Congressional Record: April 12, 2000 (Senate)
Page S2617-S2636

          STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS



      By Mr. BINGAMAN (for himself and Mr. Inouye):
  S. 2408. A bill to authorize the President to award a gold medal on
behalf of the Congress to the Navajo Code Talkers in recognition of
their contributions to the Nation; to the Committee on Banking,
Housing, and Urban Affairs.


                  honoring the navajo code talkers act

  Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce important
legislation, recognizing the heroic contributions of a group of Native
American soldiers who served in the Pacific theater during the second
World War. This legislation will authorize the President of the United
States to award a gold medal, on behalf of the Congress, to each of the
original twenty-nine Navajo Code Talkers, as well as a silver medal to
each man who later qualified as a Navajo Code Talker (MOS 642). These
medals are to express recognition by the United States of America and
its citizens of the Navajo Code Talkers who distinguished themselves in
performing a unique, highly successful communications operation that
greatly assisted in saving countless lives and in hastening the end of
the war in the Pacific.

  It has taken too long to properly recognize these soldiers, whose
achievements have been obscured by twin veils

[[Page S2620]]

of secrecy and time. As they approach the final chapter of their lives,
it is only fitting that the nation pay them this honor. That's why I am
introducing this legislation today--to salute these brave and
innovative Native Americans, to acknowledge the great contribution they
made to the Nation at a time of war, and to finally give them their
rightful place in history.
  With each new successive generation of Americans, blessed as we are
in this time of relative peace and prosperity, it is easy to forget
what the world was like in the early 1940's. The United States was at
war in Europe, and on December 7, 1941, we were faced with a second
front as the Japanese Empire attacked Pearl Harbor.
  One of the intelligence weapons the Japanese possessed was an elite
group of well-trained English speaking soldiers, used to intercept U.S.
communications, then sabotage the message or issue false commands to
ambush American troops. Military code became more and more complex--at
Guadalcanal, military leaders complained that it took 2\1/2\ hours to
send and decode a single message.
  The idea to use Navajo for secure communications came from Philip
Johnson. Johnson was the son of a missionary, raised on the Navajo
reservation, and one of the few non-Navajos who spoke their language
fluently. But he was also a World War I veteran, and knew of the
military's search for a code that would withstand all attempts to
decipher it. Johnson believed Navajo answered the military requirement
for an undecipherable code because Navajo is an unwritten language of
extreme complexity. In early 1942, he met with the Commanding General
of Amphibious Corps, Pacific Fleet, and his staff to convince them of
the value of the Navajo language as code. In one of his tests, he
demonstrated that Navajos could encode, transmit, and decode a three-
line English message in 20 seconds. Twenty-seconds!
  Convinced, the Marine Corps called upon the Navajo Nation to support
the military effort by recruiting and enlisting Navajo men to serve as
Marine Corps Radio Operators. These Navajo Marines, who became known as
the Navajo Code Talkers, used the Navajo language to develop a unique
code to communicate military messages in the South Pacific. True to
Phillip Johnson's prediction, and the enemy's frustration, the code
developed by these Native Americans proved unbreakable and was used
throughout the Pacific theater.
  Their accomplishment was even more heroic given the cultural context
in which they were operating:
  The Navajos were second-class citizens and were discouraged from
using their own language; and
  They were living on reservations, as many still are today, yet they
volunteered to serve, protect, and defend the very power that put them
there.
  But the Navajo, a people subjected to alienation in their own
homeland, who had been discouraged from speaking their own language,
stepped forward and developed the most significant and successful
military code of the time:
  This Code was so successful that military commanders credited the
Code in saving the lives of countless American soldiers and the
successful engagements of the U.S. in the battles of Guadalcanal,
Tarawa, Saipan, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. At Iwo Jima, Major Howard
Connor, 5th Marine Division signal officer, declared, ``Were it not for
the Navajos, the Marines would never have taken Iwo Jima.'' Major
Connor had six Navajo code talkers working around the clock during the
first 48-hours of the battle. Those six sent and received over 800
messages, all without error;
  This Code was so successful that some Code Talkers were guarded by
fellow marines whose role was to kill them in case of imminent capture
by the enemy; and finally,
  It was so successful that the Department of Defense kept the Code
secret for 23 years after the end of World War II, when it was finally
declassified.
  And there, Mr. President, is the foundation of the problem.
  If their achievements had been hailed at the conclusion of the war,
proper honors would have been bestowed at that time. But the Code
Talkers were sworn to secrecy, an oath they kept and honored, but at
the same time, one that robbed them of the very accolades and place in
history they so rightly deserved. Their ranks include veterans of
Guadalcanal, Saipan, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa; they gave their lives at
New Britain, Bougainville, Guam, and Peleliu. But, while the bodies of
their fallen comrades came home, simple messages of comfort from those
still fighting to relatives back home on the reservations were
prohibited by the very secrecy of the code's origin. And at the end of
the war, these unsung heroes returned to their homes on buses--no
parades, no fanfare, no special recognition for what they had truly
accomplished--because while the war was over, their duty--their oath of
secrecy--continued. The secrecy surrounding the code was maintained
until it was declassified in 1968--only then did a realization of the
sacrifice and valor of these brave Native Americans emerge from
history.
  For the countless lives they helped save, for this contribution that
helped speed the Allied victory in the Pacific, I believe they
succeeded beyond all expectations.
  Through the enactment of this bill, the recognition for the Navajo
Code Talkers will be delayed no longer, and they will finally take
their place in history they so rightly deserve.
  To this end, I urge my colleagues to support the bill.
  Mr. President, I ask for unanimous consent that the bill be printed
in the Record.
  There being no objection, the bill was ordered to be printed in the
Record, as follows:

                                S. 2408

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Honoring the Navajo Code
     Talkers Act''

     SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

       Congress finds the following:
       (1) On December 7, 1941, the Japanese Empire attacked Pearl
     Harbor and war was declared by the Congress the following
     day.
       (2) The military code, developed by the United States for
     transmitting messages, had been deciphered by the Japanese
     and a search by U.S. Intelligence was made to develop new
     means to counter the enemy.
       (3) The United States government called upon the Navajo
     Nation to support the military effort by recruiting and
     enlisting twenty-nine (29) Navajo men to serve as Marine
     Corps Radio Operators; the number of enlistees later
     increased to over three-hundred and fifty.
       (4) At the time, the Navajos were second-class citizens,
     and they were a people who were discouraged from using their
     own language.
       (5) The Navajo Marine Corps Radio Operators, who became
     known as the Navajo Code Talkers, were used to develop a code
     using their language to communicate military messages in the
     Pacific.
       (6) To the enemy's frustration, the code developed by these
     Native Americans proved to be unbreakable and was used
     extensively throughout the Pacific theater.
       (7) The Navajo language, discouraged in the past, was
     instrumental in developing the most significant and
     successful military code of the time. At Iwo Jima alone, they
     passed over 800 error-free messages in a 48-hour period;
       (a) So successful, that military commanders credited the
     Code in saving the lives of countless American soldiers and
     the successful engagements of the U.S. in the battles of
     Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Saipan, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa;
       (b) So successful, that some Code Talkers were guarded by
     fellow marines whose role was to kill them in case of
     imminent capture by the enemy;
       (c) So successful, that the code was kept secret for 23
     years after the end of World War II.
       (8) Following the conclusion of World War II, the U.S.
     Department of Defense maintained the secrecy of the Navajo
     code until it was declassified in 1968; only then did a
     realization of the sacrifice and valor of these brave Native
     Americans emerge from history.

     SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.

       (a) Presentation Authorized.--The President is authorized
     to award to each of the original twenty-nine Navajo Codes
     Talkers, or a surviving family member, on behalf of the
     Congress, a gold medal of appropriate design, honoring the
     Navajo Codes Talkers. The President is further authorized to
     award to each man who qualified as a Navajo Code Talker (MOS
     642), or a surviving family member, a silver medal with
     suitable emblems and devices. These medals are to express
     recognition by the United States of America and its citizens
     in honoring the Navajo Code Talkers who distinguished
     themselves in performing a unique, highly successful
     communications operation that greatly assisted in saving
     countless lives and in hastening the end of the World War II
     in the Pacific.
       (b) Design and Striking.--For the purposes of the award
     referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury
     (in this Act referred to as the `Secetary') shall strike

[[Page S2621]]

     a gold medal with suitable emblems, devices, and
     inscriptions, to be determined by the Secretary.

     SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS.

       The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of
     the gold medal struck pursuant to section 2 under such
     regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, and at a price
     sufficient to cover the costs thereof, including labor,
     materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses, and
     the cost of the gold medal.

     SEC. 5. STATUS AS NATIONAL MEDALS.

       The medals struck pursuant to this Act are national medals
     for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States Code.

     SEC. 6. FUNDING.

       (a) Authority To Use Fund Amounts.--There is authorized to
     be charged against the United States Mint Public Enterprise
     Fund an amount not to exceed $30,000 to pay for the cost of
     the medals authorized by this Act.
       (b) Proceeds of Sale.--Amounts received from the sale of
     duplicate bronze medals under section 3 shall be deposited in
     the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund.
                                 ______