[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 573 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 573

   To authorize the President to award a gold medal on behalf of the 
   Congress to Rosa Parks in recognition of her contributions to the 
                                Nation.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 4, 1999

    Ms. Carson (for herself, Mr. Houghton, Mr. Condit, Mr. Watts of 
    Oklahoma, Mr. Shows, Mr. Horn, Ms. Kilpatrick, Mr. Portman, Mr. 
Pomeroy, Mr. Gibbons, Mr. Edwards, Mrs. Morella, Mr. Fattah, Mr. Dixon, 
Mrs. Maloney of New York, Ms. McKinney, Mr. McDermott, Ms. Rivers, Mr. 
Meehan, Mr. Ford, Mr. Weygand, Mrs. Clayton, Mr. Meeks of New York, Mr. 
 Roemer, Mr. Visclosky, Mr. Neal of Massachusetts, Mr. Underwood, Ms. 
 Lee, Mr. Cummings, Mr. Hilliard, Mr. Waxman, Ms. Norton, Mr. Spratt, 
 Mr. Frost, Mr. Gejdenson, Mr. Wynn, Mr. Scott, Mr. Rush, Ms. Jackson-
  Lee of Texas, Mr. Lantos, Ms. Kaptur, Mr. Conyers, Ms. Pelosi, Mrs. 
 Meek of Florida, Mr. Stark, Mr. Moran of Virginia, Mr. Baldacci, Mr. 
     Reyes, Mrs. Thurman, Mr. Lampson, Ms. Waters, Mr. Thompson of 
  Mississippi, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Kucinich, Mrs. Jones of Ohio, Mr. 
     Tierney, Mr. Kennedy of Rhode Island, Mr. Green of Texas, Ms. 
Christian-Christensen, Mr. Hill of Indiana, Mr. Traficant, Mr. Brown of 
Ohio, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Hastings of Florida, Ms. Brown of Florida, Mr. 
 Clay, Mr. Davis of Illinois, Mr. Jackson of Illinois, Mr. Jefferson, 
     Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas, Mr. Lewis of Georgia, Ms. 
 Millender-McDonald, Mr. Owens, Mr. Payne, Mr. Watt of North Carolina, 
Mr. Olver, Mr. Barrett of Wisconsin, Mr. Stupak, Ms. DeLauro, Mr. Brady 
 of Pennsylvania, Mr. Engel, Mr. Vento, Mr. Allen, Ms. Slaughter, Mr. 
   Delahunt, Mr. Clyburn, Mr. Skelton, Mrs. Mink of Hawaii, and Mr. 
   Snyder) 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 Rosa Parks in recognition of her 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) Rosa Parks was born on February 4, 1913, in Tuskegee, 
        Alabama, the first child of James and Leona (Edwards) McCauley.
            (2) Rosa Parks is honored as the ``first lady of civil 
        rights'' and the ``mother of the freedom movement''; her quiet 
        dignity ignited the most significant social movement in the 
        history of the United States.
            (3) Rosa Parks was arrested on December 1, 1955, in 
        Montgomery, Alabama, for refusing to give up her seat on a bus 
        to a white man, and her stand for equal rights became 
        legendary.
            (4) News of Rosa Parks' arrest resulted in 42,000 African 
        Americans boycotting Montgomery buses for 381 days beginning on 
        December 5, 1955, until the bus segregation laws were changed 
        on December 21, 1956.
            (5) The United States Supreme Court ruled on November 13, 
        1956, that the Montgomery segregation law was unconstitutional, 
        and on December 20, 1956, Montgomery officials were ordered to 
        desegregate buses.
            (6) The civil rights movement led to the Civil Rights Act 
        of 1964 which broke down the barriers of legal discrimination 
        against African Americans and made equality before the law a 
        reality for all Americans.
            (7) Rosa Parks is the recipient of many awards and 
        accolades for her efforts on behalf of racial harmony, 
        including the Springarn Award, the NAACP's highest honor for 
        civil rights contributions, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, 
        the Nation's highest civilian honor, and the first 
        International Freedom Conductor Award from the National 
        Underground Railroad Freedom Center.
            (8) Rosa Parks has dedicated her life to the cause of 
        universal human rights and truly embodies the love of humanity 
        and freedom.
            (9) Rosa Parks was the first woman to join the Montgomery 
        chapter of the NAACP, was an active volunteer for the 
        Montgomery Voters League, and in 1987 cofounded the Rosa and 
        Raymond Parks Institute for Self-Development.
            (10) Rosa Parks, by her quiet courage, symbolizes all that 
        is vital about nonviolent protest; she endured threats of death 
        and persisted as an advocate for the simple, basic lessons she 
        taught the Nation and from which the Nation has benefited 
        immeasurably.
            (11) Rosa Parks has become a living icon for freedom in 
        America.

SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.

    (a) Presentation Authorized.--The President is authorized to award 
to Rosa Parks, on behalf of the Congress, a gold medal of appropriate 
design honoring Rosa Parks in recognition of her contributions to the 
Nation.
    (b) Design and Striking.--For the purposes of the award referred to 
in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury (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. 3. DUPLICATE MEDALS.

    The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the gold 
medal struck pursuant to section 2 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, and 
overhead expenses, and the cost of the gold medal.

SEC. 4. STATUS AS NATIONAL MEDALS.

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

SEC. 5. FUNDING.

    (a) Authority To Use Fund Amounts.--There is authorized to be 
charged against the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund an amount 
not to exceed $30,000 to pay for the cost of the medals authorized by 
this Act.
    (b) Proceeds of Sale.--Amounts received from the sale of duplicate 
bronze medals under section 3 shall be deposited in the United States 
Mint Public Enterprise Fund.
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