,,ii  #aaith ,,congress  #ast ,session  
,s4 #dih  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of ,,the
 ,,united ,,states  ,february #aj1      
#bjbe,mr4 ,booker 7for himself and ,mr4 
,kaine7 introduced the following bill2  
which was read twice and referred to the
 ,committee on ,banking1 ,housing1 and  
,urban ,affairs  ,a ,,bill  ,to         
posthumously award a ,congressional     
,gold ,medal1 collectively1 to the      
,african ,americans who served with     
,union forces during the ,civil ,war1 in
 recognition of their bravery and       
outstanding service4  #a4 ,short title  
,this ,act may be cited as the ,united  
,states ,colored ,troops ,congressional 
,gold ,medal ,act4  #b4 ,findings       
,congress finds the following3 7#a7     
,since the ,colonial ,era1 ,african     
,americans have served the ,united      
,states in times of war4  7#b7 ,during  
the ,civil ,war1 approximately #bjj1jjj 
,african-,american men served in the    
,union ,army and #ai1jjj                
,african-,american men served in the    

,union ,navy4  7#c7 ,during the ,civil  
,war1 ,african-,american women were not 
allowed to formally enlist as soldiers  
or sailors1 though they served as       
nurses1 cooks1 spies1 and scouts for the
 ,union ,army and the ,union ,navy4     
7#d7 ,while ,african-,american men      
served in the ,navy since its           
establishment1 there was resistance to  
enlisting them to take up arms for the  
,union ,army at the start of the ,civil 
,war4  7#e7 ,as the ,civil ,war dragged 
on1 ,president ,lincoln broke from the  
previous policy of his administration   
and determined that liberating enslaved 
persons was a military necessity        
absolutely essential for the salvation  
of the ,union4  7#f7 ,the ,act entitled 
,an ,act to suppress insurrection1 to   
punish treason and rebellion1 to seize  
and confiscate the property of rebels1  
and for other purposes1 approved ,july  
#ag1 #ahfb 7commonly known as the       
,second ,confiscation ,act7 7#ab ,stat4 
#ehi2 chapter #aie71 and the ,act of    

,july #ag1 #ahfb 7commonly known as the 
,military ,act of #ahfb7 7#ab ,stat4    
#eig2 chapter #bja71 were the first     
official authorizations to employ       
,african ,americans in the ,union ,army4
  7#g7 ,it was not until ,january #a1   
#ahfc1 the effective date of the        
,emancipation ,proclamation issued by   
,president ,lincoln1 that the ,union    
,army was ordered to receive            
,african-,american men4  7#h7 ,on ,may  
#bb1 #ahfc1 the ,united ,states ,war    
,department issued ,general ,order      
,number #adc1 which established the     
,bureau of ,colored ,troops for the     
recruitment and organization of         
regiments of the ,union ,army composed  
of ,african-,american men1 called the   
,united ,states ,colored ,troops        
7referred to in this section as ,,usct74
  7#i7 ,leaders such as ,frederick      
,douglass encouraged ,african ,americans
 to enlist to advance the cause of      
citizenship4 ,once let the black man get
 upon his person the brass letters1     

,u4,s41 let him get an eagle on his     
button1 and a musket on his shoulder and
 bullets in his pocket1 there is no     
power on ,earth that can deny that he   
has earned the right to citizenship41   
wrote ,douglass4  7#aj7                 
,african-,american sailors constituted a
 significant segment of the ,union      
,navy1 making up #bj percent of the     
total enlisted force of the ,navy4      
7#aa7 ,although there were rank         
restrictions on ,african ,americans in  
the ,navy before the ,civil ,war1 this  
policy changed after the establishment  
of the ,,usct1 when the ,union ,navy    
started to compete with the ,union ,army
 for enlistment of ,african ,americans4 
7#ab7 ,yet1 in practice1 most ,african  
,americans could not advance beyond     
lowest ranks of boy and landsman4  7#ac7
 ,african-,american soldiers and sailors
 served with distinction1 honor1 and    
bravery amid racial discrimination and  
adverse circumstances1 including the    
risk of enslavement and torture if      

captured4  7#ad7 ,eighteen members of   
the ,,usct and #h ,african-,american    
sailors were awarded the ,medal of      
,honor1 the highest honor in the ,united
 ,states for bravery in combat4  7#ae7  
,for generations after the ,civil ,war1 
the contributions of ,african ,americans
 in the ,civil ,war were excluded from  
historical memory4  7#af7 ,public ,law  
,no4 #ajb-dab 7#ajf ,stat4 #bajd7       
authorized the establishment of a       
memorial on ,federal land in the        
,district of ,columbia to honor ,african
 ,americans who served with ,union      
forces during the ,civil ,war4  7#ag7   
,this memorial1 featuring a bronze      
statue of ,,usct soldiers1 an           
,african-,american sailor and family1 is
 surrounded by the ,wall of ,honor1     
which lists the names of the members of 
the ,,usct4  7#ah7 ,the ,african        
,american ,civil ,war ,museum is located
 in the ,district of ,columbia4  7#ai7  
,patriots and heroes who rose in service
 to a ,nation that would not fully      

recognize them1 the ,african ,americans 
who served the ,union during the ,civil 
,war deserve our recognition for their  
contributions to the grant of           
emancipation and citizenship for nearly 
#d1jjj1jjj enslaved people and the      
preservation of the ,union4  #c4        
,congressional ,gold ,medal  7a7        
,presentation authorized ,the ,speaker  
of the ,house of ,representatives and   
the ,president pro tempore of the       
,senate and the ,speaker of the ,house  
of ,representatives shall make          
appropriate arrangements for the        
posthumous presentation1 on behalf of   
,congress1 of a gold medal of           
appropriate design to the ,african      
,americans who served with ,union forces
 during the ,civil ,war1 collectively1  
in recognition of their bravery and     
outstanding service during the ,civil   
,war4  7b7 ,design and striking ,for the
 purposes of the presentation referred  
to in subsection 7a71 the ,secretary of 
the ,treasury 7hereafter in this ,act   

referred to 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 the medal 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  
appropriate locations associated with   
the ,united ,states ,colored ,troops4   
#d4 ,duplicate medals ,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 thereof1 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  #f4 ,authority to use
 fund amounts2 proceeds of sale  7a7    
,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  7b7     
,proceeds of sale ,amounts received from
 the sale of duplicate bronze medals    
authorized under section #d shall be    
deposited into the ,united ,states ,mint
 ,public ,enterprise ,fund4