Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress Senate Bill SB142 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	II
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION S. 142
5	5	To award a Congressional Gold Medal to wildland firefighters in recognition
6	6	of their strength, resiliency, sacrifice, and service to protect the forests,
7	7	grasslands, and communities of the United States, and for other pur-
8	8	poses.
9	9	IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
10	10	JANUARY16, 2025
11	11	Mr. B
12	12	ARRASSO(for himself, Mr. SHEEHY, Mr. RISCH, Ms. SMITH, Ms. LUM-
13	13	MIS, Mr. WARNOCK, Mr. BENNET, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, and Mr. CRAPO) in-
14	14	troduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com-
15	15	mittee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
16	16	A BILL
17	17	To award a Congressional Gold Medal to wildland firefighters
18	18	in recognition of their strength, resiliency, sacrifice, and
19	19	service to protect the forests, grasslands, and commu-
20	20	nities of the United States, and for other purposes.
21	21	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
22	22	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
23	23	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
24	24	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Wildland Firefighters 4
25	25	Congressional Gold Medal Act’’. 5
26	26	SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6
27	27	Congress finds the following: 7
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31	31	(1) Wildland fires have increased in intensity 1
32	32	and severity over the 30-year period preceding the 2
33	33	date of enactment of this Act, causing catastrophic 3
34	34	destruction to homes, infrastructure, and valuable 4
35	35	Federal, State, and private lands. More than 5
36	36	1,000,000,000 acres of land across the United 6
37	37	States are at risk of wildfire, including approxi-7
38	38	mately 117,000,000 acres of Federal land that have 8
39	39	been identified as high or very high risk for wildfire 9
40	40	potential. 10
41	41	(2) The Forest Service, the Bureau of Land 11
42	42	Management, the National Park Service, the United 12
43	43	States Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Bureau of 13
44	44	Indian Affairs collectively employ more than 18,700 14
45	45	wildland firefighters to combat wildfires across mil-15
46	46	lions of acres of public and private lands each year, 16
47	47	while thousands more workers and volunteers serve 17
48	48	as State, local, and contract wildland firefighters. 18
49	49	(3) As the wildland-urban interface expands, 19
50	50	wildfires increasingly find their way out of the 20
51	51	backcountry and into the backyards of communities 21
52	52	across the United States. Wildland firefighters are 22
53	53	evolving their skillsets, tactics, and strategies to ad-23
54	54	dress the growing threat of wildfire in the 21st cen-24
55	55	tury. 25
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59	59	(4) While the protection of life and property re-1
60	60	mains a top priority, wildland firefighters also have 2
61	61	an important role in responsible forest management 3
62	62	and conservation. Wildland firefighters perform pre-4
63	63	scribed burns and other forest management activi-5
64	64	ties, including timber harvests, contribute to healthy 6
65	65	forests, and reduce catastrophic wildfire risk. 7
66	66	(5) Each wildland firefighter is specialized and 8
67	67	trained to work in dynamic and extraordinarily dan-9
68	68	gerous environments. Wildland firefighters routinely 10
69	69	work long days while on a 2-week rotation, often 11
70	70	sleeping in inhospitable conditions. 12
71	71	(6) According to the Forest Service, firefighters 13
72	72	generally work 16-hour days while fighting a fire, 14
73	73	and they typically exceed 2,500 operational hours in 15
74	74	a 6-month period. 16
75	75	(7) Wildland firefighter crews are all-hazards 17
76	76	frontline emergency responders that use any means 18
77	77	necessary to protect life and property while respond-19
78	78	ing to floods, hurricanes, pandemics, and acts of ter-20
79	79	rorism. 21
80	80	(8) Engine and hand crews, the primary fire-22
81	81	fighting workforce, come in varying sizes and mod-23
82	82	ules that can be tailored to fit the specific needs and 24
83	83	terrain obstacles that each fire presents. 25
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87	87	(9) Interagency hotshot crews are highly skilled 1
88	88	mobile hand crews with elite knowledge about fire 2
89	89	suppression tactics. 3
90	90	(10) Pilots and aerial fire suppression crews 4
91	91	take to the skies with air tankers and helicopters to 5
92	92	drop water and fire retardant, supporting decision- 6
93	93	makers on the ground. 7
94	94	(11) Aerially delivered firefighters, including 8
95	95	helitack crews and smokejumpers, exit helicopters 9
96	96	and jump from planes into remote and difficult-to- 10
97	97	reach areas, providing quick and targeted fire sup-11
98	98	pression and emergency medical short-haul extrac-12
99	99	tion. These fire personnel provide oversight and di-13
100	100	rect action on initial and extended attack incidents. 14
101	101	(12) Wildland firefighters in the United States 15
102	102	also answer the call to fight wildfires internationally. 16
103	103	During the record-setting fires in Australia in 2020, 17
104	104	the United States sent 362 firefighters to help. Dur-18
105	105	ing Canada’s historic 2023 fire season, more than 19
106	106	2,000 Federal wildland firefighters answered the 20
107	107	call. 21
108	108	(13) As of the date of enactment of this Act, 22
109	109	the United States maintains mutual assistance and 23
110	110	cooperation agreements for wildland firefighting ef-24
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114	114	forts with Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, 1
115	115	and Portugal. 2
116	116	(14) The increases in the severity of wildfires 3
117	117	and in annual fire season active months have also 4
118	118	increased the demand for wildland firefighters and 5
119	119	associated employees. Recruitment and retention of 6
120	120	wildland firefighters has been a national issue for 7
121	121	many years. 8
122	122	(15) Wildland firefighters put their lives on the 9
123	123	line to keep the people of the United States safe, 10
124	124	and some pay the ultimate sacrifice to do so. Be-11
125	125	tween January 1, 2019, and January 1, 2025, 98 12
126	126	wildland firefighters have lost their lives fighting 13
127	127	fires. Acute and secondary effects from wildfire, 14
128	128	such as wildfire smoke exposure, are directly linked 15
129	129	to tens of thousands of firefighter and civilian 16
130	130	deaths each year. 17
131	131	(16) June 30 to July 6 of each year is recog-18
132	132	nized as a Week of Remembrance to honor the fallen 19
133	133	wildland firefighters who sacrificed their lives to pro-20
134	134	tect the wildlands of the United States. 21
135	135	(17) National Wildland Firefighter Day is held 22
136	136	annually on July 2 to recognize all who are devoted 23
137	137	to wildland firefighting. 24
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141	141	(18) The exemplary efforts of wildland fire-1
142	142	fighters are deserving of recognition, and it is appro-2
143	143	priate and proper to honor those who have pre-3
144	144	viously served, as well as current and future fire-4
145	145	fighters. Wildland firefighters showcase principles of 5
146	146	duty, respect, and integrity in every aspect of serv-6
147	147	ice. Each firefighter exhibits strength, resiliency, and 7
148	148	grit to protect the forests, grasslands, and commu-8
149	149	nities of the United States. Wildland firefighters do 9
150	150	not shy away from dangerous situations, but instead 10
151	151	risk life and limb to help others. The outstanding 11
152	152	accomplishments of these brave individuals continue 12
153	153	an unparalleled legacy of public service. 13
154	154	SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL. 14
155	155	(a) P
156	156	RESENTATIONAUTHORIZED.—The Speaker of 15
157	157	the House of Representatives and the President pro tem-16
158	158	pore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements 17
159	159	for the presentation, on behalf of Congress, of a single 18
160	160	gold medal of appropriate design in honor of wildland fire-19
161	161	fighters, collectively, in recognition of their strength, resil-20
162	162	iency, sacrifice, and service to protect the forests, grass-21
163	163	lands, and communities of the United States. 22
164	164	(b) D
165	165	ESIGNANDSTRIKING.—For purposes of the 23
166	166	presentation described in subsection (a), the Secretary of 24
167	167	the Treasury (referred to in this Act as the ‘‘Secretary’’) 25
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171	171	shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, devices, 1
172	172	and inscriptions, to be determined by the Secretary, in 2
173	173	consultation with the National Interagency Fire Center. 3
174	174	(c) D
175	175	ISPOSITION OFMEDAL.— 4
176	176	(1) I
177	177	N GENERAL.—Following the presentation 5
178	178	of the gold medal under subsection (a), the gold 6
179	179	medal shall be given to the National Interagency 7
180	180	Fire Center, where the gold medal shall be dis-8
181	181	played, as appropriate, and made available for re-9
182	182	search. 10
183	183	(2) S
184	184	ENSE OF CONGRESS .—It is the sense of 11
185	185	Congress that the National Interagency Fire Center 12
186	186	should ensure that the display and availability of the 13
187	187	medal described in paragraph (1) be at appropriate 14
188	188	locations, particularly locations associated with 15
189	189	wildland firefighters. 16
190	190	SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS. 17
191	191	The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in 18
192	192	bronze of the gold medal struck under section 3, at a price 19
193	193	sufficient to cover the costs thereof, including labor, mate-20
194	194	rials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses. 21
195	195	SEC. 5. STATUS OF MEDALS. 22
196	196	(a) N
197	197	ATIONALMEDALS.—The medals struck under 23
198	198	this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 51 24
199	199	of title 31, United States Code. 25
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203	203	(b) NUMISMATICITEMS.—For purposes of sections 1
204	204	5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all medals 2
205	205	struck under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic 3
206	206	items. 4
207	207	SEC. 6. AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS; PROCEEDS OF 5
208	208	SALE. 6
209	209	(a) A
210	210	UTHORITYTOUSEFUNDAMOUNTS.—There is 7
211	211	authorized to be charged against the United States Mint 8
212	212	Public Enterprise Fund such amounts as may be nec-9
213	213	essary to pay for the costs of the medals struck under 10
214	214	this Act. 11
215	215	(b) P
216	216	ROCEEDS OFSALES.—Amounts received from 12
217	217	the sale of duplicate bronze medals authorized under sec-13
218	218	tion 4 shall be deposited into the United States Mint Pub-14
219	219	lic Enterprise Fund. 15
220	220	Æ
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