[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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