Bill awarding Congressional Gold Medal to Americans held in Iran hostage crisis heads to Biden’s desk

The House this week passed a bill that would award the Congressional Gold Medal to Americans who were taken hostage in Iran in 1979, sending the measure to President Biden’s desk for his approval.

House lawmakers passed the legislation by voice vote. Last week, the Senate approved the bill by unanimous consent. The Congressional Gold Medal is the highest honor Congress can award.

The measure calls for awarding the medal to the former hostages held in Iran, “highlighting their resilience throughout the unprecedented ordeal that they lived through and the national unity it produced, marking 4 decades since their 444 days in captivity, and recognizing their sacrifice to the United States.”

More than 50 people were taken hostage in the U.S. Embassy in Tehran on Nov. 4, 1979, by Iranian students who supported the country’s Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Those held captive ranged from the chargé d’affaires to junior staff members, according to the State Department’s Office of the Historian.

The diplomats were held for 444 days in the incident that has become known as the Iran Hostage Crisis. They were put through physical and psychological torture, according to the legislation, including mock executions, beatings, solitary confinement and inhospitable living environments.

The hostages were released on Jan. 20, 1981. According to the office of Rep. Thomas Suozzi (D-N.Y.), 35 of the original hostages are still alive.

“I was 17 years old in 1979 and I well remember, as many Americans do, that the Iran Hostage Crisis was a painful time in our history. But that pain cannot stop us from recognizing the true pain and sacrifice by these special Americans,” Suozzi said in a statement.

Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) said the legislation “will honor the captured United States diplomats, military personnel and civilians with the recognition they deserve.”

“During this time, the hostages were subjected to intense physical and psychological torture, but their spirit never wavered. Those held captive showed extraordinary courage by continually engaging in acts of resistance against their captors, such as by refusing to sign condemnations of the United States despite the gross violations of their human rights,” he said on the House floor Wednesday.

“This infamous incident in history lasted 444 days and it is important that we continue to remember the bravery shown by those courageous Americans,” he added.

The legislation calls for awarding a single Congressional Gold Medal to the 53 hostages held in Iran “in recognition of their bravery and endurance throughout their captivity.” After it is awarded, it would be put on display at the National Museum of American History of the Smithsonian Institution.