[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3148 Introduced in House (IH)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3148

To award a congressional gold medal to Monsignor Ignatius McDermott in 
 recognition of his contribution to the drug treatment community, and 
           his accomplishments as a priest and humanitarian.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 23, 2003

 Mr. Davis of Illinois (for himself, Mr. Hastert, Mr. LaHood, and Mr. 
  Lipinski) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To award a congressional gold medal to Monsignor Ignatius McDermott in 
 recognition of his contribution to the drug treatment community, and 
           his accomplishments as a priest and humanitarian.

    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) Monsignor Ignatius McDermott is a man of unwavering 
        faith, deep compassion, and tireless devotion to helping those 
        who are among the most desperate and needy.
            (2) In his own words, today's world is over-saturated with 
        a surplus of starters and a famine of finishers: Monsignor 
        McDermott is a finisher.
            (3) Monsignor McDermott, or ``Father Mac'' as he is 
        affectionately referred to by everyone from the Governor of 
        Illinois to the last wanderer from the street, grew up on 
        Chicago's South Side and was ordained in the priesthood in 
        1936.
            (4) From the start of his career, Father Mac found a 
        calling in helping those plagued by dependency on alcohol and 
        drugs.
            (5) Inspired by experiences in his early work with children 
        neglected due to alcohol abuse, and at a charity near a police 
        ``drunk tank'', Father Mac sought not only to help those who 
        could not help themselves, but to change the very system that 
        had in many ways given up on them.
            (6) Working toward a solution, Father Mac founded the 
        Addiction Counseling Education Services in 1961, which provided 
        counseling to alcoholics and other substance abusers who had no 
        other means to get help.
            (7) Later, he would expand his work to the Chicago schools 
        system, where he developed an alcohol education curriculum and 
        fostered Alternatives to Expulsion, a program to help teachers 
        salvage addicted teenagers who were willing to give up drinking 
        and drugs and resume their studies.
            (8) This program worked so well that it was incorporated 
        into State of Illinois educational practices.
            (9) Father Mac's work has had a lasting impact on the 
        treatment community as a whole; in 1963, he founded the Central 
        States Institute of Addiction, a nonprofit charitable 
        organization providing instruction to social workers and 
        counselors regarding addiction and dependency.
            (10) This Institute is only one of numerous programs begun 
        through his inspiration and dedication that continue to 
        function to the benefit of many.
            (11) Father Mac's lifelong concern for the homeless 
        inebriate and for families split by alcoholism has also met 
        with matching public attitudes.
            (12) His work helped first bring to light the problems of 
        drinking and driving, provide treatment services to pregnant 
        mothers suffering from addiction, and to decriminalize the 
        public inebriate.
            (13) This latter breakthrough led to his creating the 
        Chicago Clergy Association for the Homeless Person, and the 
        founding of Haymarket Center at the age of 75, a time when most 
        people are ready to retire.
            (14) Father Mac is now 94, and Haymarket Center is the 
        largest drug abuse treatment center in the City of Chicago 
        providing integrated treatment services for an average of 
        18,000 clients annually, and serving as a model for other 
        treatment programs throughout the Nation.
            (15) As the Nation renews its commitment to addiction 
        disorders, Father Mac continues what has become a lifelong 
        pursuit of helping others raise themselves from the depths of 
        their personal struggles with addiction.

SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.

    (a) Presentation Authorized.--The Speaker of the House of 
Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate shall make 
appropriate arrangements for the presentation, on behalf of the 
Congress, of a gold medal of appropriate design, to Monsignor Ignatius 
McDermott, in recognition of his contribution to the drug treatment 
community, and his accomplishments as a priest and humanitarian.
    (b) Design and Striking.--For purposes of the presentation referred 
to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury (referred to in 
this Act 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, 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.

SEC. 4. STATUS OF MEDALS.

    (a) National Medals.--The medals struck pursuant to this Act are 
national medals for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States 
Code.
    (b) Numismatic Items.--For purposes of section 5134 of title 31, 
United States Code, all medals struck under this Act shall be 
considered to be numismatic items.

SEC. 5. AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS; PROCEEDS OF SALE.

    (a) Authority To Use Fund Amounts.--There is authorized to be 
charged against the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund such 
amounts as may be necessary to pay for the costs of the medals struck 
pursuant to this Act.
    (b) Proceeds of Sale.--Amounts received from the sale of duplicate 
bronze medals authorized under section 3 shall be deposited into the 
United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund.
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