[Congressional Bills 107th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2723 Introduced in House (IH)]
107th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 2723
To authorize the President to award a gold medal on behalf of the
Congress to Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr. (posthumously) and
his widow Coretta Scott King in recognition of their contributions to
the Nation on behalf of the civil rights movement.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
August 2, 2001
Ms. McKinney (for herself, Mr. Lewis of Georgia, Mr. Pallone, Mr.
Filner, Ms. Lee, Ms. Carson of Indiana, Mr. Cummings, Mr. Fattah, Mr.
Hastings of Florida, Mr. Hilliard, Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, Mr.
Payne, Mr. Meeks of New York, Mr. Owens, Mr. Towns, Mrs. Jones of Ohio,
Mr. Watt of North Carolina, Mr. Rush, Mr. Scott, Mr. McNulty, Mr. Clay,
Mr. Ford, Mrs. Christensen, Mrs. Meek of Florida, Ms. Waters, Ms.
Millender-McDonald, Mr. Davis of Illinois, Mr. Brady of Pennsylvania,
Mr. Frost, Ms. Norton, Mr. Ross, Mr. Sabo, Mr. Bonior, Mr. Jackson of
Illinois, Mr. Kucinich, Mrs. Capps, Mr. LaHood, Mrs. Mink of Hawaii,
Mr. McGovern, Mr. Wynn, Mr. Honda, Mr. Blagojevich, Mr. Barrett of
Wisconsin, Mr. Farr of California, Mr. Etheridge, Mr. Doggett, Mrs.
Clayton, Mr. DeFazio, Mr. Kildee, Mr. Sandlin, Mr. Engel, Mr. Gonzalez,
Mr. Nadler, Mr. Jefferson, Mr. Carson of Oklahoma, Ms. Pelosi, Mr.
Underwood, Mr. Gutierrez, Mr. Rangel, Mr. Rodriguez, Mr. Lantos, Mr.
Souder, Mr. Becerra, Mrs. Thurman, Mr. Conyers, Ms. Brown of Florida,
Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas, Mr. Clyburn, Mr. Holt, Ms.
Kilpatrick, Mr. Pascrell, Mr. Evans, Mr. Ferguson, Mr. Visclosky, Mr.
Costello, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Capuano, Mr. LaTourette, Mr. Gilchrest,
Mr. Meehan, Mr. Israel, Mr. Serrano, Mr. Baird, Mr. Matsui, Mr. George
Miller of California, Mr. Bishop, Mr. Watts of Oklahoma, Mr. Snyder,
Mr. Sanders, Mrs. Maloney of New York, Mr. Frank, Ms. Watson of
California, Ms. Jackson-Lee of Texas, Mr. LoBiondo, Mr. Grucci, Ms.
Sanchez, Mr. Wu, Mr. Crowley, Mr. Shows, Mr. Green of Texas, Mr.
Barcia, Ms. Slaughter, and Mr. Hoeffel) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To authorize the President to award a gold medal on behalf of the
Congress to Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr. (posthumously) and
his widow Coretta Scott King in recognition of their contributions to
the Nation on behalf of the civil rights movement.
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 the following:
(1) Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr. and his widow
Coretta Scott King, as the first family of the civil rights
movement, have distinguished records of public service to the
American people and the international community.
(2) Dr. King preached a doctrine of nonviolent civil
disobedience to combat segregation, discrimination, and racial
injustice.
(3) Dr. King led the Montgomery bus boycott for 381 days to
protest the arrest of Mrs. Rosa Parks and the segregation of
the bus system of Montgomery, Alabama.
(4) In 1963, Dr. King led the march on Washington, D.C.,
that was followed by his famous address, the ``I Have a Dream''
speech.
(5) Through his work and reliance on nonviolent protest,
Dr. King was instrumental in the passage of the Civil Rights
Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
(6) Despite efforts to derail his mission, Dr. King acted
on his dream of America and succeeded in making the United
States a better place.
(7) Dr. King was assassinated for his beliefs on April 4,
1968, in Memphis, Tennessee.
(8) Mrs. King stepped into the civil rights movement in
1955 during the Montgomery bus boycott and played an important
role as a leading participant in the American civil rights
movement.
(9) While raising 4 children, Mrs. King devoted herself to
working alongside her husband for nonviolent social change and
full civil rights for African Americans.
(10) With a strong educational background in music, Mrs.
King established and performed several Freedom Concerts, which
were well received and combined prose and poetry narration with
musical selections to increase awareness and understanding of
the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (of which Dr. King
served as the first president).
(11) Mrs. King demonstrated composure in deep sorrow, as
she led the Nation in mourning her husband after his brutal
assassination.
(12) After the assassination, Mrs. King devoted all of her
time and energy to developing and building the Atlanta-based
Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change as
an enduring memorial to her husband's life and his dream of
nonviolent social change and full civil rights for all
Americans.
(13) Under Mrs. King's guidance and direction, the Center
has flourished. The Center was the first institution built in
honor of an African American leader. It provides local,
national, and international programs that have trained tens of
thousands of people in Dr. King's philosophy and methods, and
boasts the largest archive of the civil rights movement.
(14) Mrs. King led the massive campaign to establish Dr.
King's birthday as a national holiday, and the holiday is now
celebrated in more than 100 countries.
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 Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr. (posthumously) and his widow
Coretta Scott King in recognition of their service 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.
SEC. 3. DUPLICATE MEDALS.
The Secretary of the Treasury shall 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 costs of the duplicate medals and the gold medal (including
labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and overhead expenses).
SEC. 4. NATIONAL MEDALS.
The medals struck under this Act are national medals for purposes
of chapter 51 of title 31, United States Code.
SEC. 5. FUNDING AND PROCEEDS OF SALE.
(a) Authorization.--There is hereby 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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