I
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 1437
To award a Congressional Gold Medal collectively to the Buffalo Soldier
regiments, authorized by Congress in 1866 to serve in the United States
Armed Forces, in recognition of their superior, dedicated, and vital
service to our Nation.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY18, 2025
Ms. S
TRICKLAND(for herself and Mr. CONAWAY) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addi-
tion to the Committee on House Administration, for a period to be subse-
quently 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 collectively to the
Buffalo Soldier regiments, authorized by Congress in
1866 to serve in the United States Armed Forces, in
recognition of their superior, dedicated, and vital service
to our Nation.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Buffalo Soldiers Con-4
gressional Gold Medal Act of 2025’’. 5
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 1
Congress finds the following: 2
(1) In 1866, Congress passed the Army Organi-3
zation Act which authorized the creation of six all- 4
Black cavalry and infantry regiments. These regi-5
ments remained active until the Army was deseg-6
regated in 1951. 7
(2) According to legend, American Indians 8
called the Black cavalry troops ‘‘Buffalo Soldiers’’ 9
because of their dark, curly hair, which resembled a 10
buffalo’s coat. 11
(3) The African-American troops accepted the 12
name with pride and honor, as they were aware of 13
the buffalo’s fierce bravery and fighting spirit. 14
(4) The original six regiments melded into the 15
following four regiments: 16
(A) The 9th Cavalry Regiment assembled 17
in New Orleans, Louisiana, in August and Sep-18
tember of 1866. They were ordered to San An-19
tonio, Texas, in April 1867, with the mission to 20
maintain order and to secure the road from San 21
Antonio to El Paso. 22
(B) The 10th Cavalry Regiment gathered 23
in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, during the sum-24
mer of 1867. In August 1867, they were or-25
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dered to Fort Riley, Kansas, with the mission 1
of protecting the Pacific Railroad. 2
(C) The 24th Infantry Regiment was orga-3
nized in 1869, forming from the 38th and 41st 4
Colored Infantry Regiments. They served 5
throughout the Western United States, with the 6
mission to protect frontier posts and secure 7
roadways. 8
(D) The 25th Infantry Regiment assem-9
bled at Camp William Penn, Pennsylvania, be-10
ginning in January 1864. They were assigned 11
to numerous districts within the Department of 12
the Gulf with the mission to maintain security. 13
(5) Buffalo Soldiers also assisted in the protec-14
tion of National Parks. They helped fight wildfires 15
and poachers in the Yosemite and Sequoia National 16
Parks and served as park rangers in the Sierra Ne-17
vada. 18
(6) In the Spanish-American War, all four regi-19
ments played key roles and fought with distinction, 20
despite facing severe discrimination from the locals. 21
(7) At the start of World War I, the Buffalo 22
Soldier regiments were dispatched to locations 23
throughout the central United States and into the 24
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Pacific, offering logistics and support behind the 1
front lines in the American Expeditionary Forces. 2
(8) During World War II, African-American 3
soldiers and units continued to serve proudly under 4
the name ‘‘Buffalo Soldier’’, including the 92nd In-5
fantry Division, which was the only Black division 6
that saw combat in Europe. 7
(9) In the Korean War, Buffalo Soldier regi-8
ments fought throughout the Korean peninsula, 9
from the defense of the ‘‘Pusan Perimeter’’ to the 10
counteroffensives which resulted in the end of armed 11
hostilities and the creation of the Demilitarized 12
Zone. 13
(10) Buffalo Soldiers had the lowest military 14
desertion and court-martial rates of their time. In 15
recognition of combat valor and their actions beyond 16
the call of duty, many were awarded the Congres-17
sional Medal of Honor. 18
(11) The Congressional Gold Medal would be 19
an appropriate way to shed further light on the serv-20
ice of the Buffalo Soldiers and the instrumental role 21
they played in instilling an approach to inclusivity 22
within our military and the American way of life. 23
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SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 1
(a) A
WARDAUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of the 2
House of Representatives and the President pro tempore 3
of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements for the 4
award, on behalf of Congress, of a single gold medal of 5
appropriate design to the Buffalo Soldier regiments, au-6
thorized by Congress in 1866 to serve in the United States 7
Armed Forces, in recognition of their superior, dedicated, 8
and vital service to our Nation. 9
(b) D
ESIGN ANDSTRIKING.—For the purposes of the 10
award described in subsection (a), the Secretary of the 11
Treasury (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall 12
strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, devices, and 13
inscriptions, to be determined by the Secretary. 14
(c) S
MITHSONIANINSTITUTION.— 15
(1) I
N GENERAL.—Following the award of the 16
gold medal under subsection (a), the gold medal 17
shall be given to the National Museum of African 18
American History and Culture of the Smithsonian 19
Institution, where it shall be displayed as appro-20
priate and made available for research. 21
(2) S
ENSE OF CONGRESS .—It is the sense of 22
Congress that the Smithsonian Institution should 23
make the gold medal received under paragraph (1) 24
available for display elsewhere, particularly at other 25
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locations and events associated with the Buffalo Sol-1
diers. 2
SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 3
The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 4
bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 3, at 5
a price sufficient to cover the cost thereof, including labor, 6
materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses. 7
SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 8
(a) N
ATIONALMEDALS.—The medals struck under 9
this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 51 10
of title 31, United States Code. 11
(b) N
UMISMATICITEMS.—For purposes of sections 12
5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all medals 13
struck under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic 14
items. 15
SEC. 6. AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS; PROCEEDS OF 16
SALE. 17
(a) A
UTHORITYTOUSEFUNDAMOUNTS.—There is 18
authorized to be charged against the United States Mint 19
Public Enterprise Fund such amounts as may be nec-20
essary to pay for the costs of the medals struck under 21
this Act. 22
(b) P
ROCEEDS OFSALE.—Amounts received from the 23
sale of duplicate bronze medals authorized under section 24
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4 shall be deposited into the United States Mint Public 1
Enterprise Fund. 2
Æ
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