1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Merrill’s Marauders Congressional Gold Medal Act . 2. Findings Congress finds that— (1) in August 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and other Allied leaders proposed the creation of a ground unit of the Armed Forces that would engage in a long-range penetration mission in Japanese-occupied Burma to— (A) cut off Japanese communications and supply lines; and (B) capture the town of Myitkyina and the Myitkyina airstrip, both of which were held by the Japanese; (2) President Roosevelt issued a call for volunteers for a dangerous and hazardous mission and the call was answered by approximately 3,000 soldiers from the United States; (3) the Army unit composed of the soldiers described in paragraph (2)— (A) was officially designated as the 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional) with the code name Galahad ; and (B) later became known as Merrill’s Marauders (referred to in this section as the Marauders ) in reference to its leader, Brigadier General Frank Merrill; (4) in February 1944, the Marauders began their approximately 1,000-mile trek through the dense Burmese jungle with no artillery support, carrying their supplies on their backs or the pack saddles of mules; (5) over the course of their 5-month trek to Myitkyina, the Marauders fought victoriously against larger Japanese forces through 5 major and 30 minor engagements; (6) during their march to Myitkyina, the Marauders faced hunger and disease that were exacerbated by inadequate aerial resupply drops; (7) malaria, typhus, and dysentery inflicted more casualties on the Marauders than the Japanese; (8) by August 1944, the Marauders had accomplished their mission, successfully disrupting Japanese supply and communication lines and taking the town of Myitkyina and the Myitkyina airstrip, the only all-weather airstrip in Northern Burma