markey1   
,mr4 ,moran1 ,ms4 ,murkowski1 ,mr4      
,perdue1 ,mr4 ,rounds1 ,mrs4 ,shaheen1  
,ms4 ,stabenow1 ,mr4 ,tester1 and ,ms4  
,warren7 introduced the following bill2 
which was read twice and referred to the
 ,committee on ,banking1 ,housing1 and  
,urban ,affairs  ,a ,,bill  ,to award a 
,congressional ,gold ,medal to the      
soldiers of the #ecjgth ,composite ,unit
 7,provisional71 commonly known as      
,merrill's ,marauders1 in recognition of
 their bravery and outstanding service  
in the jungles of ,burma during ,world  
,war ,,ii4  #a4 ,short title ,this ,act 
may be cited as the ,merrill's          
,marauders ,congressional ,gold ,medal  

,act4  #b4 ,findings ,congress finds    
that--  7#a7 in ,august #aidc1          
,president ,franklin ,d4 ,roosevelt and 
other ,allied leaders proposed the      
creation of a ground unit of the ,armed 
,forces that would engage in a          
long-range penetration mission in       
,japanese-occupied ,burma to--  7,a7 cut
 off ,japanese communications and supply
 lines2 and  7,b7 capture the town of   
,myitkyina and the ,myitkyina airstrip1 
both of which were held by the          
,japanese2  7#b7 ,president ,roosevelt  
issued a call for volunteers for a      
dangerous and hazardous mission and the 
call was answered by approximately      
#c1jjj soldiers from the ,united        
,states2  7#c7 the ,army unit composed  
of the soldiers described in paragraph  
7#b7-- 7,a7 was officially designated as
 the #ecjgth ,composite ,unit           
7,provisional7 with the code name       
,galahad2 and  7,b7 later became known  
as ,merrill's ,marauders 7referred to in
 this section as the ,marauders7 in     

reference to its leader1 ,brigadier     
,general ,frank ,merrill2  7#d7 in      
,february #aidd1 the ,marauders began   
their approximately #a1jjj-mile trek    
through the dense ,burmese jungle with  
no artillery support1 carrying their    
supplies on their backs or the pack     
saddles of mules2  7#e7 over the course 
of their #e-month trek to ,myitkyina1   
the ,marauders fought victoriously      
against larger ,japanese forces through 
#e major and #cj minor engagements2     
7#f7 during their march to ,myitkyina1  
the ,marauders faced hunger and disease 
that were exacerbated by inadequate     
aerial resupply drops2  7#g7 malaria1   
typhus1 and dysentery inflicted more    
casualties on the ,marauders than the   
,japanese2  7#h7 by ,august #aidd1 the  
,marauders had accomplished their       
mission1 successfully disrupting        
,japanese supply and communication lines
 and taking the town of ,myitkyina and  
the ,myitkyina airstrip1 the only       
all-weather airstrip in ,northern       

,burma2  7#i7 after taking ,myitkyina1  
only #acj ,marauders out of the original
 #b1gej were fit for duty and all       
remaining ,marauders still in action    
were evacuated to hospitals due to      
tropical diseases1 exhaustion1 and      
malnutrition2  7#aj7 for their bravery  
and accomplishments1 the ,marauders were
 awarded the ,distinguished ,unit       
,citation1 later redesignated as the    
,presidential ,unit ,citation1 and a    
,bronze ,star2 and  7#aa7 though the    
,marauders were operational for only a  
few months1 the legacy of their bravery 
is honored by the ,army through the     
modern day #geth ,ranger ,regiment1     
which traces its lineage directly to the
 #ecjgth ,composite ,unit4  #c4         
,congressional ,gold ,medal  7a7 ,award 
authorized ,the ,speaker of the ,house  
of ,representatives and the ,president  
pro tempore of the ,senate shall make   
appropriate arrangements for the award1 
on behalf of ,congress1 of a single gold
 medal of appropriate design to the     

soldiers of the #ecjgth ,composite ,unit
 7,provisional7 7referred to in this    
section as ,merrill's ,marauders71 in   
recognition of their bravery and        
outstanding service in the jungles of   
,burma during ,world ,war ,,ii4  7b7    
,design and striking ,for the purposes  
of the award 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  
referred to in subsection 7a7 in honor  
of ,merrill's ,marauders1 the gold medal
 shall be given to the ,smithsonian     
,institution1 where it shall be         
displayed as appropriate and made       
available for research4  7#b7 ,sense of 
,congress ,it is the sense of ,congress 
that the ,smithsonian ,institution      
should make the gold medal received     

under paragraph 7#a7 available for      
display elsewhere1 particularly at other
 locations and events associated with   
,merrill's ,marauders4  #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 under   
section #c1 at a price sufficient to    
cover the costs of the medals1 including
 labor1 materials1 dies1 use of         
machinery1 and overhead expenses4  #e4  
,status of medals ,medals struck        
pursuant to this ,act are national      
medals for purposes of chapter #ea of   
title #ca1 ,united ,states ,code4