text: SECTION 1. FINDINGS.
  
      The Congress finds the following:
          (1) In 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt overruled his top 
      generals and ordered the creation of an all Black flight training 
      program. President Roosevelt took this action one day after the 
      NAACP filed suit on behalf of Howard University student Yancy 
      Williams and others in Federal court to force the Department of War 
      to accept Black pilot trainees. Yancy Williams had a civilian 
      pilot's license and had earned an engineering degree. Years later, 
      Major Yancy Williams participated in an air surveillance project 
      created by President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
          (2) Due to the rigid system of racial segregation that 
      prevailed in the United States during World War II, Black military 
      pilots were trained at a separate airfield built near Tuskegee, 
      Alabama. They became known as the ``Tuskegee Airmen''.
          (3) The Tuskegee Airmen inspired revolutionary reform in the 
      Armed Forces, paving the way for full racial integration in the 
      Armed Forces. They overcame the enormous challenges of prejudice 
      and discrimination, succeeding, despite obstacles that threatened 
      failure.
          (4) From all accounts, the training of the Tuskegee Airmen was 
      an experiment established to prove that so-called ``coloreds'' were 
      incapable of operating expensive and complex combat aircraft. 
      Studies commissioned by the Army War College between 1924 and 1939 
      concluded that Blacks were unfit for leadership roles and incapable 
      of aviation. Instead, the Tuskegee Airmen excelled.
          (5) Overall, some 992 Black pilots graduated from the pilot 
      training program of the Tuskegee Army Air Field, with the last 
      class finishing in June 1946, 450 of whom served in combat. The 
      first class of cadets began in July 1941 with 13 airmen, all of 
      whom had college degrees, some with Ph.D. degrees, and all of whom 
      had pilot's licenses. One of the graduates was Captain Benjamin O. 
      Davis Jr., a United States Military Academy graduate. Four aviation 
      cadets were commissioned as second lieutenants, and 5 received Army 
      Air Corps silver pilot wings.
          (6) That the experiment achieved success rather than the 
      expected failure is further evidenced by the eventual promotion of 
      3 of these pioneers through the commissioned officer ranks to flag 
      rank, including the late General Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., United 
      States Air Force, the late General Daniel ``Chappie'' James, United 
      States Air Force, our Nation's first Black 4-star general, and 
      Major General Lucius Theus, United States Air Force (retired).
          (7) 450 Black fighter pilots under the command of then Colonel 
      Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., fought in World War II aerial battles over 
      North Africa, Sicily, and Europe, flying, in succession, P-40, P-
      39, P-47, and P-51 aircraft. These gallant men flew 15,553 sorties 
      and 1,578 missions with the 12th Tactical Air Force and the 15th 
      Strategic Air Force.
          (8) Colonel Davis later became the first Black flag officer of 
      the United States Air Force, retired as a 3-star general, and was 
      honored with a 4th star in retirement by President William J. 
      Clinton.
          (9) German pilots, who both feared and respected the Tuskegee 
      Airmen, called them the ``Schwartze Vogelmenschen'' (or ``Black 
      Birdmen''). White American bomber crews reverently referred to them 
      as the ``Black Redtail Angels'', because of the bright red painted 
      on the tail assemblies of their fighter aircraft and because of 
      their reputation for not losing bombers to enemy fighters as they 
      provided close escort for bombing missions over strategic targets 
      in Europe.
          (10) The 99th Fighter Squadron, after having distinguished 
      itself over North Africa, Sicily, and Italy, joined 3 other Black 
      squadrons, the 100th, the 301st, and the 302nd, designated as the 
      332nd Fighter Group. They then comprised the largest fighter unit 
      in the 15th Air Force. From Italian bases, they destroyed many 
      enemy targets on the ground and at sea, including a German 
      destroyer in strafing attacks, and they destroyed numerous enemy 
      aircraft in the air and on the ground.
          (11) 66 of these pilots were killed in combat, while another 32 
      were either forced down or shot down and captured to become 
      prisoners of war. These Black airmen came home with 150 
      Distinguished Flying Crosses, Bronze Stars, Silver Stars, and 
      Legions of Merit, one Presidential Unit Citation, and the Red Star 
      of Yugoslavia.
          (12) Other Black pilots, navigators, bombardiers and crewman 
      who were trained for medium bombardment duty as the 477th Bomber 
      Group (Medium) were joined by veterans of the 332nd Fighter Group 
      to form the 477th Composite Group, flying the B-25 and P-47 
      aircraft. The demands of the members of the 477th Composite Group 
      for parity in treatment and for recognition as competent military 
      professionals, combined with the magnificent wartime records of the 
      99th Fighter Squadron and the 332nd Fighter Group, led to a review 
      of the racial policies of the Department of War.
          (13) In September 1947, the United States Air Force, as a 
      separate service, reactivated the 332d Fighter Group under the 
      Tactical Air command. Members of the 332d Fighter Group were ``Top 
      Guns'' in the 1st annual Air Force Gunnery Meet in 1949.
          (14) For every Black pilot, there were 12 other civilian or 
      military Black men and women performing ground support duties. Many 
      of these men and women remained in the military service during the 
      post-World War II era and spearheaded the integration of the Armed 
      Forces of the United States.
          (15) Major achievements are attributed to many of those who 
      returned to civilian life and earned leadership positions and 
      respect as businessmen, corporate executives, religious leaders, 
      lawyers, doctors, educators, bankers, and political leaders.
          (16) A period of nearly 30 years of anonymity for the Tuskegee 
      Airmen was ended in 1972 with the founding of Tuskegee Airmen, 
      Inc., in Detroit, Michigan. Organized as a non-military and 
      nonprofit entity, Tuskegee Airmen, Inc., exists primarily to 
      motivate and inspire young Americans to become participants in our 
      Nation's society and its democratic process, and to preserve the 
      history of their legacy.
          (17) The Tuskegee Airmen have several memorials in place to 
      perpetuate the memory of who they were and what they accomplished, 
      including--
              (A) the Tuskegee Airmen, Inc., National Scholarship Fund 
          for high school seniors who excel in mathematics, but need 
          financial assistance to begin a college program;
              (B) a museum in historic Fort Wayne in Detroit, Michigan;
              (C) Memorial Park at the Air Force Museum at Wright-
          Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio;
              (D) a statue of a Tuskegee Airman in the Honor Park at the 
          United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado; 
          and
              (E) a National Historic Site at Moton Field, where primary 
          flight training was performed under contract with the Tuskegee 
          Institute.
  
  SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.
  
      (a) Award Authorized.--The Speaker of the House of Representatives 
  and the President pro tempore of the Senate shall make appropriate 
  arrangements for the award, on behalf of the Congress, of a single gold 
  medal of appropriate design in honor of the Tuskegee Airmen, 
  collectively, in recognition of their unique military record, which 
  inspired revolutionary reform in the Armed Forces.
      (b) Design and Striking.--For the purposes of the award referred to 
  in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury (hereafter in this Act 
  referred to as the ``Secretary'') shall strike the 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 in honor 
      of the Tuskegee Airmen under subsection (a), the gold medal shall 
      be given to the Smithsonian Institution, where it will be displayed 
      as appropriate and made available for research.
          (2) Sense of the congress.--It is the sense of the 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 
      Tuskegee Airmen.
  
  SEC. 3. DUPLICATE MEDALS.
  
      Under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, the 
  Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the gold medal 
  struck under section 2, at a price sufficient to cover the costs of the 
  medals, including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and 
  overhead expenses.
  
  SEC. 4. NATIONAL MEDALS.
  
      Medals struck pursuant to this Act are national medals for purposes 
  of chapter 51 of title 31, United States Code.
  
  SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS; PROCEEDS OF SALE.
  
      (a) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
  charged against the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund, an 
  amount not to exceed $30,000 to pay for the cost of the medals 
  authorized under section 2.
      (b) Proceeds of Sale.--Amounts received from the sale of duplicate 
  bronze medals under section 3 shall be deposited in the United States 
  Mint Public Enterprise Fund.
  
                                 Speaker of the House of Representatives.
  
                              Vice President of the United States and    
                                                 President of the Senate.
target: Directs the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate to make appropriate arrangements for the award, on behalf of Congress, of a single gold medal collectively to the Tuskegee Airmen in recognition of their unique military record, which inspired revolutionary reform in the Armed Forces. Directs that, after such award, the medal be displayed at the Smithsonian Institution. Expresses the sense of Congress that such Institution should make the medal available for display elsewhere, particularly at locations associated with the Airmen.
  
  Provides funding from the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund to cover the cost of duplicate medals authorized for sale.
feat_title: To award a congressional gold medal on behalf of the Tuskegee Airmen, collectively, in recognition of their unique military record, which inspired revolutionary reform in the Armed Forces.