[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3990 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3990

To grant the Congressional Gold Medal to John H. Johnson in recognition 
         of his outstanding contributions to the United States.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            November 3, 2009

   Mr. Rush introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To grant the Congressional Gold Medal to John H. Johnson in recognition 
         of his outstanding contributions to the United States.

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

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) John H. Johnson published the first edition of the 
        Negro Digest in 1942, having conceived of the idea while 
        working at the Supreme Life Insurance Company.
            (2) This publication covered African-American history, 
        literature, arts, and cultural issues and reached a circulation 
        of 50,000 within six months.
            (3) Renamed to Black World, the publication reached a 
        circulation of more than 100,000 subscribers at its peak.
            (4) Johnson's later creation, Ebony magazine, supplanted 
        this record in selling out its initial run of 25,000 printed 
        copies and at its height had 2,300,000 subscribers.
            (5) Through Ebony magazine, Johnson provided insight into 
        the African-American community by reporting on issues such as 
        ``the white problem in America'', African-American militancy, 
        crimes by African-Americans against African-Americans, civil 
        rights legislation, freedom rides and marches, and other 
        aspects of segregation and discrimination.
            (6) Johnson worked to ensure that the contributions of 
        African-Americans to the United States were documented by 
        trained historians who were brought on to the magazine's staff.
            (7) Striving to show positive images of African-Americans, 
        Johnson featured African-American models in the magazine's 
        advertisements, and a concerted effort was made to show 
        positive aspects of African-American life and culture.
            (8) Johnson's quest to serve African-American readers 
        continued in subsequent years by launching four other magazines 
        entitled Tan, Jet, African American Stars, and Ebony Jr., a 
        children's magazine.
            (9) Johnson later expanded his enterprise when becoming 
        chairman and chief executive officer of the Supreme Life 
        Insurance Company, developing a line of cosmetics, owning three 
        radio stations, starting a book publishing company, and a 
        television production company.
            (10) Invited by the United States Government to participate 
        in several international missions, Johnson accompanied the Vice 
        President of the United States on a mission to Russia and 
        Poland in 1959, and was appointed to be a Special Ambassador to 
        represent the United States at the independence ceremonies in 
        the Ivory Coast in 1961 and Kenya in 1963.
            (11) In 1966, Johnson was honored with the National 
        Association for the Advancement of Colored People's Spingarn 
        Medal for his contributions to improving race relations in the 
        United States.
            (12) In 1966, The Horatio Alger Association of 
        Distinguished Americans awarded Johnson the Horatio Alger Award 
        in recognition of his outstanding work as a dedicated community 
        leader.
            (13) In 1972, Johnson was named Publisher of the Year by 
        the Magazine Publishers Association, an industry association 
        for consumer magazines.
            (14) In 1993, the Wall Street Journal awarded Johnson with 
        the Dow Jones Entrepreneurial Excellence Award.
            (15) In 1994, Johnson was awarded the Center for 
        Communication's Communication Award, on the occasion of Ebony's 
        50th anniversary.
            (16) In 1996, President William Clinton awarded Johnson the 
        Presidential Medal of Freedom which was followed in 1997 by 
        Johnson's induction into the Junior Achievement National 
        Business Hall of Fame.
            (17) In 2001, Johnson was inducted into the Arkansas 
        Business Hall of Fame.
            (18) Among his numerous awards and honors, Johnson has been 
        awarded honorary doctorates by the University of Arkansas at 
        Pine Bluff, Harvard University, the University of Southern 
        California, Carnegie Mellon University, Eastern Michigan 
        University, and Wayne State University.

SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.

    (a) Award Authorized.--The Speaker of the House of Representatives 
and the President pro tempore of the Senate shall make appropriate 
arrangements for the award, on behalf of the Congress, of a single gold 
medal of appropriate design to John H. Johnson in recognition of his 
outstanding work, leadership, and service.
    (b) Design and Striking.--For the purposes of the award referred to 
in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury (hereafter in this Act 
referred to as the ``Secretary'') shall strike the 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 under section 2, at a price sufficient to cover the costs of the 
medals, including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and 
overhead expenses.

SEC. 4. STATUS OF MEDALS.

    The medals struck pursuant to this Act are national medals for 
purposes of chapter 51 of title 31, United States Code.

SEC. 5. AUTHORITY TO USE FUND AMOUNTS; PROCEEDS OF SALE.

    (a) Authority To Use Fund Amounts.--There 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) Proceeds of Sale.--Amounts received from the sale of duplicate 
bronze medals authorized under section 3 shall be deposited into the 
United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund.
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