[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2203 Engrossed in House (EH)]
113th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 2203
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
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, the first of which
he won 50 years ago 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 three 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 eight.
(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
five-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 six
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 of golf 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 close to 380 courses open for play in 36 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 close to $24,000,000 since it was formed
in 2004, and has provided health assistance and services to
more than 4,000 children and their families through--
(A) Child Life programs (supporting therapeutic
interventions for children with chronic and acute
conditions during hospitalization);
(B) 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
(C) Safe Kids Program (aimed at keeping children
injury-free and offering safety education in an effort
to decrease accidental injuries in children).
(10) In October 2012, the Miami Children's Hospital
Nicklaus Outpatient Center was opened to provide pediatric
urgent care, diagnostic services, and rehabilitation services
in Palm Beach County.
(11) Jack Nicklaus also 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 $43,000,000 over the last
several years.
(12) Nicklaus has been a tireless supporter of numerous
junior golf initiatives, working with the PGA of America Junior
Golf Foundation over the course of four 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.
(13) In 2013, Jack Nicklaus, with the support of the
National Park and Recreation Association (NRPA), launched the
Jack Nicklaus Learning Leagues, taking team-concept golf to our
parks system for children, ages 5 to 12. A non-profit
foundation called Global Outreach for Learning Foundation
(GOLF) was created to underwrite the program. By the end of
2013, they hope to have the program in more than 100 locations
and reach close to 25,000 children.
(14) 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.
(15) Jack Nicklaus serves as an 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 nine
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 30,000 veterans and their families in
2011 to use the healing powers of golf to help them
rehabilitate and recreate. The hope is that American Lake will
serve as a pilot program for the more than 150 Veterans
Administration hospitals nationwide.
(16) 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.
(17) Jack Nicklaus remains active in tournament golf,
although he retired from major championship competition 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 almost 700 professional tournaments. In 2013
alone, Nicklaus courses will host 17 PGA Tour-sanctioned
events. His Muirfield Village Golf Club in Ohio will be hosting
the Presidents Cup in October 2013, making it the only club in
history to have hosted all three of the game's most prominent
international team competitions--the Ryder Cup, Solheim Cup and
Presidents Cup. It is also expected that his course at the Jack
Nicklaus Golf Club Korea in New Songdo City, South Korea, will
be named the host venue for the 2015 Presidents Cup--the first
time that country has hosted an international team competition
of this stature
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.
Passed the House of Representatives May 19, 2014.
Attest:
Clerk.
113th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 2203
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
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.