[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2140 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2140

To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Francis Collins, in recognition 
   of his outstanding contributions and leadership in the fields of 
                         medicine and genetics.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            October 4, 2007

 Mr. Dorgan (for himself and Mr. Enzi) 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 Francis Collins, in recognition 
   of his outstanding contributions and leadership in the fields of 
                         medicine and genetics.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 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 and is a member of the Institute of 
        Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences.

SEC. 2. 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 presentation, on behalf of 
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 (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. 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.

SEC. 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.

SEC. 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.
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