[Congressional Bills 103th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 170 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

103d CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 170

  To award a congressional gold medal in honor of the late John Birks 
                          ``Dizzy'' Gillespie.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

             January 21 (legislative day, January 5), 1993

  Mr. Hollings (for himself, Mr. Akaka, Mr. Bradley, Mr. Breaux, Mr. 
 Brown, Mr. Conrad, Mr. Danforth, Mr. DeConcini, Mr. Durenberger, Mr. 
 Hatch, Mr. Heflin, Mr. Johnston, Mr. Kohl, Mr. Lautenberg, Mr. Levin, 
Mr. Metzenbaum, Mr. Nunn, Mr. Reid, Mr. Shelby, Mr. Simon, Mr. Simpson, 
Mr. Thurmond, and Mr. Wofford) introduced the following bill; which was 
read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban 
                                Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To award a congressional gold medal in honor of the late John Birks 
                          ``Dizzy'' Gillespie.

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

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) John Birks ``Dizzy'' Gillespie was one of the most 
        recognized and beloved artists in the world, admired not only 
        for his unique musicianship, but for his ability to reach 
        people on a distinctly personal level;
            (2) as a musician, pioneer, innovator, composer, arranger, 
        bandleader, raconteur, entertainer, and cultural ambassador, 
        Mr. Gillespie distinguished himself as one of the immortal 
        figures in the history of jazz, ``a national American 
        treasure'';
            (3) Mr. Gillespie received the Kennedy Center Honors, the 
        most prestigious public recognition of an artist's lifetime 
        contributions in the performing arts in the United States, the 
        Smithsonian Medal from the Smithsonian Institution, and the 
        American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers' ``Duke'' 
        award for his lifetime achievements as a musician, composer, 
        and bandleader;
            (4) Mr. Gillespie received many additional honors, 
        including the National Medal of Arts, presented by President 
        Bush, a Grammy lifetime Achievement Award from the National 
        Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, and the Commandant 
        D'Ordre des Arts et Lettres, the highest honor in the arts in 
        France, presented by the French Minister of Culture, Jack Lang, 
        and was crowned a traditional African chief, with the title 
        ``Bashere of Iperu'', in Nigeria;
            (5) Mr. Gillespie performed before royalty and countless 
        world leaders, including 4 American Presidents;
            (6) at the personal invitation of President Sam Nujoma, Mr. 
        Gillespie performed at the State Independence Banquet of 
        Namibia, before the leaders of many countries of the world, 
        kings, presidents, prime ministers, the Secretary-General of 
        the United Nations, Nelson Mandela, and a host of other 
        dignitaries;
            (7) Mr. Gillespie was acclaimed as a visionary risk taker, 
        whose daring integration of ethnic influences added a vibrant 
        and indelible dimension to jazz, and to music in all of its 
        popular forms;
            (8) Mr. Gillespie and the late Charlie ``Bird'' Parker 
        pioneered ``be-bop'', a new and fresh harmonic and rhythmic 
        vocabulary that created a musical revolution which transformed 
        jazz and dramatically influenced 20th century musical culture;
            (9) Mr. Gillespie is universally credited as the catalyst 
        who incorporated Afro-Cuban, Brazilian, and Caribbean music and 
        rhythms into the jazz idiom;
            (10) Mr. Gillespie's third great big band, the United 
        Nations Orchestra, which exemplified the essence of Mr. 
        Gillespie's universal musical philosophy, enthralled audiences 
        in 20 countries on the continents of North America, South 
        America, Europe, and Australia since the band's inception in 
        1988;
            (11) in 1956, Mr. Gillespie was the first jazz artist 
        appointed by the Department of State as Cultural Ambassador to 
        tour on behalf of the United States, and his resoundingly 
        successful tours through the Near East, Asia, Eastern Europe, 
        and Latin America were early landmarks in a lifetime of 
        cultural statesmanship by the inimitable jazz master on behalf 
        of his country; and
            (12) in January 1989, Mr. Gillespie was asked to represent 
        the United States and embarked on a ground breaking, month-long 
        tour in Africa, sponsored by the United States Information 
        Agency Arts America Program.

SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.

    (a) Presentation Authorized.--The President is authorized to 
present, on behalf of the Congress, to Mrs. Lorraine Gillespie, in 
memory of her late husband John Birks ``Dizzy'' Gillespie, a gold medal 
of appropriate design, in recognition of over half a century of musical 
genius.
    (b) Design and Striking.--For purposes of the presentation referred 
to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury shall strike a gold 
medal with suitable emblems, devices, and inscriptions to be selected 
by the Secretary.
    (c) Authorization of Appropriation.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated an amount not to exceed $25,000 to carry out this section.

SEC. 3. DUPLICATE MEDALS.

    (a) Striking and Sale.--The Secretary of the Treasury may strike 
and sell duplicates in bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to 
section 2 under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, at a 
price sufficient to cover the cost of such duplicates and the gold 
medal, including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead 
expenses.
    (b) Reimbursement of Appropriation.--The appropriation used to 
carry out section 2 shall be reimbursed out of the proceeds of sales 
under subsection (a).

SEC. 4. NATIONAL MEDALS.

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

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