Hmong Congressional Gold Medal Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9627 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 9627

To award a Congressional Gold Medal to the Hmong people, in recognition
of their highly distinguished service in the Vietnam war and the fight
                           against communism.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              July 9, 2026

 Mr. Grothman (for himself, Mr. Steil, Mr. Tiffany, Mr. Van Orden, Mr.
 Fitzgerald, Mr. Wied, Ms. Moore of Wisconsin, Mr. Pocan, Ms. Hageman,
  Ms. Brownley, and Ms. Chu) introduced the following bill; which was
referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the
  Committee on House Administration, for a period to be subsequently
   determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such
 provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

To award a Congressional Gold Medal to the Hmong people, in recognition
of their highly distinguished service in the Vietnam war and the fight
                           against communism.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Hmong Congressional Gold Medal
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) As the Vietnam war spread south and west into Laos, the
        Central Intelligence Agency recruited and trained Hmong
        tribesmen to fight back against the communist North Vietnamese
        and Pathet Lao.
            (2) Over 30,000 Hmong men fought the ground war, flew
        combat missions, gathered intelligence on North Vietnamese
        troop movements, interrupted the Ho-Chi-Min Supply Trail, and
        rescued American pilots downed behind enemy lines.
            (3) The Hmong people suffered heavy casualties, and their
        soldiers died at a rate ten times as high as that of American
        soldiers in Vietnam.
            (4) Following the Vietnam war, many Hmong were displaced
        from their villages as they were either bombed or burned down
        by the North Vietnamese and over 150,000 Hmong fled Laos when
        the nation fell to communist forces on May 14, 1975.
            (5) Due to their ties to the American military, many Hmong
        who fled Laos came to the United States as refugees to start a
        new life.
            (6) Currently, there are over 327,000 Hmong living in the
        United States, with the majority residing in California,
        Minnesota, and Wisconsin.

SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.

    (a) Presentation Authorized.--The Speaker of the House of
Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate shall make
appropriate arrangements for the presentation, on behalf of the
Congress, of a gold medal of appropriate design to the Hmong people, in
recognition of their highly distinguished service in the Vietnam war
and the fight against communism.
    (b) Design and Striking.--For the purposes of the presentation
referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury (referred
to in this Act as the ``Secretary'') shall strike a gold medal with
suitable emblems, devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the
Secretary.
    (c) Smithsonian Institution.--
            (1) In general.--Following the award of the gold medal
        under subsection (a), the gold medal shall be given to the
        Smithsonian Institution, where it shall be available for
        display as appropriate and made available for research.
            (2) Sense of congress.--It is the sense of Congress that
        the Smithsonian Institution should make the gold medal received
        under paragraph (1) available for display elsewhere,
        particularly at other appropriate locations associated with the
        Hmong people's service in the Vietnam war, and that preference
        should be given to locations affiliated with the Smithsonian
        Institution.

SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS.

    The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the gold
medal struck pursuant to section 3 under such regulations as the
Secretary may prescribe, at a price sufficient to cover the cost
thereof, including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and
overhead expenses.

SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS.

    (a) National Medals.--The medals struck pursuant to this Act are
national medals for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States
Code.
    (b) Numismatic Items.--For purposes of section 5134 of title 31,
United States Code, all medals struck under this Act shall be
considered to be numismatic items.
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