Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HB269 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	I
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION H. R. 269
5	5	To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Jens Stoltenberg, in recognition
6	6	of his contributions to the security, unity, and defense of the North
7	7	Atlantic Treaty Organization.
8	8	IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
9	9	JANUARY9, 2025
10	10	Mr. D
11	11	UNNof Florida (for himself, Mr. TURNERof Ohio, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr.
12	12	B
13	13	OYLEof Pennsylvania, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. MCCORMICK, Mr.
14	14	G
15	15	OTTHEIMER, Mr. GUTHRIE, Mr. LARSENof Washington, Ms. SA´NCHEZ,
16	16	Mr. N
17	17	ORCROSS, and Mr. LAWLER) introduced the following bill; which
18	18	was referred to the Committee on Financial Services
19	19	A BILL
20	20	To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Jens Stoltenberg,
21	21	in recognition of his contributions to the security, unity,
22	22	and defense of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
23	23	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
24	24	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
25	25	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
26	26	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Secretary General Jens 4
27	27	Stoltenberg Congressional Gold Medal Act’’. 5
28	28	SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6
29	29	Congress finds the following: 7
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32	32	•HR 269 IH
33	33	(1) Jens Stoltenberg served as the Prime Min-1
34	34	ister of Norway from 2000 to 2001 and 2005 to 2
35	35	2013. 3
36	36	(2) Norway was a founding member of the 4
37	37	North Atlantic Treaty Organization (referred to in 5
38	38	this Act as ‘‘NATO’’) on April 4, 1949. 6
39	39	(3) As Prime Minister of Norway, Jens 7
40	40	Stoltenberg oversaw Norway’s increased defense 8
41	41	spending levels and the modernization of the Nor-9
42	42	wegian Armed Forces. 10
43	43	(4) A primary objective of NATO is to provide 11
44	44	security and support to member nations and pro-12
45	45	mote democratic values to ensure stability and 13
46	46	peace. 14
47	47	(5) Jens Stoltenberg assumed the position of 15
48	48	Secretary General of NATO in October 2014. 16
49	49	(6) The United States was the first NATO 17
50	50	member to support Jens Stoltenberg’s appointment 18
51	51	as Secretary General. 19
52	52	(7) Jens Stoltenberg has led NATO through 20
53	53	significant new investments, reinforced its capabili-21
54	54	ties and enhanced the collective defense of the Alli-22
55	55	ance. 23
56	56	(8) Jens Stoltenberg has advocated for greater 24
57	57	burden sharing among members of the NATO Alli-25
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60	60	•HR 269 IH
61	61	ance, and under his leadership the Alliance will see 1
62	62	23 member countries reach or exceed the 2 percent 2
63	63	defense spending commitment by 2024, compared to 3
64	64	4 member countries in 2014. 4
65	65	(9) Jens Stoltenberg’s commitment to better 5
66	66	burden sharing has resulted in a stronger and more 6
67	67	sustainable Alliance than at any other time in 7
68	68	NATO history. 8
69	69	(10) Under Jens Stoltenberg’s leadership, 9
70	70	NATO has successfully undergone multiple enlarge-10
71	71	ment periods and has extended membership to Fin-11
72	72	land, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Sweden. 12
73	73	(11) In addition to bolstering the collective se-13
74	74	curity of the Alliance, NATO enlargement indicates 14
75	75	that an increasing number of countries are meeting 15
76	76	key benchmarks on the military, political and legal 16
77	77	requirements needed for NATO accession, enhancing 17
78	78	interoperability, defense expenditure and intelligence 18
79	79	sharing among member countries. 19
80	80	(12) Jens Stoltenberg has increased NATO’s 20
81	81	partnerships with Indo-Pacific countries to cooperate 21
82	82	more closely to address our shared global challenges 22
83	83	including cyber defense, emergency technologies, and 23
84	84	the multitude of challenges posed by the People’s 24
85	85	Republic of China. 25
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88	88	•HR 269 IH
89	89	(13) Jens Stoltenberg included Indo-Pacific 1
90	90	leaders at NATO summits and traveled to the region 2
91	91	which further cemented these important partner-3
92	92	ships. 4
93	93	(14) Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of 5
94	94	Ukraine in February 2022, Jens Stoltenberg has led 6
95	95	the Alliance in maintaining unprecedented unity 7
96	96	against Putin’s unprovoked, illegal actions. 8
97	97	(15) Since February 2022, NATO members 9
98	98	have supplied Ukraine with the equipment and re-10
99	99	sources it needs to defend its democracy and its sov-11
100	100	ereignty. 12
101	101	(16) Jens Stoltenberg successfully marshaled 13
102	102	political and financial support from Indo-Pacific 14
103	103	partners to support Ukraine, including contributions 15
104	104	of munitions and military equipment and sizeable fi-16
105	105	nancial contributions to NATO’s Comprehensive As-17
106	106	sistance Plan Action Trust Fund for Ukraine. 18
107	107	(17) Jens Stoltenberg’s mandate was extended 19
108	108	a total of 4 times with unanimous support by NATO 20
109	109	allies, with 2 extensions agreed to following Russia’s 21
110	110	unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. 22
111	111	(18) Jens Stoltenberg is the second longest- 23
112	112	serving Secretary General, serving over 9 years in 24
113	113	this position. 25
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116	116	•HR 269 IH
117	117	(19) Jens Stoltenberg has re-committed that 1
118	118	the NATO Alliance will stand together against any 2
119	119	threat posed to a NATO member, ensuring contin-3
120	120	ued peace and stability within NATO territory and 4
121	121	around the world. 5
122	122	SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 6
123	123	(a) A
124	124	WARDAUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of the 7
125	125	House of Representatives and the President pro tempore 8
126	126	of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements for the 9
127	127	award, on behalf of the Congress, of a single gold medal 10
128	128	of appropriate design to Jens Stoltenberg, in recognition 11
129	129	of his contributions to the security, unity, and defense of 12
130	130	the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. 13
131	131	(b) D
132	132	ESIGN ANDSTRIKING.—For purposes of the 14
133	133	award referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the 15
134	134	Treasury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Secretary’’) shall 16
135	135	strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, devices, and 17
136	136	inscriptions, to be determined by the Secretary. The de-18
137	137	sign shall bear an inscription of the name of Jens 19
138	138	Stoltenberg. 20
139	139	SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 21
140	140	The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 22
141	141	bronze of the gold medal struck under section 3, at a price 23
142	142	sufficient to cover the costs of the medals, including labor, 24
143	143	materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses. 25
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146	146	•HR 269 IH
147	147	SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 1
148	148	(a) N
149	149	ATIONALMEDALS.—Medals struck under this 2
150	150	Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 51 of title 3
151	151	31, United States Code. 4
152	152	(b) N
153	153	UMISMATICITEMS.—For purposes of sections 5
154	154	5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all medals 6
155	155	struck under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic 7
156	156	items. 8
157	157	SEC. 6. AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS; PROCEEDS OF 9
158	158	SALE. 10
159	159	(a) A
160	160	UTHORITYTOUSEFUNDAMOUNTS.—There is 11
161	161	authorized to be charged against the United States Mint 12
162	162	Public Enterprise Fund such amounts as may be nec-13
163	163	essary to pay for the costs of the medals struck under 14
164	164	this Act. 15
165	165	(b) P
166	166	ROCEEDS OFSALES.—Amounts received from 16
167	167	the sale of duplicate bronze medals authorized under sec-17
168	168	tion 4 shall be deposited into the United States Mint Pub-18
169	169	lic Enterprise Fund. 19
170	170	Æ
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