[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7317 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 7317
To award posthumously a Congressional Gold Medal to the Golden
Thirteen, in recognition of their contributions to the Nation.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 2, 2026
Ms. Norton 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 posthumously a Congressional Gold Medal to the Golden
Thirteen, in recognition of their contributions to the Nation.
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 ``Golden Thirteen Congressional Gold
Medal Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) In January 1944, there were no Black officers in the
United States Navy. That month, 16 Black enlisted men were
assembled at the Recruit Training Center in Great Lakes,
Illinois, for officer training.
(2) These men were expected to complete officer training in
8 weeks, even though officer training was normally 16 weeks.
(3) These men supported each other, including by placing
blankets over their windows and studying as a group by
flashlight at night. Each man brought to the group his own
expertise to help the others.
(4) When their officer training was completed, all 16 men
passed their exams, leading some to claim that they had
cheated. The men were forced to retake certain exams, and the
group scored even higher.
(5) The average grade for these men on the exams was a 3.89
out of a 4.00, the highest average of any class in Navy history
at that time.
(6) Even though all 16 men passed their exams, on February
24, 1944, the Navy commissioned only 12 of them, and a 13th was
made a chief warrant officer. Because the Navy had assumed a
25-percent attrition rate, only 12 officer commissions were
anticipated. As the class had a 100-percent passage rate, the
other three men were returned to the enlisted ranks, with no
reason given.
(7) During their careers, these men oversaw all-Black units
or the training of Black recruits. One would go on to make his
career in the Navy after World War II, and the rest would
return to civilian life.
(8) In the 1970s, Captain Edward Secrest, a former
instructor, gave the group the name ``Golden Thirteen''.
(9) In 1982, these men were formally recognized with a
first-ever reunion at sea aboard the USS KIDD-993.
(10) The members of the Golden Thirteen were Jesse Walter
Arbor; Phillip G. Barnes; Samuel Edward Barnes; Dalton Louis
Baugh, Sr.; George Clinton Cooper; Reginald Ernest Goodwin;
James Edward Hair; Charles Byrd Lear; Graham Edward Martin;
Dennis Denmark Nelson; John Walter Reagan; Frank Ellis Sublett,
Jr.; and William Sylvester White. The three men who passed
their exams, but not made officers, were Augustus Alves; J.B.
Pinkney; and Lewis ``Mummy'' Williams.
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 posthumous presentation, on behalf of
the Congress, of a gold medal of appropriate design in commemoration to
the Golden Thirteen, in recognition of their contributions to the
Nation.
(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
Golden Thirteen.
SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS.
The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the gold
medal struck under section 3, 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.--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 sections 5134 and 5136 of
title 31, United States Code, all medals struck under this Act shall be
considered to be numismatic items.
SEC. 6. AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS; PROCEEDS OF SALE.
(a) 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
pursuant to this Act.
(b) Proceeds of Sale.--The amounts received from the sale of
duplicate bronze medals authorized under section 4 shall be deposited
into the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund.
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