1.Congress makes the following
findings:
(1)A native of New
Jersey, Jerry Lewis is a gifted comedian and has been a fixture in the
entertainment community for more than 5 decades.
(2)Born Joseph
Levitch on March 16, 1926, in Newark, New Jersey, Jerry Lewis began his career
by performing in local nightclubs.
(3)With his hope of
breaking into show business fading, Jerry Lewis was encouraged by his fellow
comedians to continue his act, and soon thereafter, he formed a show business
partnership with Dean Martin that would skyrocket both to fame. While
performing with Martin in New York City, the pair was approached by a motion
picture executive who offered them a contract with Paramount Pictures. They
went on to make 16 major motion pictures during their 10-year
partnership.
(4)Jerry Lewis'
talent and enthusiasm kept America laughing during some of the most turbulent
periods in our history, World War II, the Cold War, and the assassinations of
President John F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. One of the most
successful performers in show business, Jerry Lewis has received worldwide
acclaim for his unique ability and style with both comedy and drama. He has
been the star of stage, screen, radio, television, print, and recordings. He is
considered among the elite in the history of comedy.
(5)But aside from
his comic persona, Jerry Lewis has been an active champion for the Muscular
Dystrophy Association (MDA) since the early 1950s. In 1966, he began the
Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon,
an annual television program
that benefits children and adults affected by muscular dystrophy and related
neuromuscular diseases. Now in its 42nd year, the show, which is broadcast on
some 200 stations nationwide, including Puerto Rico, and worldwide on the
Internet, raises tens of millions of dollars annually.
(6)Jerry Lewis
summed up why he devotes so much of his time and energy to this cause with the
words: I shall pass through this world but once. Any good, therefore,
that I can do or any kindness that I can show to any human being let me do it
now. Let me not defer nor neglect it, for I shall not pass this way
again.
.
(7)Jerry Lewis has
received numerous awards for his outstanding service to our Nation. He was
nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for his dedication to the Muscular
Dystrophy Association.
(8)In June of 1978,
the communications industry honored Jerry Lewis with the National Association
of Television Program Executives Award of the Year for his humanitarian efforts
in raising funds to combat neuromuscular diseases. Among his numerous awards
are induction into the French Legion of Honor as Legion
Commander,
the Murray-Green Award for Community Service, the highest
honor that the AFL–CIO bestows upon an individual, the American Medical
Association Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Governor's Award (Emmy) from
the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
(9)In September of
1976, the United States Senate unanimously adopted a resolution expressing
their appreciation of his philanthropic endeavors and in particular his fight
to find a cure for muscular dystrophy. In February 2001, Jerry Lewis led a
delegation of MDA scientists and clients to testify before a subcommittee of
the United States Senate resulting in the introduction and subsequent passage
of the MD-Care Act (Public Law 107-84; 115 Stat. 823), a first step toward
securing a dramatic boost in Federal funding for research into all forms of
muscular dystrophy.
(10)Joining the
ranks of distinguished Congressional Gold Medal recipients would be a fitting
accolade to this consummate entertainer, world-renowned humanitarian and
living legend
who has served for some 5 decades as National
Chairman of the Muscular Dystrophy Association.
2.
(a)The President Pro Tempore of the Senate and the
Speaker of the House of Representatives are authorized to make appropriate
arrangements for the presentation, on behalf of Congress, of a gold medal of
appropriate design to Jerry Lewis, in recognition of his outstanding service to
the Nation.
(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 medals
(a)The medals struck
under this Act are national medals for purposes of chapter 51 of title 31,
United States Code.
(b)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 appropriationsThere 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)Amounts received from the sale of duplicate bronze medals
under section 3 shall be deposited in the United States Mint Public Enterprise
Fund.