[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 780 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
108th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 780
To award a congressional gold medal to Chief Phillip Martin of the
Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
April 3, 2003
Mr. Lott (for himself and Mr. Cochran) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing,
and Urban Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To award a congressional gold medal to Chief Phillip Martin of the
Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians.
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 ``Chief Martin Congressional Gold
Medal Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds as follows:
(1) For more than 45 years, Chief Phillip Martin has
provided extraordinary leadership to the Mississippi Band of
Choctaw Indians, a federally recognized Indian tribe located in
the State of Mississippi, as the tribe has undertaken a long
and courageous journey to preserve social and cultural identity
while developing relative prosperity.
(2) The vision, guidance, and determination of Chief Martin
has led to the emergence of a virtual economic miracle, the
creation and development of a new government, and the
revitalization of an ancient society, a claim few governmental
leaders of our time are able to make.
(3) Chief Martin has led efforts designed to create a
vibrant tribal economy that would first provide jobs, then
dignity, and over time a higher quality of life for the Choctaw
people as well as neighboring communities.
(4) Once described as ``the worst poverty pocket in the
poorest State of the Union'', the Choctaws under Chief Martin's
leadership have evolved from subsistence sharecroppers to
become proprietors of a multi-enterprise, industrial and
commercial powerhouse.
(5) With the creation of nearly 9,000 permanent, full-time
jobs, the Choctaw tribe is now 1 of the 5 largest employers in
the State of Mississippi.
(6) Chief Martin has been guided by a belief that self-
reliance breeds opportunity.
(7) Early developments on the Choctaw reservation, while
modest in retrospect, were nonetheless ambitious and
challenging in their beginnings.
(8) Faced with active opposition from Federal authorities
and expectations of failure from many others, Chief Martin
tenaciously led the Choctaw tribe to establish a tribally-owned
construction company, then a small industrial park which
produced the first large scale reservation-based manufacturing
jobs in the Nation.
(9) In addition to more usual government-operated
enterprises, such as a transit authority, a utility commission,
and a public works department, the Chief also created many
fruitful partnerships with the private sector.
(10) These dynamic developments have now given the tribe a
solid economic foundation.
(11) Recognizing that the most valuable asset of any
community is its people, Chief Martin led the Choctaws to take
over direct operation of its own education system from the
Bureau of Indian Affairs.
(12) The tribe today operates the largest unified tribal
school system in the Nation, with 6 elementary schools, a
middle school, and a high school.
(13) Chief Martin has continued toward the goal of
producing a new generation of well-educated and well-trained
tribal members through establishment of the Choctaw Indian
Scholarships Program, giving all Mississippi Choctaw students
the opportunity to attend colleges and universities of their
choice.
(14) With the passage of the Indian Self-Determination and
Education Assistance Act in 1975, the Congress established the
concepts of self-determination, self-reliance, and tribal
initiative as the basis for a new covenant between the Federal
Government and the American Indian peoples.
(15) However, it has only been through the extraordinary
commitment and ceaseless efforts of tribal leaders, such as
Chief Martin, that these concepts were given life and put into
practice.
(16) ``Choctaw Self Determination'' became Chief Martin's
clarion call (and it remains the tribe's unofficial slogan) to
motivate an impoverished reservation that institutionalized
poverty and hopelessness to transform itself into the vibrant
entity that today serves as a beacon of success for other
tribal and non-tribal communities.
(17) Deeply devoted to tribal sovereignty, trust land, and
economic development issues, Chief Martin has improved the
lives of thousands in Mississippi, and is perhaps the most
recognized American Indian leader: he has been called ``one of
Indian Country's greatest leaders''.
(18) The outstanding example of Chief Phillip Martin
deserves to be recognized and honored by the United States
Congress.
SEC. 3. 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 Chief Phillip
Martin in recognition of his leadership of the Mississippi Band of
Choctaw Indians for over 45 years, and for his invaluable contributions
nationally to the American Indian community and particularly to the
native and non-native communities of Mississippi.
(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. 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, 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. 5. 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. 6. 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 4 shall be deposited into the
United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund.
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