[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1317 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1317

  To posthumously award a congressional gold medal to Constance Baker 
                                Motley.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 7, 2007

  Mr. Schumer (for himself, Mrs. Clinton, Mrs. Boxer, Mr. Obama, Mr. 
Bayh, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Levin, Ms. Landrieu, Mr. Feingold, Mr. Lieberman, 
 Mr. Durbin, Mr. Voinovich, Mr. Kennedy, Mr. Salazar, Mr. Cochran, Mr. 
Pryor, Ms. Mikulski, Mr. Hagel, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Enzi, Mr. Reid, Ms. 
 Stabenow, and Mr. Reed) introduced the following bill; which was read 
  twice and referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban 
                                Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To posthumously award a congressional gold medal to Constance Baker 
                                Motley.

    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 ``Congressional Tribute to Constance 
Baker Motley Act of 2007''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds as follows:
            (1) Constance Baker Motley was born in 1921, in New Haven, 
        Connecticut, the daughter of immigrants from the Caribbean 
        island of Nevis.
            (2) In 1943, Constance Baker Motley graduated from New York 
        University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics.
            (3) Upon receiving a law degree from Columbia University in 
        1946, Constance Baker Motley became a staff attorney at the 
        National Association for the Advancement of Colored People 
        Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., and fought tirelessly 
        for 2 decades alongside Thurgood Marshall and other leading 
        civil rights lawyers to dismantle segregation throughout the 
        country.
            (4) Constance Baker Motley was the only female attorney on 
        the legal team that won the landmark desegregation case, Brown 
        v. Board of Education.
            (5) Constance Baker Motley argued 10 major civil rights 
        cases before the Supreme Court, winning all but one, including 
        the case brought on behalf of James Meredith challenging the 
        University of Mississippi's refusal to admit him.
            (6) Constance Baker Motley's only loss before the United 
        States Supreme Court was in Swain v. Alabama, a case in which 
        the Court refused to proscribe race-based peremptory challenges 
        in cases involving African-American defendants, and which was 
        later reversed in Batson v. Kentucky on grounds that had been 
        largely asserted by Constance Baker Motley in the Swain case.
            (7) In 1964, Constance Baker Motley became the first 
        African-American woman elected to the New York State Senate.
            (8) In 1965, Constance Baker Motley became the first 
        African-American woman, and the first woman, to serve as 
        president of the Borough of Manhattan.
            (9) Constance Baker Motley, in her capacity as an elected 
        public official in New York, continued to fight for civil 
        rights, dedicating herself to the revitalization of the inner 
        city and improvement of urban public schools and housing.
            (10) In 1966, Constance Baker Motley was appointed by 
        President Johnson as a United States District Court Judge for 
        the Southern District of New York.
            (11) The appointment of Constance Baker Motley made her the 
        first African-American woman, and only the fifth woman, 
        appointed and confirmed for a Federal judgeship.
            (12) In 1982, Constance Baker Motley was elevated to Chief 
        Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern 
        District of New York, the largest Federal trial court in the 
        United States.
            (13) Constance Baker Motley assumed senior status in 1986, 
        and continued serving with distinction for nearly 2 decades.
            (14) Constance Baker Motley passed away on September 28, 
        2005, and is survived by her husband Joel Wilson Motley, Jr., 
        their son, Joel Motley III, her 3 grandchildren, her brother, 
        Edmund Baker of Florida, and her sisters Edna Carnegie, Eunice 
        Royster, and Marian Green, of New Haven, Connecticut.

SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.

    (a) Presentation Authorized.--The President Pro Tempore of the 
Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives are authorized 
to make appropriate arrangements for the posthumous presentation, on 
behalf of Congress, of a gold medal of appropriate design in 
commemoration of Constance Baker Motley, in recognition of her enduring 
contributions and service to the United States.
    (b) Design and Striking.--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.

SEC. 4. DUPLICATE MEDALS.

    Under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe, the 
Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the gold medal 
struck under section 3, 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 AS NATIONAL MEDALS.

    (a) National Medal.--The medal struck under this Act is a national 
medal 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 duplicate 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 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 under 
this Act.
    (b) Proceeds of Sale.--Amounts received from the sale of duplicate 
bronze medals under section 4 shall be deposited in the United States 
Mint Public Enterprise Fund.
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