,,ii  #aahth ,,congress  #ast ,session  
,s4 #cbga  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of     
,,the ,,united ,,states  ,november #i1  
#bjbc,mr4 ,peters 7for himself1 ,mr4    
,johnson1 ,ms4 ,baldwin1 ,mr4 ,tillis1  
and ,ms4 ,klobuchar7 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 ,hmong people1 in        
recognition of their highly             
distinguished service in the ,vietnam   
war and the fight against communism4    
#a4 ,short title ,this ,act may be cited
 as the ,hmong ,congressional ,gold     
,medal ,act4  #b4 ,findings ,the        
,congress finds the following3 7#a7 ,as 
the ,vietnam war spread south and west  
into ,laos1 the ,central ,intelligence  
,agency recruited and trained ,hmong    
tribesmen to fight back against the     
communist ,north ,vietnamese and ,pathet
 ,lao4  7#b7 ,over #cj1jjj ,hmong men   
fought the ground war1 flew combat      

missions1 gathered intelligence on      
,north ,vietnamese troop movements1     
interrupted the ,ho-,chi-,min ,supply   
,trail1 and rescued ,american pilots    
downed behind enemy lines4  7#c7 ,the   
,hmong people suffered heavy casualties1
 and their soldiers died at a rate ten  
times as high as that of ,american      
soldiers in ,vietnam4  7#d7 ,following  
the ,vietnam war1 many ,hmong were      
displaced from their villages as they   
were either bombed or burned down by the
 ,north ,vietnamese and over #aej1jjj   
,hmong fled ,laos when the nation fell  
to communist forces on ,may #ad1 #aige4 
7#e7 ,due to their ties to the ,american
 military1 many ,hmong who fled ,laos   
came to the ,united ,states as refugees 
to start a new life4  7#f7 ,currently1  
there are over #cbg1jjj ,hmong living in
 the ,united ,states4  #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 gold medal 
of appropriate design to the ,hmong     
people1 in recognition of their highly  
distinguished service in the ,vietnam   
war and the fight against communism4    
7b7 ,design and striking ,for 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 under      
subsection 7a71 the gold medal shall be 
given to the ,smithsonian ,institution1 
where it shall be available for display 
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 appropriate       
locations associated with the service of
 the ,hmong people in the ,vietnam war1 
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 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  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