[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3252 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3252

To provide for the award of a gold medal on behalf of Congress to Jack 
  Nicklaus, in recognition of his service to the Nation in promoting 
           excellence, good sportsmanship, and philanthropy.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 24, 2012

 Mr. Portman (for himself, Mr. Brown of Ohio, Mr. Hoeven, Ms. Ayotte, 
 Mr. Begich, Mr. Vitter, Mr. Blunt, Mr. Barrasso, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. 
Cornyn, Mr. Risch, Mr. Cochran, Mr. Udall of Colorado, Mr. Coburn, Mr. 
Rubio, Mr. Johnson of Wisconsin, Mr. Nelson of Florida, Mr. Toomey, Mr. 
 Wicker, Mr. Lee, Mr. Coons, Mr. Graham, Ms. Landrieu, and Mr. Carper) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
            Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To provide for the award of a gold medal on behalf of Congress to Jack 
  Nicklaus, in recognition of his service to the Nation in promoting 
           excellence, good sportsmanship, and philanthropy.

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

SECTION 1. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Jack Nicklaus is a world-famous golf professional, a 
        highly successful business executive, a prominent advertising 
        spokesman, a passionate and dedicated philanthropist, a devoted 
        husband, father, and grandfather, and a man with a common touch 
        that has made him one of the most popular and accessible public 
        figures in history.
            (2) Jack Nicklaus amassed 120 victories in professional 
        competition of national or international stature, 73 of which 
        came on the Professional Golf Association (in this Act referred 
        to as the ``PGA'') Tour, and professional major-championship 
        titles. His record 18 professional majors, which began 50 years 
        ago as of June 2012, with his win at the 1962 U.S. Open as a 
        22-year-old rookie, remains the standard by which all golfers 
        are measured. He is the only player in golf history to have won 
        each major championship at least 3 times, and is the only 
        player to complete a career ``Grand Slam'' on both the regular 
        and senior tours. He also owns the record for most major 
        championships as a senior with 8.
            (3) Jack Nicklaus' magnetic personality and unfailing sense 
        of kindness and thoughtfulness have endeared him to millions 
        throughout the world.
            (4) Jack Nicklaus has been the recipient of countless 
        athletic honors, including being named Individual Male Athlete 
        of the Century by Sports Illustrated, one of the 10 Greatest 
        Athletes of the Century by ESPN, and Golfer of the Century or 
        Golfer of the Millennium by every major national and 
        international media outlet. He received the Muhammad Ali Sports 
        Legend Award and the first-ever ESPY Lifetime Achievement 
        Award. He became the first golfer and only the third athlete to 
        receive the Vince Lombardi Award of Excellence, and is also a 
        5-time winner of the PGA Player of the Year Award. He was 
        inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame at the age of 34.
            (5) Jack Nicklaus has received numerous honors outside of 
        the world of sports, including several golf industry awards for 
        his work and contributions as a golf course designer, such as 
        the Old Tom Morris Award, which is the highest honor given by 
        the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, and 
        both the Donald Ross Award given by the American Society of 
        Golf Course Architects and the Don A. Rossi Award given by the 
        Golf Course Builders Association of America. Golf Inc. magazine 
        named him the Most Powerful Person in Golf for a record 6 
        consecutive years, due to his impact on various aspects of the 
        industry through his course design work, marketing and 
        licensing business, his ambassadorial role in promoting and 
        growing the game worldwide, and his involvement on a national 
        and global level with various charitable causes.
            (6) Jack Nicklaus has been involved in the design of more 
        than 290 golf courses worldwide, and his business, Nicklaus 
        Design, has 366 courses open for play in 34 countries and 39 
        States.
            (7) Jack Nicklaus served as the Global Ambassador for a 
        campaign to include golf in the Olympic Games, which was 
        achieved and will begin in the 2016 Olympic program.
            (8) Jack Nicklaus was honored by President George W. Bush 
        in 2005 by receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the 
        highest honor given to any United States civilian.
            (9) Jack Nicklaus has a long-standing commitment to 
        numerous charitable causes, such as his founding, along with 
        wife Barbara, of the Nicklaus Children's Health Care 
        Foundation, which provides pediatric health care services 
        throughout South Florida and in other parts of the country. The 
        Foundation has raised over $21,000,000 in just 6 years. He has 
        been a tireless supporter of numerous junior golf initiatives, 
        working with the PGA of America Junior Golf Foundation over the 
        course of 4 decades, including the establishment of the Barbara 
        and Jack Nicklaus Junior Golf Endowment Fund and the PGA-
        Nicklaus First Tee Teaching Grants. He also is a spokesperson 
        for several PGA of America and USGA growth-of-the-game 
        initiatives. He continues to support several scholarship 
        foundations, other children's hospitals, and other causes, 
        including spinal-cord research, pancreatic cancer issues, and 
        Florida Everglades restoration.
            (10) Jack Nicklaus continues to manage the Memorial 
        Tournament in his home State of Ohio, in which contributions 
        generated through the aid of over 2,600 volunteers are given to 
        support Nationwide Children's Hospital and close to 75 other 
        Central Ohio charities. This has garnered more than $5,700,000 
        for programs and services at Nationwide Children's Hospital 
        since 1976, so that Central Ohio will continue to have one of 
        the best children's hospitals in the United States.
            (11) Jack Nicklaus and his wife serve as honorary chairman 
        and active chairwoman, respectively, of the Nicklaus Children's 
        Health Care Foundation in North Palm Beach, Florida, which 
        provides free-of-charge health assistance and services to more 
        than 4,000 children and their families through Child Life 
        programs (supporting therapeutic interventions for children 
        with chronic and acute conditions during hospitalization), 
        Miami Children's Hospital Nicklaus Care Centers (to offer a new 
        option to Palm Beach County area families with children who 
        require pediatric specialty care), and Safe Kids Program (aimed 
        at keeping children injury-free and offering safety education 
        in an effort to decrease accidental injuries in children). In 
        April, they announced the planned opening of the Miami 
        Children's Hospital Nicklaus Outpatient Center, a 22,000-
        square-foot facility in Palm Beach County that will provide 
        pediatric urgent care, diagnostic services, and rehabilitation 
        services.
            (12) Jack Nicklaus established an annual pro-am golf 
        tournament called ``The Jake'' to honor his 17-month-old 
        grandson who passed away in 2005, and it serves as a primary 
        fundraiser for the Nicklaus Children's Health Care Foundation. 
        The event alone has raised well over $3,000,000 over the last 
        several years.
            (13) Jack Nicklaus and General John Shalikashvili (ret.) 
        serve as honorary chairs of the American Lake Veterans Golf 
        Course in Tacoma, Washington, which neighbors a Veterans 
        Administration hospital and is designed for the rehabilitation 
        of wounded and disabled veterans. Nicklaus has donated his 
        design services for the improvement of the course, and raised 
        contributions for the addition of 9 new holes (the ``Nicklaus 
        Nine''), the construction of the Rehabilitation and Learning 
        Center, and the upgrade of the maintenance facilities. The 
        course is considered the only one in the United States designed 
        solely for the use of disabled veterans. It served over 37,000 
        veterans and their families in 2011 to use the healing powers 
        of golf to rehabilitate and recreate. The hope is that American 
        Lake will serve as a pilot program for the more than 150 
        Veterans Administration hospitals nationwide.
            (14) Jack Nicklaus serves as a spokesperson and Trustee for 
        the First Tee program, which brings golf to children who would 
        not otherwise be exposed to it, and teaches them valuable, 
        character-building life lessons through the game of golf, and 
        is a national co-chair of the organization's More Than a Game 
        campaign.
            (15) Jack Nicklaus remains active in tournament golf, 
        although he retired from competition in the major championships 
        in 2005, when he played his final British Open and his final 
        Masters Tournament, and led the United States to a thrilling 
        victory in the President's Cup. He consults often with the PGA 
        Tour, and no fewer than 95 Nicklaus courses have hosted a 
        combined total of over 650 professional tournaments. In 2011 
        alone, Nicklaus courses hosted 15 PGA Tour-sanctioned events.

SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL GOLD MEDAL.

    (a) Authorization.--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 Jack Nicklaus in recognition of his 
service to the Nation in promoting excellence and good sportsmanship.
    (b) Design and Striking.--For the purpose of the presentation 
referred to in subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury shall 
strike a gold medal with suitable emblems, devices, and inscriptions to 
be determined by the Secretary.

SEC. 3. DUPLICATE MEDALS.

    Under such regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury may 
prescribe, the Secretary may strike duplicate medals in bronze of the 
gold medal struck pursuant to section 2 and sell such duplicate medals 
at a price sufficient to cover the costs of the duplicate medals 
(including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, overhead expenses) 
and the cost of the gold medal.

SEC. 4. NATIONAL MEDALS.

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

SEC. 5. FUNDING.

    (a) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
charged against the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund an amount 
not to exceed $30,000 to pay for the cost of the medals authorized by 
this Act.
    (b) Proceeds of Sale.--Amounts received from the sale of duplicate 
bronze medals under section 3 shall be deposited in the United States 
Mint Public Enterprise Fund.
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