[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1709 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1709

   To authorize the President to award a gold medal on behalf of the 
Congress to Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. in recognition of his outstanding and 
                 enduring contributions to the Nation.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 5, 1999

  Mr. Rangel introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
              Committee on Banking and Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To authorize the President to award a gold medal on behalf of the 
Congress to Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. in recognition of his outstanding and 
                 enduring contributions to the Nation.

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

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    The Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) Jesse Louis Jackson, Sr. was born on October 8, 1941, 
        in Greenville, South Carolina.
            (2) In 1965 Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. joined the civil rights 
        movement full-time, beginning his activism as a student leader 
        in the sit-in movement and continuing as a young organizer for 
        the Southern Christian Leadership Conference as an assistant to 
        Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
            (3) On June 30, 1968, Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. became an 
        ordained minister, having attended the Chicago Theological 
        Seminary.
            (4) Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. served as the national director 
        for Operation Breadbasket and, in 1971 in Chicago, Illinois, 
        founded People United to Save Humanity, known as PUSH.
            (5) In 1984 Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. founded the National 
        Rainbow Coalition, a national social justice organization 
        devoted to political empowerment and to expanding educational 
        and employment opportunities for disadvantaged people and for 
        communities of color.
            (6) In 1996 Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. merged the National 
        Rainbow Coalition and PUSH to continue the philosophies of both 
        organizations and to maximize their resources.
            (7) Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. is, and has been for more than 30 
        years, one of the foremost political figures in the United 
        States, playing a pivotal role in virtually every movement for 
        human rights, civil rights, peace, gender equality, 
        empowerment, and economic and social justice.
            (8) Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. has been and continues to be 
        counted on to serve as a champion and spokesman for a segment 
        of the population whose voices all too often are not heard.
            (9) Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. has been called the ``conscience 
        of the Nation'' and the ``great unifier'', challenging the 
        United States to establish just and humane priorities.
            (10) Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. has led a myriad of successful 
        delegations, marches, and missions for justice, peace, and 
        reconciliation.
            (11) Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. is a highly respected world 
        leader who has acted on many occasions as an international 
        diplomat.
            (12) In 1984 Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. secured the release of a 
        captured Navy pilot, Lieutenant Robert Goodman, who was shot 
        down over Lebanon. He also negotiated the release of 22 
        Americans and 26 Cubans in Cuba during 1984.
            (13) In 1990 Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. won the release of 
        hundreds of foreign nationals, including 47 Americans, being 
        held in Iraq and Kuwait by Saddam Hussein.
            (14) In October 1997 Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. was appointed by 
        President William Jefferson Clinton and by Secretary of State 
        Madeleine K. Albright as the Special Envoy of the President and 
        the Secretary of State for the Promotion of Democracy in 
        Africa.
            (15) On May 2, 1999, Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. obtained the 
        negotiated release of Army Specialist Steven M. Gonzales and 
        Staff Sergeants Christopher J. Stone and Andrew Ramirez, 3 
        United States soldiers who had spent 32 days in captivity in 
        Yugoslavia as prisoners of war and hostages.
            (16) Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. has dedicated his life to the 
        principles of freedom, peace, justice, international good will, 
        and the struggle for civil rights and equality for Americans 
        and for all peoples, at home and abroad.

SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.

    (a) Presentation Authorized.--The President is authorized to 
present, on behalf of the Congress, a gold medal of appropriate design 
to Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. in recognition of his outstanding and enduring 
contributions to the Nation.
    (b) Design and Striking.--For the purpose 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 determined by the Secretary.
    (c) Authorization of Appropriation.--Effective February 1, 1999, 
there are authorized to be appropriated $30,000 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 under section 2 
under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, at a price 
sufficient to cover the cost thereof, including labor, materials, dies, 
use of machinery, and overhead expenses, and the cost of the gold 
medal.
    (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 under this Act are national medals for purposes 
of chapter 51 of title 31, United States Code.
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