1.Congress makes the following
findings:
(1)Robert M. La
Follette, Sr., better known as Fighting Bob
La Follette, was
born 150 years ago, on June 14, 1855, in Primrose, Wisconsin.
(2)Fighting Bob was
elected to 3 terms in the United States House of Representatives, 3 terms as
Governor of Wisconsin, and 4 terms as a United States Senator.
(3)Fighting Bob
founded the Progressive wing of the Republican Party.
(4)Fighting Bob was
a lifelong supporter of civil rights and women’s suffrage, earning respect and
support from such distinguished Americans as Frederick Douglass and Harriet
Tubman Upton.
(5)Fighting Bob
helped to make the Wisconsin Idea
a reality at the Federal and
State level, instituting election reforms, environmental conservation, railroad
rate regulation, increased education funding, and business regulation.
(6)Fighting Bob was
a principal advocate for the Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution of the
United States, which calls for the election of United States Senators by
popular vote.
(7)Fighting Bob
delivered an historic speech, “Free Speech in Wartime”, opposing the public
persecution of those who sought to hold their Government accountable.
(8)Fighting Bob
played a key role in exposing the corruption during the Teapot Dome
Scandal.
(9)Fighting Bob and
his wife, Belle Case La Follette, founded La Follette’s Weekly, now renamed The
Progressive, a monthly magazine for the Progressive community.
(10)Fighting Bob ran
for the presidency on the Progressive ticket in 1924, winning more than 17
percent of the popular vote.
(11)The Library of
Congress recognized Fighting Bob in 1985 by naming the Congressional Research
Service reading room in the Madison Building in honor of both Robert M. La
Follette, Sr., and his son, Robert M. La Follette, Jr., for their shared
commitment to the development of a legislative research service to support the
United States Congress.
(12)Fighting Bob was
honored in 1929 with 1 of 2 statues representing the State of Wisconsin in
National Statuary Hall in the United States Capitol.
(13)Fighting Bob was
chosen as 1 of Five Outstanding Senators
by the Special
Committee on the Senate Reception Room in 1957.
(14)A portrait of
Fighting Bob was unveiled in the Senate Reception Room in March 1959.
(15)Fighting Bob was
revered by his supporters for his unwavering support of his ideals, and for his
tenacious pursuit of a more just and accountable Government.
2.
(a)The President is authorized, on behalf of the
Congress, to posthumously award a gold medal of appropriate design to Robert M.
La Follette, Sr., in recognition of his important contributions to the
Progressive movement, the State of Wisconsin, and the United States.
(b)For the purpose of the presentation 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.
3.Under such regulations
as the Secretary may prescribe, the Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in
bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 2 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.
4.Status as
national medalsThe medals
struck under this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 51 of title
31, United States Code.
5.Authorization of
appropriations
(a)Authorization
of appropriationsThere is authorized to be charged against the
United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund such sum as may be appropriate to pay
for the cost of the medals authorized under this Act.
(b)Amounts received from the sale of duplicate bronze medals
under section 3 shall be deposited in the United States Mint Public Enterprise
Fund.