Sponsors (5)
The bill publicly honors and preserves the historical record of a specific Afghanistan evacuation team while relying on Mint-managed, self-funded production to limit appropriations—but it risks revealing sensitive operational details and leaves modest fiscal and recognition-related gaps that could affect service members and taxpayers.
Named service members and volunteers involved in the 2021 Afghanistan evacuation are formally honored with a Congressional Gold Medal, giving national recognition and an official historical record of their actions.
The medal will be placed in the Smithsonian and encouraged to travel to locations tied to the team's service, increasing public access, historical research, and educational opportunities.
Affordable bronze replica medals will be made available for public purchase and sales are structured to recover production costs, expanding access to a commemorative item without upfront appropriations.
Public findings that recount operational details of the Afghanistan evacuation risk disclosing sensitive tactics or personnel involvement, potentially endangering service members or future operations.
The bill's recognition language and a single collective medal may create expectations of formal benefits or individualized recognition that the legislation does not grant, potentially disappointing or disadvantaging some named individuals.
Although structured to be self-funded, there remains taxpayer exposure if production is mismanaged, pricing is wrong, inventory is unsold, or sales fall short—plus shifting costs to the Mint's fund could reduce resources for other Mint activities.
Based on analysis of 6 sections of legislative text.
Authorizes a single Congressional Gold Medal to seven named individuals for 2021 Afghanistan evacuation efforts, directs minting and Smithsonian display, and permits sale of bronze duplicates to recover costs.
Introduced July 17, 2025 by Ralph Norman · Last progress July 17, 2025
Awards a single Congressional Gold Medal to seven named private citizens who helped evacuate people during the 2021 U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, directs the Treasury to strike the medal and give it to the Smithsonian for display, and allows the Mint to produce and sell bronze duplicates to recover costs. The bill treats the medals as national and numismatic items, permits charging the Mint Public Enterprise Fund for production costs, and requires proceeds from duplicate sales to be deposited into that Fund.