Sponsors (23)
The bill publicly honors Fred Korematsu and improves educational access to his legacy while using Mint sales mechanisms to avoid new appropriations — a symbolic step that educates the public but creates modest administrative burdens and financial risks if sales do not fully cover costs, and may reopen wounds for survivors without providing material remedies.
Japanese Americans and the broader public gain clearer, formal recognition of the injustices of wartime incarceration—reinforcing commitment to civil‑liberties protections and acknowledgment of past race‑based government actions.
Students, educators, and the public get improved access to Korematsu’s story (Congressional Gold Medal, Smithsonian display), which supports civic education about constitutional rights and civil‑rights history.
Members of the public can buy affordable bronze duplicate medals whose sales are intended to cover production costs, enabling public ownership without new direct taxpayer appropriations.
Taxpayers could still face costs if sales of duplicate medals fall short or if the Mint incurs unrecovered expenses—shifting production or administrative costs onto the public.
Federal agencies and Mint staff will incur new administrative responsibilities (striking, accounting, sales management) and using the Public Enterprise Fund for medals could divert resources from other Mint programs or services.
Survivors, their families, and community members may experience emotional harm as Congressional findings and publicity reopen painful memories of loss and dispossession.
Based on analysis of 6 sections of legislative text.
Authorizes a posthumous Congressional Gold Medal for Fred Korematsu, directs minting of one gold medal and sale of bronze duplicates, and transfers the gold medal to the Smithsonian for display.
Introduced January 30, 2025 by Mazie Hirono · Last progress January 30, 2025
Authorizes a posthumous Congressional Gold Medal honoring Fred Korematsu, directs the U.S. Mint to strike one gold medal and permit sale of bronze duplicates, and directs that the gold medal be given to the Smithsonian for public display and research. The bill includes congressional findings recounting Korematsu’s resistance to World War II exclusion orders and the wartime incarceration of Japanese Americans. The measure treats the medals as "national medals" and numismatic items under federal law, allows the Mint to recover striking costs from its Public Enterprise Fund, and requires proceeds from bronze duplicate sales to be deposited into that Fund.