,,ii  #aagth ,,congress  #ast ,session  
,s4 #bfdg  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of     
,,the ,,united ,,states  ,august #e1    
#bjba,mrs4 ,gillibrand 7for herself and 
,mr4 ,schumer7 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
 #cfith ,infantry ,regiment1 commonly   
known as the ,harlem ,hellfighters1 in  
recognition of their bravery and        
outstanding service during ,world ,war  
,i4  #a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be 
cited as the ,harlem ,hellfighters      
,congressional ,gold ,medal ,act4  #b4  
,findings ,congress finds the following3
 7#a7 ,when the ,united ,states         
officially entered ,world ,war ,i in    
,april #aiag1 the ,armed ,forces were   
still segregated1 even though           
,african-,american soldiers had served  
and distinguished themselves in every   
war since the ,revolutionary ,war1 and  
even the ,colonial ,wars preceding the  

,american ,revolution4  7#b7 ,after     
several years of advocacy and debate1 in
 #aiaf the ,state of ,new ,york         
authorized the recruitment of the #aeth 
,new ,york ,national ,guard ,regiment1  
which was called to ,federal service on 
,july #be1 #aiag1 soon after arriving   
for training at ,camp ,whitman1 ,new    
,york4  7#c7 ,the #aeth completed its   
basic military practice training at     
,camp ,whitman1 ,new ,york4  7#d7 ,to   
receive combat training1 the #aeth      
reported1 on ,october #h1 #aiag1 to     
,camp ,wadsworth1 in ,spartanburg1      
,south ,carolina1 where it experienced  
many incidents of racial discrimination4
  7#e7 ,consequently1 the government    
agreed to remove the #aeth from ,camp   
,wadsworth1 but1 instead of receiving   
further training1 the regiment began    
preparing for deployment to ,france in  
,november4  7#f7 ,the #aeth arrived in  
,saint ,nazaire1 ,france1 on ,january   
#a1 #aiah1 where it was redesignated the
 #cfith ,infantry ,regiment4  7#g7      

,partly because many ,white soldiers    
within the ,american ,expeditionary     
,forces 7hereinafter1 the ,,aef7 refused
 to perform combat duty with ,black     
soldiers1 members of the #cfith were    
initially assigned manual labor tasks1  
such as loading and unloading supplies1 
and constructing roads and railroads4   
7#h7 ,after receiving pressure from the 
#cfith regimental commander about not   
having a combat mission1 the ,,aef      
attached the #cfith to the ,french      
,fourth ,army4  7#i7 ,by mid-,march of  
#aiah1 the #cfith went to the ,argonne  
,forest with the ,french #afth ,division
 for training and soon entered the      
trenches4  7#aj7 ,the #cfith encountered
 its first ,german soldiers in combat in
 ,april1 #aiah4  7#aa7 ,in ,may of      
#aiah1 ,private ,henry ,johnson of the  
#cfith received the ,french ,croix de   
,guerre1 with ,palm1 for extraordinary  
valor1 becoming one of the first        
,american soldiers to be awarded this   
honor4  7#ab7 ,johnson also belatedly   

received a ,purple ,heart1 was awarded  
the ,distinguished ,service ,cross1 and1
 in #bjae1 was awarded the ,medal of    
,honor4  7#ac7 ,throughout the remainder
 of the spring and into the summer the  
#cfith served at ,minacourt1 in the     
,champagne-,marne ,defensive1 and during
 the ,aisne-,marne ,offensive in support
 of the ,french #afast ,infantry        
,division4  7#ad7 ,as summer turned to  
autumn1 the #cfith went on to           
participate in the ,meuse-,argonne      
offensive1 where it captured the        
important village of ,sechault despite  
sustaining severe losses4  7#ae7 ,on    
,october #ad1 #aiah1 the #cfith advanced
 to ,alsace4  7#af7 ,on ,november #bj1  
#aiah1 the #cfith reached the banks of  
the ,rhine ,river as part of the ,french
 ,army of ,occupation1 the first ,allied
 unit to do so4  7#ag7 ,the #cfith was  
relieved of its assignment with the     
,french #afast ,division in ,december1  
#aiah1 and elements of the regiment     
sailed for ,new ,york in late ,january  

and early ,february1 #aiai4  7#ah7 ,the 
#cfith ,infantry ,regiment received a   
parade up #eth ,avenue in ,new ,york    
,city on ,february #ag1 #aiai1 receiving
 applause and cheers from hundreds of   
thousands of onlookers4  7#ai7 ,the     
#cfith was demobilized on ,february #bh1
 #aiai4  7#bj7 ,over #agj individual    
members of the #cfith received the      
,croix de ,guerre1 many were awarded the
 ,distinguished ,service ,cross1 and the
 #cfith was awarded a unit citation4    
7#ba7 ,it is generally believed that the
 #cfith was dubbed the ,harlem          
,hellfighters by ,german soldiers1 who  
found the men to be incredibly          
determined and courageous in battle4    
7#bb7 ,the #cfith was the first regiment
 of ,african ,americans to deploy       
overseas during ,world ,war ,i and spent
 #aia days on the front line in ,world  
,war ,i1 more than any other ,american  
regimental sized unit4  7#bc7 ,the      
#cfith never lost a foot of ground nor  
had a man taken prisoner1 despite       

suffering a high number of casualties4  
#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 the ,congress1  
of a gold medal of appropriate design to
 the #cfith ,infantry ,regiment1        
commonly known as the ,harlem           
,hellfighters1 in recognition of their  
bravery and outstanding service during  
,world ,war ,i4  7b7 ,design and        
striking ,for the purposes of the award 
referred to in subsection 7a71 the      
,secretary of the ,treasury shall strike
 the 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 #cfith ,infantry 
,regiment1 the ,harlem ,hellfighters1   
the gold medal shall be given to the    
,smithsonian ,institution1 where it will

 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 awarded      
pursuant to this ,act available for     
display elsewhere1 particularly at other
 locations associated with the ,harlem  
,hellfighters4  #d4 ,duplicate medals   
7a7 ,in general ,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 bronze medals1 including labor1 
materials1 dies1 use of machinery1 and  
overhead expenses4  7b7 ,proceeds of    
sales ,the amounts received from the    
sale of duplicate medals under          
subsection 7a7 shall be deposited in the
 ,united ,states ,mint ,public          
,enterprise ,fund4  7c7 ,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 ,act4  #e4 ,status of medals ,the  
gold medal struck pursuant to this ,act 
is a national medal for purposes of     
chapter #ea of title #ca1 ,united       
,states ,code4  #f4 ,determination of   
budgetary effects ,the budgetary effects
 of this ,act1 for the purpose of       
complying with the ,statutory           
,pay-,as-,you-,go ,act of #bjaj1 shall  
be determined by reference to the latest
 statement titled ,budgetary ,effects of
 ,,paygo ,legislation for this ,act1    
submitted for printing in the           
,congressional ,record by the ,chairman 
of the ,house ,budget ,committee1       
provided that such statement has been   
submitted prior to the vote on passage4