PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on House Administration, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Feb 18, 2025
Buffalo Soldiers Congressional Gold Medal Act of 2025
This bill provides for a Congressional Gold Medal to be awarded to the Buffalo Soldier regiments (six all-Black cavalry and infantry regiments authorized by Congress in 1866 to serve in the Armed Forces) in recognition of their vital service to the United States.
People & committees
Rep. Strickland, Marilyn [D-WA-10] · D–WA
Legislative record
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Referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on House Administration, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on House Administration, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We also preserved the text version used in the PlainBill explanation below.
Source last updated: Oct 16, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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PlainBill explanation
Based on the full Introduced in House · 2025-02-18 text. This explanation has not received human editorial review. This overview describes the proposal’s major provisions; it does not establish what its real-world effects would be.
This bill would honor the Buffalo Soldier regiments authorized by Congress in 1866 with a single Congressional Gold Medal. The medal would go to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture for display and research. The Treasury Department could also make and sell bronze copies at prices covering their costs. The bill would authorize use of the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund to pay medal costs, with bronze-copy sales revenue returned to that fund.
a single gold medal of appropriate design to the Buffalo Soldier regiments, authorized by Congress in 1866 to serve in the United States Armed Forces
the gold medal shall be given to the National Museum of African American History and Culture of the Smithsonian Institution, where it shall be displayed as appropriate and made available for research.
The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 3, at a price sufficient to cover the cost thereof
There is authorized to be charged against the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund such amounts as may be necessary to pay for the costs of the medals struck under this Act.
Amounts received from the sale of duplicate bronze medals authorized under section 4 shall be deposited into the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund.
The proposed short title is the Buffalo Soldiers Congressional Gold Medal Act of 2025. Its findings present the medal as a way to highlight the Buffalo Soldiers’ service and contribution to military inclusivity; that is the bill’s stated rationale, not an established effect of awarding the medal.
This Act may be cited as the Buffalo Soldiers Congressional Gold Medal Act of 2025.
The Congressional Gold Medal would be an appropriate way to shed further light on the service of the Buffalo Soldiers and the instrumental role they played in instilling an approach to inclusivity within our military and the American way of life.
The House Speaker and the Senate’s president pro tempore would be required to arrange the award on Congress’s behalf. It would be one collective medal for the specified regiments. The Treasury Secretary would be required to make the medal and choose its symbols and inscriptions.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements for the award, on behalf of Congress, of a single gold medal of appropriate design to the Buffalo Soldier regiments, authorized by Congress in 1866 to serve in the United States Armed Forces, in recognition of their superior, dedicated, and vital service to our Nation.
the Secretary of the Treasury (in this Act referred to as the Secretary) shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, devices, and inscriptions, to be determined by the Secretary.
After the award, the gold medal would have to be given to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture. The museum would have to display it as appropriate and make it available for research.
Following the award of the gold medal under subsection (a), the gold medal shall be given to the National Museum of African American History and Culture of the Smithsonian Institution, where it shall be displayed as appropriate and made available for research.
The bill also expresses Congress’s nonbinding view that the Smithsonian should make the medal available for display elsewhere, especially at places and events associated with the Buffalo Soldiers.
It is the sense of Congress that the Smithsonian Institution should make the gold medal received under paragraph (1) available for display elsewhere, particularly at other locations and events associated with the Buffalo Soldiers.
The Treasury Secretary could choose to make and sell bronze copies. Their price would have to cover costs, including labor, materials, production dies, machinery use, and overhead.
The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 3, at a price sufficient to cover the cost thereof, including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses.
The medals would be classified as national medals under chapter 51 of title 31 of the United States Code. They would also be treated as numismatic items—items associated with coin and medal collecting—for two specified federal statutory sections. Those referenced laws are not reproduced in the bundle.
The medals struck under this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States Code.
For purposes of sections 5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all medals struck under this Act shall be considered to be numismatic items.
The bill would authorize charging medal costs to the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund in whatever amounts are necessary, without specifying a dollar amount. Revenue from bronze-copy sales would have to be deposited into the same fund. This is proposed spending authority, not evidence that money has been spent.
There is authorized to be charged against the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund such amounts as may be necessary to pay for the costs of the medals struck under this Act.
Amounts received from the sale of duplicate bronze medals authorized under section 4 shall be deposited into the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund.
The supplied official-actions snapshot, updated October 16, 2026, records introduction in the House on February 18, 2025, and referral that day to the Financial Services and House Administration committees for matters within their respective jurisdictions. This snapshot does not establish enactment or the bill’s complete subsequent history.
Source snapshot updated 2026-10-16T08:05:26Z.
2025-02-18: Introduced in House
2025-02-18: Referred to the Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on House Administration, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
A closer look
Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2025-02-18. These findings describe provisions and who may benefit; they are not judgments of waste, corruption, or motive.
This review covers the supplied bill text. “None identified” does not rule out provisions in later versions or accompanying reports and disclosures.
Provisions outside the bill’s main subject, or policy changes attached to appropriations.
None identified in the reviewed text
No unrelated provision or policy rider was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Spending directed to particular recipients or places outside ordinary competitive or formula-based allocation.
None identified in the reviewed text
No congressionally directed spending earmark was identified in the complete supplied introduced text under the stated definition. Program implementation authority alone does not establish an earmark. This conclusion is limited to that version; formal designation cannot be resolved without accompanying materials.
Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.
None identified in the reviewed text
No separate narrow carve-out, exemption, or preferential exception was identified in the complete supplied introduced text. The award’s intended recipients and its administrative arrangements do not by themselves warrant a targeted-benefit finding. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: Oct 16, 2026. How PlainBill uses AI