[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6494 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 6494

To award posthumously a Congressional Gold Medal to Stewart Lee Udall, 
           in recognition of his contributions to the nation.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 21, 2012

  Mr. Thompson of California (for himself, Mr. Carson of Indiana, Mr. 
Clay, Mr. Rangel, Mr. Boswell, Mr. Van Hollen, Ms. Bordallo, Mr. Larsen 
  of Washington, Ms. Woolsey, Mr. Dingell, Mr. Rahall, Mr. Lujan, Mr. 
George Miller of California, Ms. DeGette, Mr. Meeks, Ms. McCollum, Mrs. 
Christensen, Ms. Chu, Ms. Linda T. Sanchez of California, Mr. Heinrich, 
  Mr. McGovern, Mr. King of New York, Mr. Blumenauer, Mr. Stark, Mr. 
Matheson, Mr. Moran, Mr. Quigley, Mr. Kind, Mr. Kildee, Mr. Nadler, Mr. 
 Grijalva, Ms. Zoe Lofgren of California, Mr. Farr, Mr. Pascrell, Mr. 
   Faleomavaega, Mr. Perlmutter, Ms. Schakowsky, Mr. Garamendi, Ms. 
 Norton, Mr. DeFazio, Mr. Markey, Ms. Pingree of Maine, Ms. Eshoo, Ms. 
Hirono, Mr. Kucinich, and Mr. Reichert) introduced the following bill; 
       which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To award posthumously a Congressional Gold Medal to Stewart Lee Udall, 
           in recognition of his contributions to the nation.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Stewart Lee Udall Congressional Gold 
Medal Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) Stewart Lee Udall was born on January 31, 1920, in 
        Saint Johns, Arizona, the son of former Arizona Supreme Court 
        Justice Levi Stewart Udall and Louise Lee Udall.
            (2) Stewart L. Udall began serving his country in 1942, 
        when he joined the United States Army Air Corps (predecessor of 
        the United States Air Force) in World War II, serving as an 
        enlisted B24 waist gunner in Italy. He flew more than 50 
        missions over Western Europe over four years, receiving the Air 
        Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters.
            (3) After coming home from war, Stewart L. Udall returned 
        to the University of Arizona where he received a bachelors and 
        law degree and was admitted to the Arizona State Bar. After 
        graduating from law school, he began his own private practice 
        and eventually established the law firm of Udall and Udall with 
        his brother Morris K. Udall.
            (4) Stewart L. Udall's first elected office was as a member 
        of the Amphitheater School Board (1951), where he participated 
        in desegregating the Amphitheater School District before the 
        United States Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of 
        Education.
            (5) Beginning in 1954, Stewart L. Udall was elected to 
        serve four terms as United States Representative from Arizona's 
        second district.
            (6) Upon the 1960 Presidential election, President Kennedy 
        appointed Stewart L. Udall as Secretary of the Interior. He 
        maintained this position for eight years, where his 
        accomplishments under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson made him a 
        hero for the environmental and conservation communities.
            (7) Among the legislative accomplishments during his 
        cabinet career, Stewart L. Udall helped guide numerous landmark 
        environmental measures through Congress, including the 
        Wilderness Act of 1964, the Land and Water Conservation Fund 
        Act of 1965, the Endangered Species Preservation Act of 1966, 
        the National Trail System Act of 1968, the Solid Waste Disposal 
        Act of 1965, the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968, and the 
        Clear Air, Water Quality and Clean Water Restoration Acts and 
        Amendments.
            (8) Furthermore, Secretary Udall was a coauthor of the 
        Economic Opportunity Act of 1964. This legislation created 
        several new social programs that helped promote the health, 
        education, and general welfare of the impoverished. Some of the 
        programs remaining today include Head Start and the Job Corps.
            (9) As Secretary of the Interior in the Kennedy and Johnson 
        administrations, Stewart L. Udall expanded the National Park 
        Service by presiding over the acquisition of 3.85 million acres 
        of new holdings, including 4 national parks (Canyonlands in 
        Utah, Redwood in California, North Cascades in Washington 
        State, and Guadalupe Mountains in Texas), 6 national monuments, 
        9 national recreation areas, 20 historic sites, 50 wildlife 
        refuges, and 8 national seashores.
            (10) Furthermore, Stewart L. Udall established the Bureau 
        of Outdoor Recreation to coordinate all Federal outdoor 
        programs.
            (11) In September 1966, Secretary Stewart Udall announced 
        the creation of Project EROS, which led the United States to 
        state of the art science and technology that includes Landsat, 
        the longest running acquisition of satellite imagery. Project 
        EROS began as a revolutionary program that utilized earth-
        orbiting satellites that map the planet to gather data about 
        the Earth's natural resources along with changes in weather and 
        climate.
            (12) During his tenure as Secretary of the Interior, 
        Stewart L. Udall also became a champion of the arts, convincing 
        President Kennedy to invite the renowned poet Robert Frost to 
        speak at his inauguration and setting in motion initiatives 
        that led to the creation of the Kennedy Center, Wolf Trap Farm 
        Park, the National Endowments for the Arts and the Humanities, 
        and the revived Ford's Theatre.
            (13) Additionally, while Stewart L. Udall was Secretary of 
        the Interior, he continued to fight against segregation, when 
        he threatened to refuse the all-white Washington Redskins 
        access to the new DC stadium, of which he was the Federal 
        landlord.
            (14) After he left government service, Stewart L. Udall 
        continued helping the American people by becoming a crusader 
        for victims of radiation exposure (particularly Native 
        Americans) resulting from the government's Cold War nuclear 
        programs. He helped to pass the Radiation Exposure Compensation 
        Act in 1990, which was signed by President George Bush.
            (15) Moreover, Stewart L. Udall was a prolific writer, 
        penning countless articles, essays, and op-eds. He also co-
        authored nine books, and wrote nine of his own, including the 
        seminal title in the conservation movement, ``The Quiet 
        Crisis''.
            (16) Among his many honors, Stewart L. Udall was a 
        recipient of the Ansel Adams Award, the Wilderness Society's 
        highest conservation award, the Common Cause Public Service 
        Achievement Award for his lifelong protection of the 
        environment and the defense of American citizens who were 
        victims of nuclear weapons testing, and the United Nations Gold 
        Medal for Lifetime Achievement.
            (17) Until his passing in 2010, Stewart L. Udall continued 
        his devotion to public service as an author, historian, 
        scholar, lecturer, environmental activist, lawyer, and citizen 
        of the outdoors.

SEC. 3. 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 posthumous presentation, on behalf of 
the Congress, of a gold medal of appropriate design in commemoration of 
Stewart Lee Udall, in recognition of his contributions to the nation.
    (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. 4. 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. 5. 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 section 5134 of title 31, 
United States Code, all medals struck under this Act shall be 
considered to be numismatic items.

SEC. 6. 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 4 shall be deposited into the 
United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund.
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