[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3544 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 3544

 To authorize a gold medal to be awarded on behalf of the Congress to 
Pope John Paul II in recognition of his many and enduring contributions 
     to peace and religious understanding, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 27, 2000

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To authorize a gold medal to be awarded on behalf of the Congress to 
Pope John Paul II in recognition of his many and enduring contributions 
     to peace and religious understanding, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Pope John Paul II Congressional Gold 
Medal Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that Pope John Paul II--
            (1) is the spiritual leader of more than one billion 
        Catholic Christians around the world and millions of Catholic 
        Christians in America and has led the Catholic Church into its 
        third millennium;
            (2) is recognized in the United States and abroad as a 
        preeminent moral authority;
            (3) has dedicated his Pontificate to the freedom and 
        dignity of every individual human being and tirelessly traveled 
        to the far reaches of the globe as an exemplar of faith;
            (4) has brought hope to millions of people all over the 
        world oppressed by poverty, hunger, illness, and despair;
            (5) transcending temporal politics, has used his moral 
        authority to hasten the fall of godless totalitarian regimes, 
        symbolized in the collapse of the Berlin wall;
            (6) has promoted the inner peace of man as well as peace 
        among mankind through his faith-
        inspired defense of justice; and
            (7) has thrown open the doors of the Catholic Church, 
        reconciling differences within Christendom as well as reaching 
        out to the world's other great religions.

SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.

    (a) Presentation Authorized.--On behalf of the Congress, a gold 
medal of appropriate design is authorized to be presented to Pope John 
Paul II in recognition of his many and enduring contributions to peace 
and religious understanding. The modalities of the medal's presentation 
shall be determined by the President after consultation with the 
Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Majority Leader 
of the United States Senate, Minority Leader of the United States 
Senate and the Minority Leader of the United States House of 
Representatives.
    (b) Design and Striking.--For the purpose of the presentation 
referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury (hereafter 
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.

SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS.

    The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the gold 
medal struck pursuant to section 3 under such regulations as the 
Secretary may prescribe, and at a price sufficient to cover the costs 
thereof, including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, overhead 
expenses, and the cost of the gold medal.

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.

SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS; PROCEEDS OF SALE.

    (a) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is hereby authorized to 
be charged against the Numismatic Public Enterprise Fund an amount not 
to exceed $30,000 to pay for the cost of the medal authorized by this 
Act.
    (b) Proceeds of Sale.--Amounts received from the sales of duplicate 
bronze medals under section 4 shall be deposited in the Numismatic 
Public Enterprise Fund.
                                 <all>