[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 239 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 239

   To authorize the President to award a gold medal on behalf of the 
  Congress to Senator John Herschel Glenn, Jr., in recognition of his 
outstanding and enduring contributions toward American society for more 
                           than fifty years.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 6, 1999

Mr. Romero-Barcelo 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 Senator John Herschel Glenn, Jr., in recognition of his 
outstanding and enduring contributions toward American society for more 
                           than fifty years.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``John Glenn Congressional Gold Medal 
Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) John Herschel Glenn, Jr., was born on July 18, 1921, in 
        Cambridge, Ohio;
            (2) before he started school, John Glenn and his family 
        moved to nearby New Concord, Ohio;
            (3) John Glenn graduated from New Concord High School and 
        enrolled in Muskingum College;
            (4) John Glenn enlisted in the Naval Aviation Cadet Program 
        shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor and was commissioned 
        in the United States Marine Corps in 1943;
            (5) John Glenn served in combat in the South Pacific and 
        also requested combat duty during the Korean conflict;
            (6) as a dedicated military officer, John Glenn flew 149 
        missions during two wars;
            (7) John Glenn received many honors for his military 
        service, including the Distinguished Flying Cross on six 
        occasions and the Air Medal with 18 clusters;
            (8) John Glenn served several years as a test pilot on Navy 
        and Marine Corps jet fighters and attack aircraft;
            (9) as a test pilot, John Glenn set a transcontinental 
        speed record in 1957 by completing the first flight to average 
        supersonic speeds from Los Angeles to New York;
            (10) as a pioneer in the unknown realm of space 
        exploration, John Glenn was selected in 1959 as one of the 
        original seven astronauts in the United States space program;
            (11) John Glenn on February 20, 1962, became the first 
        American to orbit the earth, completing three orbits in a five-
        hour flight;
            (12) John Glenn retired from the Marine Corps in 1965 after 
        23 years of distinguished service to his country;
            (13) John Glenn became an outstanding business executive in 
        his native State of Ohio and also took an active part in 
        politics and in early environmental protection efforts;
            (14) John Glenn won his Senate seat in 1974 while carrying 
        all 88 Ohio counties in the election;
            (15) John Glenn won re-election to the Senate in 1980 and 
        in 1986, and in 1992 John Glenn made history by becoming the 
        first popularly elected Senator from Ohio to win four 
        consecutive terms;
            (16) John Glenn has set a proud example for all Americans 
        as a husband, father, and family man;
            (17) John Glenn in 1998 returned to space after 36 years as 
        a member of the crew of the space shuttle Discovery, serving as 
        a payload specialist and as a subject for basic research on how 
        weightlessness affects the body of an older person;
            (18) having retired from the Senate after 24 years of 
        distinguished service, John Glenn has given the United States 
        five decades of dedicated patriotism, valor, and leadership; 
        and
            (19) John Glenn is a man of vision and a man of action who 
        has greatly inspired the people of the United States and who 
        will serve as a powerful role model for the new millennium.

SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.

    (a) Presentation Authorized.--The President is authorized to 
present, on behalf of the Congress, to Senator John Herschel Glenn, 
Jr., a gold medal of appropriate design, in recognition of his 
significant contributions to American society for more than fifty 
years.
    (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 
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. 4. 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 3 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 3 shall be reimbursed out of the proceeds of sales 
under subsection (a).

SEC. 5. 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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