[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 846 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        S.846

                      One Hundred Eleventh Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America


                          AT THE SECOND SESSION

          Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday,
             the fifth day of January, two thousand and ten


                                 An Act


 
     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.
    The 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 1,400,000,000 people, 
    mostly women and children, who live on less than $1.25 a day, and 
    the 2,600,000,000 people who live on less than $2 a day, and which 
    has already reached 155,000,000, by one estimate;
        (7) there are now an estimated 24,000,000 microenterprises in 
    the United States accounting for approximately 18 percent of 
    private (nonfarm) employment and 87 percent of all business 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 the 
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 (hereafter 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.
    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.
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 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.