[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 903 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

  1st Session
                                 S. 903

     To award a Congressional Gold Medal to Dr. Muhammad Yunus, in 
 recognition of his contributions to the fight against global poverty.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 15, 2007

Mr. Durbin (for himself, Mr. Bennett, Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Kerry, and Mr. 
    Harkin) 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 Dr. Muhammad Yunus, in 
 recognition of his contributions to the fight against global poverty.

    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) Dr. Muhammad Yunus is recognized in the United States 
        and throughout the world as a leading figure in the fight 
        against poverty and the effort to promote economic and social 
        change;
            (2) Muhammad Yunus is the recognized developer of the 
        concept of microcredit, and Grameen Bank, which he founded, has 
        created a model of lending that has been emulated across the 
        globe;
            (3) Muhammad Yunus launched this global movement to create 
        economic and social development from below, beginning in 1976, 
        with a loan of $27 from his own pocket to 42 crafts persons in 
        a small village in Bangladesh;
            (4) Muhammad Yunus has demonstrated the life-changing 
        potential of extending very small loans (at competitive 
        interest rates) to the very poor and the economic feasibility 
        of microcredit and other microfinance and microenterprise 
        practices and services;
            (5) Dr. Yunus's work has had a particularly strong impact 
        on improving the economic prospects of women, and on their 
        families, as over 95 percent of microcredit borrowers are 
        women;
            (6) Dr. Yunus has pioneered a movement with the potential 
        to assist a significant number of the more than 1,000,000,000 
        people, mostly women and children, who live on less than $1 a 
        day, and the nearly 3,000,000,000 people who live on less than 
        $2 a day, and which has already reached 125,000,000 households, 
        by one estimate;
            (7) there are now an estimated 21,000,000 
        microentrepreneurs in the United States (accounting for 
        approximately 16 percent of private (nonfarm) employment in the 
        United States), and the Small Business Administration has made 
        over $318,000,000 in microloans to entrepreneurs since 1992;
            (8) Dr. Yunus, along with the Grameen Bank, was awarded the 
        Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for his efforts to promote economic 
        and social opportunity and out of recognition that lasting 
        peace cannot be achieved unless large population groups find 
        the means, such as microcredit, to break out of poverty; and
            (9) the microcredit ideas developed and put into practice 
        by Muhammad Yunus, along with other bold initiatives, can make 
        a historical breakthrough in the fight against poverty.

SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.

    (a) Presentation Authorized.--The Speaker of the House of 
Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate shall make 
appropriate arrangements for the presentation, on behalf of Congress, 
of a gold medal of appropriate design, to Dr. Muhammad Yunus, in 
recognition of his many enduring contributions to the fight against 
global poverty.
    (b) Design and Striking.--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.

SEC. 3. DUPLICATE MEDALS.

    The Secretary may strike and sell duplicates in bronze of the gold 
medal struck pursuant to section 3, 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.

SEC. 4. STATUS OF MEDALS.

    (a) National Medals.--The medals struck pursuant to 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 under this Act shall be 
considered to be numismatic items.

SEC. 5. 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 
amounts as may be necessary to pay for the costs of the medals struck 
pursuant to this Act.
    (b) Proceeds of Sale.--Amounts received from the sale of duplicate 
bronze medals authorized under section 4 shall be deposited into the 
United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund.
                                 <all>