110 HR 4576 IH: To award a congressional gold medal to Francis Collins, U.S. House of Representatives 2007-12-13 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.

I 110th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 4576 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES December 13, 2007 Mrs. Biggert (for herself, Ms. Slaughter, Mr. Upton, Mr. George Miller of California, Ms. Baldwin, Ms. Bordallo, Mrs. Capps, Mr. Castle, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Dingell, Mr. Ehlers, Mrs. Emerson, Ms. Eshoo, Mr. Higgins, Mr. Kanjorski, Mr. LaTourette, Mrs. Maloney of New York, Mr. Roskam, and Mr. Wolf) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services A BILL To award a congressional gold medal to Francis Collins, in recognition of his outstanding contributions and leadership in the fields of medicine and genetics.

1.

Findings

Congress finds that— (1)Francis Collins, who was raised on a small farm in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley, decided to pursue a career in chemistry when he was a high school student; (2)in the 1970s, after studying DNA and RNA, Francis Collins recognized that a revolution was on the horizon and decided to study medicine and genetics; (3)Francis Collins received a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from Yale University in 1974, and an M.D. from the University of North Carolina in 1977; (4)after a fellowship in genetics at Yale University, Francis Collins joined the faculty at the University of Michigan and discovered a new method to identify abnormal genes; (5)Francis Collins' work led to major advances in modern medicine, including the identification of genes responsible for cystic fibrosis, neurofibromatosis, Huntington's disease, and Hutchison-Gilford progeria syndrome; (6)in 1993, Francis Collins succeeded James Watson as Director of the National Center for Human Genome Research at the National Institutes of Health; (7)as Director of the National Center for Human Genome Research, Francis Collins was charged with leading a 15-year effort to locate and map every gene in the human DNA by 2005, and then determine aspects of its function; (8)in June 2000, ahead of schedule and under budget, Francis Collins announced the completion of a first draft of the human genome; (9)the sequencing of the human genome, which was completed in April 2003, is one of the most significant advances in modern science; (10)Francis Collins remains committed to making the data from the human genome accessible to the worldwide scientific community, and has been a tireless champion of genetic information nondiscrimination; (11)Francis Collins remains at the forefront of understanding the connection between genes and disease, which he believes will eventually lead to a new field of individualized, prevention-oriented medicine; and (12)Francis Collins has received numerous awards and honors for his work, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and is a member of the Institute of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences.

2.

Congressional gold medal

(a)

Award Authorized

The Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements for the award, on behalf of the Congress, of a gold medal of appropriate design to Francis Collins for his outstanding contributions in the fields of medicine and genetics. (b)

Design and Striking

For the purpose of the presentation referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury (hereafter 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.

Duplicate medals

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 medals

(a)

National medals

The medals struck under this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States Code. (b)

Numismatic items

For purposes of sections 5134 and 5136 of title 31, United States Code, all medals struck pursuant to this Act shall be considered numismatic items.

5.

Authorization of appropriations; proceeds of sale

(a)

Authorization of appropriations

There are authorized to be charged against the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund, such sums as may be necessary to pay for the cost of the medals struck pursuant to 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.