1.Congress finds the following:
(1)On July 26, 1805, Constantino Brumidi was
born in Rome, Italy of an Italian mother and a Greek father who inspired him
with a love of liberty.
(2)While Constantino Brumidi’s Greek ancestry
stirred his passion for liberty and citizenship, his Italian heritage provided
the art styles of the Renaissance and the Baroque which influenced the artwork
of the United States Capitol.
(3)Constantino Brumidi became a citizen of the
United States as soon as he was able, embracing its history, values, and
ideals.
(4)Beginning in 1855, Constantino Brumidi
designed and decorated 1 House and 5 Senate committee rooms in the Capitol, as
well as the Senate Reception Room, the Office of the Vice President, and, most
notably, the President’s Room, which represents Brumidi’s supreme effort
to make beautiful the Capitol
of the United States.
(5)In 1865, Constantino Brumidi completed in
just 11 months his masterpiece, The Apotheosis of Washington
, in
the eye of the Capitol dome.
(6)In 1871, Constantino Brumidi created the
first tribute to an African American in the Capitol when he placed the figure
of Crispus Attucks at the center of his fresco of the Boston Massacre.
(7)In 1878, Constantino Brumidi, at the age of
72 and in poor health, began work on the Rotunda frieze, which chronicles the
history of America.
(8)On February 19, 1880, Constantino Brumidi
died at the age of 74, four and a half months after slipping and nearly falling
from a scaffold while working on the Rotunda frieze.
(9)Constantino Brumidi, proud of his artistic
accomplishments and devoted to his adopted country, said, My one
ambition and my daily prayer is that I may live long enough to make beautiful
the Capitol of the one country on earth in which there is
liberty.
.
(10)Constantino Brumidi’s life and work
exemplify the lives of millions of immigrants who came to pursue the American
dream.
2.
(a)
(1)The Speaker of the House of Representatives
and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate shall make appropriate arrangements
for the posthumous presentation, on behalf of Congress, of a gold medal of
appropriate design to Constantino Brumidi, in recognition of his contributions
to the Nation.
(2)Display of medal in capitol visitor
centerThe Architect of the
Capitol shall arrange for the gold medal presented under this subsection to be
displayed in the Capitol Visitor Center, as part of an exhibit honoring
Constantino Brumidi.
(b)For purposes of the presentation referred
to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury (referred to in this Act as
the Secretary
) shall strike a gold medal with suitable emblems,
devices, and inscriptions to be determined by the Secretary.
3.The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates
in bronze of the gold medal struck pursuant to section 2 under such regulations
as the Secretary may prescribe, 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.
(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 section 5134 of title 31,
United States Code, all medals struck under this Act shall be considered to be
numismatic items.
5.Authority to use fund amounts; proceeds of
sale
(a)Authority To Use Fund AmountsThere is authorized to be charged against
the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund, such amounts as may be necessary
to pay for the costs of the medals struck pursuant to this Act.
(b)Amounts received from the sale of duplicate
bronze medals authorized under section 3 shall be deposited into the United
States Mint Public Enterprise Fund.
Speaker of the House of Representatives
Vice President of the United States and President of the
Senate