Sponsors (86)
The bill honors and preserves the North Platte Canteen's WWII-era legacy and allows self-funded public keepsakes, but it creates modest taxpayer costs and shifts financial and administrative burdens to the Mint's funds and processes, reducing direct Congressional oversight.
Residents, visitors, and students gain a permanent public display and research access to a medal honoring WWII-era North Platte Canteen volunteers, preserving local history and educational resources.
People who want keepsakes can buy bronze duplicates and those sales are structured to cover production costs and return proceeds to the Mint, offsetting costs and reducing the need for additional Congressional appropriations.
The Act clarifies the medals' legal status as national/numismatic items, enabling them to be handled, sold, or distributed under existing Treasury/Mint authorities.
The Mint's use of its Public Enterprise Fund to cover production could deplete funds available for other Mint activities, potentially limiting services or requiring future transfers.
Shifting costs into the Mint's fund rather than through direct appropriations reduces Congress's budgetary oversight of those expenditures.
The law is largely symbolic—honoring volunteers but providing no direct material benefit—while it still imposes modest federal costs and administrative effort.
Based on analysis of 6 sections of legislative text.
Authorizes a Congressional Gold Medal for North Platte Canteen volunteers/donors, directs the Mint to strike the medal, allows bronze duplicates for sale, and places the gold medal in the Lincoln County Historical Museum.
Official title: To award a Congressional Gold Medal, collectively, to the individuals and communities who volunteered or donated items to the North Platte Canteen in North Platte, Nebraska, during World War II from December 25, 1941, to April 1, 1946.
Introduced February 21, 2025 by Adrian Smith · Last progress February 21, 2025
Authorizes Congress to present a Congressional Gold Medal honoring the individuals and communities who volunteered at or donated to the North Platte Canteen in North Platte, Nebraska, during World War II. Directs the U.S. Mint to strike a gold medal for presentation, allows bronze duplicates to be struck and sold to cover production costs, and requires the gold medal to be placed on display at the Lincoln County Historical Museum for public viewing and research. Designates the medals as national numismatic items and permits the Mint to charge its Public Enterprise Fund for production costs while depositing proceeds from bronze duplicate sales back into that Fund.